考研考研英语易错题（2015-11-17）

考研习题练习

考研考研英语易错题（2015-11-17）

第1题： AFTER its misadventures in 1993, when American marines were driven out of Somalia by skinny gunmen, America has used a long spoon in supping with Somalia's warlords. This, like so much else, changed on September 11th.(41)_____.
Clandestine, up to a point: within hours of the arrival in Baidoa of nine closely cropped Americans sporting matching satellite phones and shades, their activities were broadcast. After meeting various warlords, the group inspected a compound that had apparently been offered to them as their future base. They also saw an old military depot. Neither can have been encouraging: the compound has been taken over by war-displaced families, and the depot by thorn-scrub.
America was already convinced of al-Qaeda's presence in Somalia. It had listed a Somali Islamic group, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (Islamic Unity), as a terrorist organisation. (42)_____.
It fears that lawless Somalia could become a haven for escapes from Afghanistan. The American navy is currently patrolling the country's long coastline, while spy planes are said to be criss-crossing the heavens.
(43)_____. With a little bit of help, he told his American visitors, he would be ready "to liberate the country from these evil forces". America had already heard as much through its embassies in Nairobi and Addis Ababa, which maintain contact with the warlords, and from Ethiopia.
The warlords are supported by Ethiopia, which has a historical fear of a strong Somalia, in a bid to oppose the government. But their differing views on where to strike at the "terrorists" reveal that their individual ambitions are even sharper than their dislike of the government.
Mr Ismail says that Merca, which is claimed by his Rahanwein clan, is the capital of terror. (44)____. The UN says there is only an orphanage there now. But the island is close to Mr Morgan's home town of Kismaayo, which he failed to capture from a pro-government militia in July, and he is determined not to fail again.
None of this looks good for Somalia's official president, Abdiquassim Salad Hassan, whose government is in control of about half the capital, Mogadishu. He has formed his own anti-terrorism unit, and invited America to send investigators, or even troops. America, armed with stories about the presence of al-Itihaad members held back, but on December 18th sent an envoy to Mogadishu.
Both Mr Hassan and the UN say that al-Itihaad is not a terrorist organisation. It emerged as an armed force in 1991, battling for power in the aftermath of Siad Barre's fall. It had some early successes, briefly taking Kismaayo. But it was always dependent on the blessing of its members' clan elders. When the elders eventually called their fighters back, a hard core of Islamists fled to the Gedo border region where, in 1997, they were crushed by Ethiopian troops(45)_____.
The Baidoa alliance plainly hopes to be supported as proxies in a fight against "terrorism" and the Mogadishu regime. But the latest intelligence leaks suggest that the first reports may have overestimated al-Qaeda's presence in Somalia. Nor would Mr bin Laden and his henchmen find it easy to lie low in an oral culture that considers rumour-mongering to be a form of manners. Even so, the warlords seem to believe that they have won some promise of help. Soon after the arrival of the American group, they pulled out of the peace talks they had been holding with their government in Nairobi.
[A] Al-Itihaad subsequently infiltrated Somalia's business class, and now runs Islamic schools, courts and clinics with the money it has accumulated.
[B] According to Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail, the acting chairman of the loose alliance of warlords who control most of Somalia and are based in Baidoa, there are "approximately 20,480 armed extremists" in Somalia and "85% of the government is al-Itihaad".
[C] Muhammad Hersi Morgan, known as the "butcher of Hargeisa" because he once razed that town to the ground, says an al-Itihaad camp on Ras Kamboni island is still active.
[D] But since September 11th 2001, western governments, anxious to prevent al-Qaeda from using Somalia as a base, have pressed the warlords to make peace.
[E] American intelligence officers are working with two warlords to gather information about suspected al-Qaeda people in Somalia.
[F] On December 9th America
sent a clandestine mission to talk to a collection of Somali warlords, who like to claim that their country, in particular their UN-sponsored government, is overrun with terrorists.
[G] It had also forced the closure of Barakaat, Somalia's biggest banking and telecoms company, which handles most of the remittances that Somalis working abroad send back to their families.

【分析题】：

第2题：Responsibilities. We all have them; most of us have more than we’d like. That doesn’t change the reality that, sooner or later, we all have to 1____ up to them. But perhaps it does explain our __2___ to add to the ever-growing list. There’s already so much to do in a day, why tack on an 3_____ burden?
Unfortunately, it’s this kind of defeatist mentality 4 __keeps people from enhancing their lives through proper 5 and exercise. Here is the salient point, though: The health and fitness benefits you’ll derive from 6_____ the necessary work are worth whatever sacrifices you must make 7______ the way.
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard the same 8 . Each time, I always give the same response: Yes, I say, working out is work. So is taking the 9 to eat right. 10 yourself on the couch or having drinks with friends after work is a lot easier than exercising, and hitting the McDonald’s drive thru takes a lot less time than cooking a 11 at home. But channel surfing, margaritas and a Quarter Pounder. With Cheese aren’t going to produce some of the things worth having—a low cholesterol level or the 12____ to go shirtless on the beach. Those benefits demand a ___13____ effort.
I’m not saying you should eschew the ___14__ night on the town or gourmet meal at a five-star restaurant. Both have their ___15____ and are components of a well-rounded life. I’ve enjoyed my ___16____ of revelry and fine ___17___ and look forward to those special opportunities to experience more of the good life. But I’ve managed to find a balance between those ___18 pleasures and a permanent ___19____ to a regular workout and a healthy diet. Because, __20____, it is the latter that will have a lasting improvement on the overall quality of my life.
1. [A] come [B] catch [C] confront [D] face
2. [A] resistance [B] reluctance [C] persistence [D] existence
3. [A] exact [B] external [C] extra [D] extensive
4. [A] that [B] which [C] what [D] who
5. [A] food [B] nutrition [C] diet [D] recreation
6. [A] setting in [B] putting in [C] getting in [D] cutting in
7. [A] along [B] by [C] on [D] in
8. [A] reasons [B] questions [C] doubts [D] excuses
9. [A] chance [B] effort [C] time [D] interest
10. [A] Throwing [B] Planting [C] Sitting [D] Placing
11. [A] dish [B] dinner [C] meal [D] hamburger
12. [A] pride [B] confidence [C] enthusiasm [D] inspiration
13. [A] long time [B] long range [C] long term [D] long distance
14. [A] additional [B] emotional [C] occasional [D] sensational
15. [A] place [B] position [C] location [D] attraction
16. [A] share [B] part [C] portion [D] section
17. [A] meal [B] diet [C] dining [D] eating
18. [A] short dated [B] short lived [C] short legged [D] short tempered
19. [A] coherence [B] experience [C] adherence [D]remembrance
20. [A] in a word [B] in the end [C] in the future [D] in a nutshell

【分析题】：

第3题：Most worthwhile careers require some kind of specialized training. Ideally, therefore, the choice of an 1 should be made even before the choice of a curriculum in high school. Actually, 2 , most people make several job choices during their working lives, 3 because of economic and industrial changes and partly to improve 4 position. The “one perfect job” does not exist. Young people should 5 enter into a broad flexible training program that will 6 them for a field of work rather than for a single 7 .

Unfortunately many young people have to make career plans 8 benefit of help from a competent vocational counselor or psychologist. Knowing 9 about the occupational world, or themselves for that matter, they choose their lifework on a hit-or-miss 10 . Some drift from job to job. Others 11 to work in which they are unhappy and for which they are not fitted.
One common mistake is choosing an occupation for 12 real or imagined prestige. Too many high-school students—or their parents for them—choose the professional field, 13 both the relatively small proportion of workers in the professions and the extremely high educational and personal 14 . The imagined or real prestige of a profession or a “whitecollar” job is 15 good reason for choosing it as life’s work. 16 , these occupations are not always well paid. Since a large proportion of jobs are in mechanical and manual work, the 17 of young people should give serious 18 to these fields.
Before making an occupational choice, a person should have a general idea of what he wants 19 life and how hard he is willing to work to get it. Some people desire social prestige, others intellectual satisfaction. Some want security, others are willing to take 20 for financial gain. Each occupational choice has its demands as well as its rewards.

1. A. identification B. entertainment C. accommodation D. occupation

2. A. however B. therefore C. though D. thereby

3. A. entirely B. mainly C. partly D. his

4. A. its B. his C. our D. their

5. A. since B. therefore C. furthermore D. forever

6. A. make B. fit C. take D. leave

7. A. job B. way C. means D. company

8. A. to B. for C. without D. with

9. A. little B. few C. much D. a lot

10. A. chance B. basis C. purpose D. opportunity

11. A. apply B. appeal C. stick D. turn

12. A. our B. its C. your D. their

13. A. concerning B. following C. considering D. disregarding

14. A. preference B. requirements C. tendencies D. ambitions

15. A. a B. any C. no D. the

16. A. Therefore B. However C. Nevertheless D. Moreover

17. A. majority B. mass C. minority D. multitude

18. A. proposal B. suggestion C. consideration D. appraisal

19. A. towards B. against C. out of D. without

20. A. turns B. parts C. choices D. risks
Section ⅡReading Comprehension

【分析题】：

第4题：Text 1
New figures from France,Germany and Italy—the three biggest economies in the 12 country Eurozone —suggest the continent’s economic woes may have been exaggerated.In France, evidence emerged that consumer spending remained solid in July and August,rising 1.4%and 0.6%respectively.Forecasters had generally expected the July figure to show a 0.1% slippage,with August unchanged.But the figures were flattered slightly by a down grade to the June figure,to 0.7% from1.5%.
With manufacturing in the doldrums across Europe and the US,consumer spending has been increasingly seen as the best hope of stopping the global economic slowdown from turning into a recession.The French government said the news proved that the economy was holding up to the strain of the slowdown.
Meanwhile in Germany,new regional price figures went someway towards calming fears about inflation in Europe’s largest economy—a key reason for the European Central Bank’s reluctance to cut interest 15 states said consumer prices were broadly stable,with inflation falling year on year.The information backed economists’ expectations that inflation for the country as a whole is set to fall back to a yearly rate of 2.1%,compared to a yearly rate of 2.6% in August,closing in on the Eurowide target of 2%.The drop is partly due to last year’s spike in oil prices dropping out of the yearonyear calculation.
The icing on the cake was news that Italy’s job market has remained buoyant.The country’s July unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% from 9.6% the month before,its lowest level in more than eight years.And a business confidence survey from quasigovernmental research group ISAE told of a general pickup in demand in the six weeks to early September.But the news was tempered by an announcement by Alitalia,the country’s biggest airline,that it will have to get rid of 2，500 staff to cope with the expected contraction as well as selling 12 aeroplanes. And industrial group Confindustria warned that the attacks on US targets meant growth will be about 1.9% this year,well short of the government’s 2.4% target. And it said the budget deficit will probably be about 1.5%,nearly twice the 0.8% Italy’s government has promised its European Union partners.
21We know from the first paragraph that.
Anew figures from the three European countries show the prediction of forecasters is exactly right
BEuropean economy gets on better than forecasters have predicted
Call of the forecasters expect the fully figure to show a reduction
Din three European countries the consumer spending continues to rise
22The term“in the doldrums”in Paragraph 2 refers to .
Ain the process of rising Bexperiencing a sharp turning
Cin the recessionDrising rapidly
23Which of the following statements is true according to the text?.
AThe reason for the ECB’s unwilling to cut interest rates is inflation was actually expected to fall in Germany
BIn Germany consumer prices were falling
CLast year’s oil prices dropping out of the yearonyear calculation directly leads to the drop of inflation
DThe European Central Bank is willing to cut interest rate
24ln this passage,the word“buoyant” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to the word.
AdepressingBgloomyCactiveDcalm
25lndustrial group Confindustria warned that.
Athe attacks on US targets lead to the comparatively lower growth
Bthe growth had been well short of the government’s target
Cthe budget deficit must be about 1.5%
Dthe budget deficit will probably be great different from the country’s promise

【分析题】：

第10题：Text 3

European farm ministers have ended three weeks of negotiations with a deal which they claim represents genuine reform of the common agricultural policy(CAP). Will it be enough to kickstart the Doha world trade negotiations?

On the face of it, the deal agreed in the early hours of Thursday June 26th looks promising. Most subsidies linked to specific farm products are, at last, to be broken—the idea is to replace these with a direct payment to farmers, unconnected to particular products. Support prices for several key products, including milk and butter, are to be cut—that should mean European prices eventually falling towards the world market level. Cutting the link between subsidy and production was the main objective of proposals put forward by Mr Fischler, which had formed the starting point for the negotiations.

The CAP is hugely unpopular around the world. It subsidises European farmers to such an extent that they can undercut farmers from poor countries, who also face trade barriers that largely exclude them from the potentially lucrative European market. Farm trade is also a key feature of the Doha round of trade talks, launched under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in November 2001. Developing countries have lined up alongside a number of industrial countries to demand an end to the massive subsidies Europe pays its farmers. Several Doha deadlines have already been missed because of the EU’s intransigence, and the survival of the talks will be at risk if no progress is made by September, when the world's trade ministers meet in Cancùn, Mexico.

But now even the French seem to have gone along with the deal hammered out in Luxembourg. Up to a point, anyway. The package of measures gives the green light for the most eager reformers to move fast to implement the changes within their own countries. But there is an escape clause of sorts for the French and other reform-averse nations. They can delay implementation for up to two years. There is also a suggestion that the reforms might not apply where there is a chance that they would lead to a reduction in land under cultivation.

These let-outs are potentially damaging for Europe’s negotiators in the Doha round. They could significantly reduce the cost savings that the reforms might otherwise generate and, in turn, keep European expenditure on farm support unacceptably high by world standards. More generally, the escape clauses could undermine the reforms by encouraging the suspicion that the new package will not deliver the changes that its supporters claim. Close analysis of what is inevitably a very complicated package might confirm the sceptics' fears.
31. The deal agreed on Thursday looks promising in that _____.
[A] European farm ministers finally reached a consensus
[B] the link between farm products and subsidies is removed
[C] farmers would definitely accept the direct payment to them
[D] European farm products will reach a lower price level than the world
32. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that ____.
[A] farmers from poor countries were put at a disadvantage by CAP
[B] the deal will be a key subject of debate in Doha round of trade talks
[C] the deal was probably a result of pressure from other countries
[D] the world’s trade ministers will resist the new deal reached recently
33. In what case might the escape clauses apply in reform-averse nations ?
[A] Farmers lose their interest in farming.
[B] Reforms have to be delayed for up to two years.
[C] Implementation of the measures goes too eagerly.
[D] The measures damage the reformers’ confidence.
34. The new package of measures is inevitably a complicated one due to ____.
[A] Europe’s negotiators’ loss of confidence
[B] European expenditure on farm support
[C] escape clauses for some European countries
[D] suspicion of the new package
35. What is the passage mainly about ?
[A] a promising new deal
[B] Doha world trade negotiations
[C] world’s anger against Europe
[D] doomed reforms of CAP

【分析题】：

第11题：Americans have always been excessive worshippers of what William James called “the bitch goddess success”. Self-help gurus have topped the bestseller lists since Benjamin Franklin published his autobiography. Americans are much more likely than Europeans to believe that people can get ahead in life so long as they are willing to work hard. And they are much more likely to choose a high-paying job that carries a risk of redundancy than a lower-paid job that guarantees security.
But you can’t have winners without losers (or how would you know how well you are doing?). And you can’t broaden opportunity without also broadening the opportunity to fail. For instance, until relatively recently, blacks could not blame themselves for their failure in the “race of life”, in Abraham Lincoln’s phrase, because they were debarred from so many parts of it. Now the barriers are lifted, the picture is more complicated.
All of which creates a huge problem: how exactly should a hyper-competitive society deal with its losers? It’s all very well to note that drunkards and slackers get what they deserve. But what about the honest toilers? One way to deal with the problem is to offer people as many second chances as possible. In his intriguing new book “Born Losers: A History of Failure in America”, Scott Sandage argues that the mid-nineteenth century saw a redefinition of failure—from something that had described a lousy business to something that defined a whole life.
Yet one of the striking things about America is how valiantly it has resisted the idea that there is any such thing as a born loser. American schools resist streaming their pupils much longer than their European counterparts: the whole point is to fit in rather than stand out. American higher education has numerous points of entry and reentry. And the American legal system has some of the most generous bankruptcy rules in the world. In Europe, a bankrupt is often still a ruined man; in America, he is a risk-taking entrepreneur.
American history—not to mention American folklore—is replete with examples of people who tried and tried again until they made a success of their lives. Lincoln was a bankrupt storekeeper. Henry Ford was a serial failure. At 40, Thomas Watson, the architect of IBM, faced prison. America’s past is also full of people who came back from the brink. A second way to deal with losers is to celebrate them. Perhaps in reaction to the relentless boosterism of business life, American popular culture often sympathises with losers. But even in the loser-loving bits of popular culture, the American obsession with success has a habit of winning through. More often than not, born losers turn out to be winners in disguise.
31. According to paragraph 1, why are Americans “much more likely to choose a high-paying job that carries a risk of redundancy than a lower-paid job that guarantees security”?
[A] Because they don’t mind taking risks.
[B] Because Americans believe in the idea of “no pain, no gain”.
[C] Because Americans rely a lot on self瞙elp books written by famous people.
[D] Because a having high瞤aying job is how many Americans view success.
32. Paragraph 2 suggests that ________________
[A] America was once a racist country.
[B] black Americans now have equal rights.
[C] if you give someone the chance to succeed, you also give them the chance to fail.
[D] you can know how successful you are by seeing how many people are failing.
33. The “honest toilers” mentioned in paragraph 3 refer to__________________
[A] lazy people and alcoholics.
[B] trustworthy workers.
[C] people who fail even though they try hard.
[D] born losers—people who need lots of second chances in order to succeed.
34. We can learn from paragraph 4____________
[A] that the United States is better than Europe.
[B] that American society is designed to give people many opportunities.
[C] that the American system is better for children and businessmen.
[D] that Scott Sandage’s book is largely irrelevant to modern American society.
35. According to paragraph 5, which of these is NOT an example of why Americans might like losers?
[A] They often succeed in the end.
[B] Losers often have legal problems.
[C] There is sometimes a dislike of people who enthusiastically promote business.
[D] Some very famous Americans were once losers.

【分析题】：

第12题：In the past few decades, remarkable findings have been made in ethology, the study of animal social behavior. Earlier scientists had 1 that nonhuman social life was almost totally instinctive or fixed by genetics. Much more careful observation has shown that 2 variation occurs among the social ties of most species, showing that learning is a part of social life. That is, the 3 are not solely fixed by the genes.
4，the learning that occurs is often at an early age in a process that is called imprinting. Imprinting is clearly 5 instinctive, but it is not quite like the learning of humans; it is something in between the two. An illustration best 6 the nature of imprinting. Once, biologists thought that ducklings followed the mother duck because of instincts. Now we know that, shortly 7 they hatch, ducklings fix 8 any object about the size of a duck and will henceforth follow it. So ducklings may follow a basketball or a briefcase if these are 9 for the mother duck at the time when imprinting occurs. Thus, social ties can be considerably 10, even ones that have a considerable base 11 by genetics.
Even among the social insects something like imprinting 12 influence social behavior. For example, biologists once thought bees communicated with others purely 13 instinct. But, in examining a “dance” that bees do to indicate the distance and direction of a pollen source, observers found that bees raised in isolation could not communicate effectively. At a higher level, the genetic base seems to be much more for an allpurpose learning rather than the more specific responses of imprinting. Chimpanzees, for instance, generally 14 very good mother but Jane Goodall reports that some chimps carry the infant upside down or 15 fail to nurture the young. She believes that these females were the youngest or the 16 child of a mother. In such circumstances, they did not have the opportunity to observe how their own mother 17 for her young. Certainly adolescent chimps who are still with their mothers when other young are born take much interest in the rearing of their young brother or sister. They have an excellent opportunity to learn, and the social ties that are created between mother and young 18 Goodall to describe the social unit as a family. The motheroffspring tie is beyond 19;there is some evidence to 20 that ties also continue between siblings of the same sex, that is “brotherbrother” and “sistersister”.
1AassumedBadoptedCbelievedDsurmised
2AconsiderateBconsideratedCconsiderableDconsidering
3AstatuesBstatusesCstatutesDstatures
4AWhats moreBHenceCButDHowever
5AnotBonlyCbutDsolely
6AclarifiesBclassifiesCdefinesDoutlines
7AthanBbeforeCwhenDafter
8AonBwithCinDwithin
9AappropriatedBsubstitutedCassignedDdistributed
10AvariedBdeviatedCdifferedDaltered
11AfashionedBmodifiedCinfluencedDaffected
12AmayBshouldCmustDcan
13AbyBout ofCfromDthrough
14AproveBmakeCturnDcreate
15AotherwiseBstillCyetDeven
16AoneBsoleCsingleDonly
17AlookedBattendedCcaredDprovided
18AguideBcauseCdirectDlead
19AlimitationBimaginationCdoubtDexpectation
20AadviseBhintCimplyDsuggest

【分析题】：

第13题：
For all his vaunted talents, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has never had much of a reputation as an economic forecaster. In fact, he shies away from making the precise-to-the-decimal-point predictions that many other economists thrive on. Instead, he owes his success as a monetary policymaker to his ability to sniff out threats to the economy and manipulate interest rates to dampen the dangers he perceives.

Now, those instincts are being put to the test. Many Fed watchers—and some policymakers inside the central bank itself—are beginning to wonder whether Greenspan has lost his touch. Despite rising risks to the economy from a swooning stock market and soaring oil prices that could hamper growth, the Greenspan-led Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) opted to leave interest rates unchanged on Sept.24. But in a rare dissent, two of the Fed’s 12 policymakers broke ranks and voted for a cut in rates—Dallas Fed President Robert D. McTeer Jr. and central bank Governor Edward M.Gramlich.

The move by McTeer, the Fed’s self-styled “Lonesome Dove”, was no surprise. But Gramlich’s was. This was the first time that the monetary moderate had voted against the chairman since joining the Fed’s board in 1997. And it was the first public dissent by a governor since 1995.

Despite the split vote, it’s too soon to count the maestro of monetary policy out. Greenspan had good reasons for not cutting interest rates now. And by acknowledging in the statement issued after the meeting that the economy does indeed face risks, Greenspan left the door wide open to a rate reduction in the future. Indeed, former Fed Governor Lyle Gramley thinks chances are good that the central bank might even cut rates before its next scheduled meeting on Nov.6, the day after congressional elections.

So why didn’t the traditionally risk-averse Greenspan cut rates now as insurance against the dangers dogging growth? For one thing, he still thinks the economy is in recovery mode. Consumer demand remains buoyant and has even been turbocharged recently by a new wave of mortgage refinancing. Economists reckon that homeowners will extract some $100 billion in cash from their houses in the second half of this year. And despite all the corporate gloom, business spending has shown signs of picking up, though not anywhere near as strongly as the Fed would like.

Does that mean that further rate cuts are off the table? Hardly. Watch for Greenspan to try to time any rate reductions to when they’ll have the most psychological pop on business and investor confidence. That’s surely no easy feat, but it’s one that Greenspan has shown himself capable of more than once in the past. Don’t be surprised if he surprises everyone again.
21. Alan Greenspan owes his reputation much to .
A. his successful predictions of economy
B. his timely handling of interest rates
C. his unusual economic policies
D. his unique sense of dangers

22. It can be inferred from the passage that .
A. instincts most often misguide the monetary policies
B. Greenspan has lost his control of the central bank
C. consensus is often the case among Fed’s policymakers
D. Greenspan wouldnt tolerate such a dissent

23. Gramley’s remarks are mentioned to indicate that .
A. Greenspan didnt rule out the possibility of a future rate reduction
B. Greenspan’s monetary policy may turn out to be a failure
C. Greenspan’s refusal to cut rates now was justified
D. Greenspan will definitely cut the rates before Nov.6

24. From the fifth paragraph, we can learn that .
A. economy is now well on its way to recovery
B. economists are uncertain about consumer demand
C. corporate performance is generally not encouraging
D. businesses have been investing the way the Fed hoped

25. The author seems to regard Greenspan’s manipulation of interest rates with .
A. disapproval B. doubt C. approval D. admiration

【分析题】：

第14题：Text 1

St. Paul didn’t like it. Moses warned his people against it. Hesiod declared it “ mischievious” and “ hard to get rid of it,” but Oscar Wilder said, “ Gossip is charming.”

“ History is merely gossip,” he wrote in one of his famous plays. “ But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.”

In times past, under Jewish law, gossipmongers might be fined or flogged. The Puritans put them in stocks or ducking stools, but no punishment seemed to have the desired effect of preventing gossip, which has continued uninterrupted across the back fences of the centuries.

Today, however, the much-maligned human foible is being looked at in a different light. Psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, even evolutionary biologists are concluding that gossip may not be so bad after all.

Gossip is “ an intrinsically valuable activity,” philosophy professor Aaron Ben-Ze’ev states in a book he has edited, entitled Good Gossip. For one thing, gossip helps us acquire information that we need to know that doesn’t come through ordinary channels, such as: “ What was the real reason so-and-so was fired from the office?” Gossip also is a form of social bonding, Dr. Ben-Ze’ev says. It is “ a kind of sharing” that also “ satisfies the tribal need---namely, the need to belong to and be accepted by a unique group.” What’s more, the professor notes, “ Gossip is enjoyable.”

Another gossip groupie, Dr. Ronald De Sousa, a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, describes gossip basically as a form of indiscretion and a “saintly virtue”, by which he means that the knowledge spread by gossip will usually end up being slightly beneficial. “ It seems likely that a world in which all information were universally available would be preferable to a world where immense power resides in the control of secrets,” he writes.

Still, everybody knows that gossip can have its ill effects, especially on the poor wretch being gossiped about. And people should refrain from certain kinds of gossip that might be harmful, even though the ducking stool is long out of fashion.

By the way, there is also an interesting strain of gossip called medical gossip, which in its best form, according to researchers Jerry M. Suls and Franklin Goodkin, can motivate people with symptoms of serious illness, but who are unaware of it, to seek medical help.

So go ahead and gossip. But remember, if ( as often is the case among gossipers) you should suddenly become one of the gossipees instead, it is best to employ the foolproof defense recommended by Plato, who may have learned the lesson from Socrates, who as you know was the victim of gossip spread that he was corrupting the youth of Athens: When men speak ill of thee, so live that nobody will believe them. Or, as Will Rogers said, “ Live so that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.” (500 words )
21. Persons’ remarks are mentioned at the beginning of the text to ____.
[ A ] show the general disapproval of gossip
[ B ] introduce the topic of gossip
[ C ] examine gossip from a historical perspective
[ D ] prove the real value of gossip
22. By “Gossip also is a form of social bonding” (Para. 5), Professor Aaron Ben-Ze’ev means gossip ____.
[ A ] is a valuable source of social information
[ B ] produces a joy that most people in society need
[ C ] brings people the feel of being part of a group
[ D ] satisfies people’s need of being unusual
23. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
[ A ] everyone involved will not benefit from gossip
[ B ] philosophers may hold different attitudes toward gossip
[ C ] Dr. Ronald De Sousa regards gossips as perfectly advantageous
[ D ] people are generally not conscious of the value of medical gossip
24. We learn from the last paragraph that ____.
[ A ] gossipers will surely become gossipees someday
[ B ] Socrates was a typical example of a gossiper becoming a gossipee
[ C ] Plato escaped being a victim of gossip by no gossiping
[ D ] an easy way to confront gossip when subjected to it is to live as usual
25. The author’s attitude toward “ gossip” can be best described as ____.
[ A ] neutral [ B ] positive
[ C ] negative [ D ] indifferent

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