阅读试题

Now custom has not been commonly regarded as a subject of any great importance. The inner workings of our own brains we feel to be uniquely worthy of investigation, but custom, we have a way of thinking, is behavior at its most commonplace. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around. Traditional custom, taken the world over, is a mass of detailed behavior more astonishing than what any one person can ever evolve in individual actions. Yet that is a rather trivial aspect of the matter. The fact of firsi-rate importance is the predominant role that custom plays in experience and in belief and the very great varieties it may manifest.

No man ever looks at the world with pristine(未受外界影响的)eyes.He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking.Even in his philosophical probings he cannot go behind these stereotypes; his very concepts of the true and the false will still have reference to his particulartraditional customs. John Dewey has said in all seriousness that the part played by custom in shaping the behavior of the individual as over against any way in which he can affect traditional custom, is as the proportion of che total vocabulary of his mother tongue over against those words of his own baby talk that are taken up into the language of his family. When one seriously studies social orders that have had the opportunity to develop independently, the figure (比喻)becomes no more than an exact and matter-of-fact observation. The life history of the individual is first and foremost an adjustment to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth t
he customs into which he is born shape his experience and behavior. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits,its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities.

参考译文

迄今为止，人们通常并不把习俗当成一门重要的学科。我们会觉得研究自己大脑的内部活动具有独特意义[l]然而对于习俗，我们通常的看法是，那只是一种最平常的行为方式而已。然而，事实刚好相反。从世界范围来看，传统习俗是各种具体举止的汇总，它比任何个人在个体行为方面的进步都更出人意料。然而这不过是问题微不足道的一个方面。[2]最重要的事实是风俗对人们的体验和信仰具有突出的影响，以及风俗也可能有多种表现方式。

没有人能做到用客观的眼睛看世界而不受外界影响。个人的看法受固定的习俗、制度和思维方式所制约。即使在哲学探求中也摆脱不了这种固定的模式。个人的是非观念还受到特定的传统习俗的影响。[3]约翰·杜威非常严肃地说，习俗在塑造一个人的行为方式方面所起的作用同这个人对传统习俗的反作用形成鲜明的对比，正如某个人母语中所有词汇同他自己咿呀学语时创造出来而被自己家人接受的词汇所形成的对比一样。如果认真观察那些有机会独立发展的社会习俗，[4]你会发现这个比喻恰如其分而且实事求是。人类个体的生活史首先开始于其对所在群体沿袭下来的生活方式和准则的调整和适应。[5]从他诞生之日起，他所处环境的习俗就制约着他的感受和行为方式。到他能够说话的时候，他已经成为其文化的小产物；当他长大成人，能够参与社会活动的时候，社会习惯已成为他的习惯，社会信仰成为他的信仰，社会禁忌成为他的禁忌。

测试题

1.What is the author's attiude towards custom as behavior at its most commonplace?

2.The great varieties of custom are taken by the author as the_________aspect of the issue．

3.According to John Dewey, we can impose______________influence on our cultural tradition.

4.The author tends to regard John Dewey's idea as___________________.

5.An individual's experience and behavior are influenced by the customs since he_____________.

答案详解

1.[Negative./Disapproving.]

[定位]根据a its most commonplace查找到首段第2句。

解析：首段第2句提到，对于习俗，我们通常的看法是，那只是一种最平常的行为方式而已。下一句用As a matter of fact转折，表示“事实上却是另外一种情况”，由此可见，作者对人们关于习俗的那种通常的看法是不赞成的、否定的，因此本题答案为Negative./Disapproving.

2.[most/first-rate important]

[定位]根据the great varieties查找到首段末句。

解析：首段末句表明作者认为最重要的事实是风俗也可能有多种表现方式。也就是说，风俗的多种表现方式被作者当成问题最重要的一个方面，由于题目空白处后面是名词aspect，所以应把原文中的first-rate importance换成其形容词形式，故本题答案为most/first-rate important。

3.[very little]

[定位]根据John Dewey和cultural tradition查找到第2段第4句。

解析：本题关键要弄懂John Dewey的话，他用了一个关于幼儿学母语的比喻来说明一个人对传统习俗的反作用。John Dewey认为“一个人咿呀学语时所创造出来并被自己家人接受的词汇肯定比他母语的所有词汇少得多”，也就是说，我们对传统习俗所施加的影响是极其微小的，所以空白处应填人very little。

4.[an exact and matter-of-fact observation]

[定位]根据regard John Dewey's idea查找到第2段第4、5句。

解析：第2段第4句提到John Dewey的观点时用了一个比喻，下一句就表明了作者对这个比喻的看法，题目问作者对John Dewey的观点的看法也就等同于问作者对这个比喻的看法，故no more than后的an exact and matter-of-fact observation就是本题答案。

5.[is born]

[定位]根据experience and behavior查找到第2段倒数第2句。

解析：题目与原文该句的内容相同，原文中讲到，从一个人诞生之日起，他所处环境的习俗就制约着他的体验和行为方式。空白处缺少谓语，而根据原文中的from the moment of his birth可知，此题since he后应填is born。