阅读试题

Personality is to a large extent inherent-A-type parents usually bring about A-type offspring. But the environment must also have a profound effect,since if competition is important to Ihe parents, it is likely to become a major factor in the lives of their children.

One place where children soak up A-characteristics is school, which is, by its very nature, a highly competitive institution. Too many schools adopt the "win at all costs" moral standard and measure their successby sporting achievements. The current passion for making children compete against their classmates or against the clock produces a two-layer system, in which competitive A-types seem in some way better than theirB-type fellows. Being too keen to win can have dangerous consequences:remember that Pheidippides,the firstmarathon runner,dropped dead seconds after saying:"Rejoice,we conquer!"

By far the worst form of competition in schools is the disproportionate emphasis on examinations. It is a rare school that allows pupils to concentrate on those things they do well. The merits of competition by examination are somewhat questionable, but competition in the certain knowledge of failure is positively harmful.

Obviously, it is neither practical nor desirabl that all A youngsters change into B's. The world needs A types, and schools have an important duty to try to fit a child's personality to his possible future employment. It is top management.

If the preoccupation of schools with academic work was lessened, more time might be spent teaching children surer values. Perhaps selection for the caring professions.especially medicine, could be made less by good grades in chemistry and more by such considerations as sensitivity and sympathy. It is surely a mistaketo choose our doctors exclusively from A-type stock. B's are important and should be encouraged.

参考译文

[l]性格在很大程度上是遗传的——A型性格的父母通常养育出A型性格的子女。但是环境一定也有深远的影响，因为如果父母很看重竞争，那么竞争很有可能成为孩子们生活中的一个重要因素。

学校是儿童吸收A型性格特点的一个地方，因为学校本质上就是一个竞争激烈的机构。许多学校都采纳“不惜一切代价获取成功”的道德标准，以炫耀成绩作为衡量学生成功的标准。最近热衷于让孩子们与同学竞争或与时间赛跑造成了一个双层体系，[2]在这个体系里面，善于竞争的A型性格的人好像在某个方面要比他们B型性格的同伴更胜一筹。求胜心切可能带来危险的后果：还记得第一个跑马拉松的费迪皮迪兹吗？他在说了“欢呼吧，我们赢了！”数秒钟后便倒地身亡。

学校里最糟糕的竞争形式就是过分强调考试。很少有学校允许学生集中精力做他们擅长的事。[3]考试这种竞争方式的价值有点令人怀疑，而明知会失败仍然竞争，这就绝对是有害无益。

很明显，要让所有A型性格的孩子都转变为B型性格，这既不现实，也不可取。这个世界需要A型性格的人。[4]学校的重要职责是努力让孩子的性格适合他们将来可能从事的职业。这才是最佳的管理之道。

[5]如果学校不过于看重学习成绩，也许就有更多的时间教孩子们更坚定的价值观。也许对护理专业人员——特别是医疗护理人员——的选择，就可以少注重化学成绩，而多注重诸如敏感和同情心等方面。只从A型性格的人当中挑选医生肯定是个错误。B型性格的人非常重要，应该受到鼓励。

测试题

1.Apart from the effect of the environment, personality is largely____________________.

2.A-type individuals are usually competitive, but__________________can lead to serious consequences.

3.The author doubts about the virtue of__________________________at schools because some students are bound to fail.

4.For schools, the top management is to fit a child's personality to______________________.

5.The selection of medical professionals is currently based on________________________.

答案详解

1.[inherent]
[定位]根据题干中的the effect of the environment，personality，largely查找到首段。

解析：题干是对原文首段的近义改写，the effect of the environment对应原文中的第2句话，largely为原文第1句中a large extent的同义表达，所以空白处应填A inherent。

2.[being too keen to win]
[定位]根据题干中的A-type，competitive，cause，dangerous consequences查找到第2段最后两句。

解析：空白处缺少主语，原文倒数第2句中的competitive A-types对应题干的前半句，题干lead to serious consequences是最后一句中can have dangerous consequences的同义替换，所以being too keen to win为答案。

3.[competition by examination]
[定位]根据题干中的doubts about,the virtue和fail查找到第3段末句。

解析：本句说的是，作者质疑考试这种竞争方式，因为对一些孩子而言。明知是短处、肯定会失败而做无谓的竞争，这种竞争是无益的。doubts about和the virtue对应原文中的questionable和the merits，而题目中because从句是对原文in the certain knowledge of failure的近义改写，所以competition by examination为答案。

4.[his possible future employment]
[定位]根据题干中的top management，a child's personality查找到第4段第2、3句。

解析：该段末句中It指代上句的内容，即努力让孩子的性格适合他们将来可能从事的职业，原文personality to后的内容为本题答案。

5.[good grades in chemistry/academic achievements]
[定位]根据题干中的selection，professionals查找到末段前两句。

解析：原文说希望今后选拔医务人员时应更关注候选人的情感，比如是否敏感，是否有同情心，而不是一味地看成绩（good grades in chemistry）。由此可得知，现在的选拔制度注重的是成绩。本题答案也可归纳为academic achievements。