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考研英语历年阅读理解真题精析--2007年

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If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006’s World Cup tournament, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk: elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the late months. If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would find this strange phenomenon to be ever more pronounced. What might account for this strange phenomenon? Here are a few guesses: a）certain astrological signs confer superior soccer skills; b）winter born babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which increases soccer stamina; c）soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime, at the annual peak of soccer mania; d）none of the above. Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University, says he believes strongly in “none of the above.” Ericsson grew up in Sweden, and studied nuclear engineering until he realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology. His first experiment, nearly 30 years ago, involved memory: training a person to hear and then repeat a random series of numbers. “With the first subject, after about 20 hours of training, his digit span had risen from 7 to 20,” Ericsson recalls. “He kept improving, and after about 200 hours of training he had risen to over 80 numbers.” This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one. In other words, whatever inborn differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to memorize, those differences are swamped by how well each person “encodes” the information. And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined, was a process known as deliberate practice. Deliberate practice entails more than simply

repeating a task. Rather, it involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome. Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of pursuits, including soccer. They gather all the data they can, not just performance statistics and biographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiments with high achievers. Their work makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or, put another way, expert

performers – whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming – are nearly always made, not born.

1. The birthday phenomenon found among soccer players is mentioned to [A] stress the importance of professional training. [B] spotlight the soccer superstars at the World Cup. [C] introduce the topic of what makes expert performance. [D] explain why some soccer teams play better than others. 2. The word “mania” （Line 4, Paragraph 2）most probably means [A] fun. [B] craze. [C] hysteria. [D] excitement. 3. According to Ericsson, good memory

[A] depends on meaningful processing of information. [B] results from intuitive rather than cognitive exercises. [C] is determined by genetic rather than psychological factors. [D] requires immediate feedback and a high degree of concentration. 4. Ericsson and his colleagues believe that

[A] talent is a dominating factor for professional success. [B] biographical data provide the key to excellent performance. [C] the role of talent tends to be overlooked.

[D] high achievers owe their success mostly to nurture.

5. Which of the following proverbs is closest to the message the text tries to convey?

[A] “Faith will move mountains.” [B] “One reaps what one sows.”

[C] “Practice makes perfect.” [D] “Like father, like son.” Unit 14（2007） Part 1

试题解析：

1．【正确答案】【C】

【解析】结构题，题干中的“is mentioned to”表明本题是结构题。本题考查考生对文章第一段内容的理解。题干中的信号词是“soccer player”，出自文章第一段第一句话中。文章第一段提到检查足球运动员的出生证明时指出，你最可能发现一种引人注意的巧合——优秀足球运动员更可能出生于每年的前几个月而不是后几个月，第二段接着指出，什么可以解释这种奇怪的现象呢？随后介绍了几种猜测。这说明，提到生日现象是为了引出本文的主题。C为正确选项。第一段中没有提到专业训练，所以A属于无中生有；本文是通过检查世界杯上的足球运动员而得出“生日”现象的，说明B属于本末倒置；文中并没有提到某些足球队比其他足球队表现更好，所以D与文意不符。 2. 【正确答案】【B】

【解析】词义题，题干中的“most probably means”表明本题是词义题。本题考查考生对文章第二段内容的理解。题干中的信号词出自文章第二段最后一句话中。文章第二段首先指出，什么可以解释这种奇怪的现象呢？接着提到了一些猜测，其中的c）指出，热爱足球的父母更可能在春季怀孕，随后提到了该词所在的句子。这说明，该词可能与“soccermad”的意思相近。B是对该词的同义替换，为正确选项。A和C是误解了该词的意思；D不准确。 3. 【正确答案】【A】

【解析】细节题，题干中的“According to Ericsson”表明本题是观点细节题。本题考查考生对文章第三、四段内容的理解。题干中的信号词是“Ericsson”和“memory”，出自文章第三、四段。文章第三段提到了有关记忆的试验，第四段介绍了埃里克森有关记忆的结论——记忆过程是一种认知练习，不是一种本能练习；了解如何有目的地解读信息的最佳方法就是一个为人所知的有意练习过程，而有意练习需要的不只是简单地重复一个任务，它涉及到确定明确的目标、获得即时反馈以及注重方法与结果。这说明，他认为，好的记忆力依赖于人们对信息的有目的应用。A为正确选项。B和C明显与文意不符；不准确；与有关的信息是第一段第四句话，而这个假设被一项研究证实是错误的，所以B不对；D是在解释有意练习，与题目的要求不符。 4. 【正确答案】【D】

【解析】细节题，题干中的“Ericsson and his colleagues believe”表明本题是观点细节题。本题考查考生对文章最后一段内容的理解。题干中的信号词是“Ericsson and his colleagues”，出自文章最后一段。文章最后一段介绍了埃里克森和他的同事有关成就优秀者的研究，指出，他们的研究得出了一个非常令人惊奇的结论——成就优秀者几乎总是培养的，不是天生的。D为正确选项。A和C与文意相反；B与最后一段第二句话的意思不符。