People tend to be more impressed by evidence that seems to confirm some relationship. Thus many are convinced their dreams are prophetic because a few have come true; they neglect or fail to notice the many that have not.
Consider also the belief that “the phone always rings when I’m in the shower.” If it does ring while you are in the shower, the event will stand out and be remembered. If it doesn’t ring, that nonevent probably won’t even register (留下印象).
People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world. Consider, for example, the common belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths “happen in threes.” Such beliefs stem from the tendency of people to allow the third event to define the time period. If three plane crashes occur in a month, then the period of time that counts as their “happening together” is one month; if three crashes occur in a year, the period of time is stretched. Flexible end points reinforce such beliefs.
We also tend to believe what we want to believe. A majority of people think they are more intelligent, more fair-minded and more skilled behind the wheel of an automobile than the average person. Part of the reason we view ourselves so favorably is that we use criteria that work to our advantage. As economist Thomas Schilling explains, “Everybody ranks himself high in qualities he values: careful drivers give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who are polite give weight to courtesy.” This way everyone ranks high on his own scale.
Perhaps the most important mental habit we can learn is to be cautious in drawing conclusions. The “evidence” of everyday life is sometimes misleading.
1. In the first paragraph the author states that ______.
2. By “things like…” “happen in threes”, the author indicates that people believe ______.
3. The word “courtesy” probably means ______.
4. What can be inferred from the passage?
5. It can be concluded from the passage that ______.
问题1选项
A.dreams cannot be said to be prophetic even though a few have come true
B.dreams are prophetic because some of them did come true
C.dreams may come true if clearly remembered
D.dreams and reality are closely related
问题2选项
A.personal misfortunes tend to happen every now and then
B.personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths usually happen together
C.misfortunes tend to occur according to certain patterns
D.misfortunes will never occur more than three times to a person in his lifetime
问题3选项
A.good manner
B.appropriate speech
C.friendly relations
D.satisfactory service
问题4选项
A.Happenings that go unnoticed deserve more attention.
B.In a series of misfortunes the third one is usually the most serious.
C.People tend to make use of evidence that supports their own beliefs.
D.Believers of misfortunes happening the threes are cautious in interpreting events.
问题5选项
A.there is some truth even in the widest dreams
B.one should take notice of other people’s merits
C.there is no order or pattern in world events
D.we should not base our conclusions on accidental evidence
第1题:A
第2题:C
第3题:A
第4题:A
第5题:D
第1题:
推理判断题。由题干可以定位到文章第一段第二句Thus many are convinced their dreams are prophetic because a few have come true; they neglect or fail to notice the many that have not.（因此，许多人相信他们的梦是预言，因为少数人已经实现了；他们忽视或没有注意到许多没有实现的。），说明作者认为不应该以个别应验的梦境得出梦具有预言性这一推断，毕竟大多数的梦都是不会实现的。因此A选项“即使有几个梦成真了也不能说梦有预言性”正确。B选项“梦是预言性的，因为其中有些梦成真了”，C选项“如果清楚地记住了，梦就会成真”，D选项“梦和现实是密切相关的”均不符合原文内容，所以B、C、D错误。
第2题:
推理判断题。由题干可以定位到文章第三段第一、三句People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world. Such beliefs stem from the tendency of people to allow the third event to define the time period.（人们希望看到世界的秩序、模式和意义。这种信念源于人们倾向于让第三个事件来定义时间周期。），说明人们总是希望从复杂的事件中找出某种规律，从而印证人们头脑中早已形成的某种判断。因此C选项“不幸往往按照一定的模式发生”正确。A选项“个人的不幸往往每隔一段时间就会发生”，B选项“个人的不幸、飞机失事和死亡通常一起发生”，D选项“一个人一生中发生的不幸不会超过三次”在文中均没有提及，所以A、B、D错误。
第3题:
语义推测题。由题干关键词“courtesy”可以定位到文章第六段第四句Everybody ranks himself high in qualities he values: careful drivers give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who are polite give weight to courtesy.（每个人都把自己看重的品质看得很高：谨慎的司机重视小心，熟练的司机重视技术，礼貌的司机重视礼貌。），说明“courtesy”在文中是指“礼貌”的意思。因此A选项“良好的礼貌”正确。B选项“适当的言语”，C选项“友好的关系”，D选项“令人满意的服务”均不符合题意，所以B、C、D错误。
第4题:
主旨大意题。由全文可知，作者希望人们更加关注那些不为大家所关注的，不符人们总结出的“规律”的事件，来避免从个别事实中得出不严密的结论的做法。因此A选项“不被注意的事情值得更多关注”最能概括文章主旨。B选项“在一系列的不幸中，第三件通常是最严重的”在文中没有提及，所以B错误。C选项“人们倾向于利用支持自己信念的证据”只是文章的一个方面，不能完整概括文章主旨，所以C错误。D选项“相信不幸发生三次的人在解释事件时是谨慎的”在文中没有提及，所以D错误。
第5题:
推理判断题。由题干可以定位到文章最后一段Perhaps the most important mental habit we can learn is to be cautious in drawing conclusions. The “evidence” of everyday life is sometimes misleading.（也许我们能学到的最重要的心理习惯是在得出结论时谨慎。日常生活的“证据”有时会引起误解。），说明不应该以随机证据为基础得出结论，因为它们有误导性。因此D选项“不应该把我们的结论建立在偶然的证据上”正确。A选项“即使在最宽泛的梦中也有一些真相”，B选项“人应该注意到别人的优点”，C选项“世界上的事件没有秩序和模式”在文中均没有提及，所以A、B、C错误。
