Our ignorance about the underlying truth of human nature has not been for want of trying. Philosophers took up the question as one of the very first that human systematically asked about themselves. But philosophers produced answers as various as Aristotle’s and Rousseau’s. Since the late 1900s, behavioral and social scientists too have tried to understand human nature. But while they have illuminated many useful bits and pieces, they have failed as system-builders. What is left of Freud’s theories, out of the beliefs that were so intellectually pervasive in mid-century? Psychotherapy remains, in abundant variety, but only remnants of Freudianism. What is left of B. F. Skinner? Behaviorism is still a productive branch of psychology, but the Skinnerian Vision of human nature that once seemed so compelling is dead.
How can we have expended so much of our collective genius on understanding human nature and still know so little for certain? Because up until now, we have been able to observe only behavior. People can hold very different views of human nature because we observe in the human being, in abundance, every sort of behavior. Or to put it statistically, human nature does not consist of universal human characteristics but of distributions. Is mankind altruistic or selfish? From everyday experience, we know that some people behave selfishly and some behave altruistically. The implications of a distribution in which, for example, the average value is “fairly selfish” are very different from the implications of a bell curve in which the average value is “fairly altruistic”. The implications of a curve that is narrow and steep (meaning that almost all human beings are very close to the median value) are very different from those of a shape that is wide and short (meaning that human nature for this characteristic is all over the map).
The problem is that, while scientists can measure the observed shape of these behaviors, they have been stymied by the nature/nurture problem. This is not to say that we know nothing. Just as geologists know a lot about the probability of finding oil based on rock formations on the surface, psychologists have learned to infer a lot about the heritability of observed traits. But in both cases, the observer is dealing with outcroppings and probabilities, while the exact, inarguable truth lies hidden.
1. It can be inferred from the passage that Freud’s theories ______.
2. The word “pervasive” in the first paragraph most probably means ______.
3. The author suggests that people are able to hold varying views of human nature because ______.
4. What does the author mean by saying “...human nature for this characteristic is all over the map” (paragraph 2)?
5. Which of the following is in accordance with the point of view presented in the passage?
问题1选项
A.are less influential than they once were
B.provide key insight into the human psyche
C.have become more popular as the years have gone by
D.provide the foundation for all psychotherapy
问题2选项
A.persuasive
B.widespread
C.misunderstood
D.ridiculous
问题3选项
A.not enough research has been done
B.by nature, humans tend to disagree
C.no one knows for sure how to draw conclusions from behavioral patterns
D.human exhibit all sorts of different kinds of behaviors
问题4选项
A.Human nature is impossible to define.
B.Humans exhibit a wide variety of values for this particular characteristic.
C.People with this characteristic are distributed over a wide geographical area.
D.Values can vary depending on location.
问题5选项
A.It is impossible to know the truth about human nature.
B.After centuries of investigation, we still know nothing about human nature.
C.Despite our efforts, there is still much we don’t know about human nature.
D.We must not give up in our efforts to understand human nature.
第1题:A
第2题:B
第3题:D
第4题:C
第5题:C
第1题:
【选项释义】
It can be inferred from the passage that Freud’s theories ________. 从文章中可以推断出,弗洛伊德的理论________。
A. are less influential than they once were A. 影响力不如从前
B. provide key insight into the human psyche B. 提供对人类心理的关键洞察
C. have become more popular as the years have gone by C. 随着时间的流逝变得越来越受欢迎
D. provide the foundation for all psychotherapy D. 为所有的心理治疗提供基础
【答案】A
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据第一段六、七句“……弗洛伊德的理论还剩下些什么呢?心理疗法仍然存在,虽然种类繁多,但只是弗洛伊德理论的残余(but only remnants of Freudianism)。”可知,弗洛伊德的心理疗法即便存在,但也不足以揭示人性内在真相,从而可推断,弗洛伊德的理论影响力不如以前,A项“影响力不如从前”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
B项“提供对人类心理的关键洞察”,弗洛伊德对心理的洞察,只是一些残余,该项属于反向干扰;
C项“随着时间的流逝变得越来越受欢迎”根据解题思路可知,该项与原文表述相反,属于反向干扰;
D项“为所有的心理治疗提供基础”没有提到,该项属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
The word “pervasive” in the first paragraph most probably means ________. 第一段中的“pervasive”这个词很可能意味着________。
A. persuasive A. 有说服力的
B. widespread B. 普遍的
C. misunderstood C. 误解的
D. ridiculous D. 可笑的
【答案】B
【考查点】词义推测题。
【解题思路】首先,根据关键词pervasive定位至第一段第六句“在上世纪中叶pervasive的思想信仰中(out of the beliefs that were so intellectually pervasive in mid-century),弗洛伊德的理论还剩下些什么呢?”,可知pervasive是用来形容弗洛伊德理论,其中提到了一个时间mid-century(上世纪中叶),根据历史常识可推知,上世纪中叶,弗洛伊德理论是盛行的,且下文“心理疗法仍然存在,虽然种类繁多,但只是弗洛伊德主义的残余”也证实了这一点,自20世纪后期以来,弗洛伊德理论只剩下一些残余,与上世纪中叶形成鲜明对比,故pervasive的意思是“普遍的,盛行的”的意思,该题选择B项“普遍的”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A项“有说服力的”、C项“误解的”和D项“可笑的”没有信息可以推断,这三项属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
The author suggests that people are able to hold varying views of human nature because ________. 作者建议人们能够对人性持有不同的观点,因为________。
A. not enough research has been done A. 没有做足够的研究
B. by nature, humans tend to disagree B. 出于天性,人类倾向于分歧
C. no one knows for sure how to draw conclusions from behavioral patterns C. 没有人确切知道如何从行为模式中得出结论
D. human exhibit all sorts of different kinds of behaviors D. 人类表现出各种不同的行为
【答案】D
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位至第二段第三句“人们可以对人性持有非常不同的看法,因为我们大量地观察到人类的各种行为”理解可知,作者建议人们能够对人性持有不同的观点,因为人类表现出各种行为,D项“人类表现出各种不同的行为”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A项“没有做足够的研究”,根据第二段第二句“因为到目前为止,我们只能观察到行为”可知,人们能够对人性持有不同的观点不是因为没有足够的研究,而是只能观察到行为,且行为表现不同,该项属于曲解原文;
B项“出于天性,人类倾向于分歧”和C项“没有人确切知道如何从行为模式中得出结论”没有提到,这两项属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
What does the author mean by saying “...human nature for this characteristic is all over the map” (paragraph 2)? 作者在第二段说“……这种特征的人性遍布地图”是什么意思?
A. Human nature is impossible to define. A. 人性是无法定义的。
B. Humans exhibit a wide variety of values for this particular characteristic. B. 对于这一特殊的特性,人类表现出各种各样的值。
C. People with this characteristic are distributed over a wide geographical area. C. 具有这种特征的人分布在广阔的地理区域。
D. Values can vary depending on location. D. 值可以根据位置而变化。
【答案】C
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位至第二段最后一句“窄而陡峭的曲线(意味着几乎所有人都非常接近中值)的含义与宽而短的曲线(这意味着这种特征的人性遍布地图)的含义非常不同”,结合第四句“或者从统计学上讲,人性不是由普遍的人类特征组成的,而是由分布组成的”可知,此处是把人性的特征分布比喻成一条曲线,宽而短的曲线意味着具备这种特征的人分布广,也就是说all over the map在这的含义指的是“遍布广阔的地理区域”,故该题选择C项“具有这种特征的人分布在广阔的地理区域”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A项“人性是无法定义的”、B项“对于这一特殊的特性,人类表现出各种各样的值”和D项“值可以根据位置而变化”在原文没有根据,这三项属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following is in accordance with the point of view presented in the passage? 下面哪一项与文章中提出的观点一致?
A. It is impossible to know the truth about human nature. A. 要了解人性的真相是不可能的。
B. After centuries of investigation, we still know nothing about human nature. B. 经过几个世纪的调查,我们仍然对人性一无所知。
C. Despite our efforts, there is still much we don’t know about human nature. C. 尽管我们做出了努力,但我们对人性仍有很多不了解的地方。
D. We must not give up in our efforts to understand human nature. D. 我们决不能放弃了解人性的努力。
【答案】C
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据第二段第一句“我们花了这么多的集体智慧去理解人性,却仍然对其知之甚少”,以及最后一段的内容“问题是,虽然科学家可以测量观察到的这些行为的形状,但他们已经被先天/后天的问题所阻碍。这并不是说我们一无所知。就像地质学家知道很多根据地表岩层找到石油的可能性一样,心理学家也学会了对观察到的特征的遗传力进行推断。但在这两种情况下,观察者面对的都是表面和可能性,而确切的、不容置疑的真相却被隐藏起来。”可知,对于人性的探索,人们做了很多的努力,但是对于人性的真相还是知之甚少,但也不是一无所知,也就是说尽管做了很多努力,但是我们对人性还有很多没有了解到的,所以C项“尽管我们做出了努力,但我们对人性仍有很多不了解的地方”与文章中提出的观点一致。
【干扰项排除】
A项“要了解人性的真相是不可能的”表述太绝对,该项属于曲解原文;
B项“经过几个世纪的调查,我们仍然对人性一无所知”,我们并不是一无所知,该项与原文相反,属于反向干扰;
D项“我们决不能放弃了解人性的努力”文中没有提到,该项属于无中生有。
【文章来源】《展望杂志》(Prospect Magazine)2000
【参考译文】
我们对人性根本真相一无所知并不是因为缺乏尝试。哲学家们把这个问题作为人类最早系统地询问自己的问题之一。但是哲学家们给出的答案就像亚里士多德和卢梭的一样五花八门。自20世纪后期以来,行为和社会科学家也试图理解人性。但是,尽管它们阐明了许多有用的细节,但作为系统构建者,它们却失败了。除了那些世纪中期在智力上普遍存在的思想信仰,弗洛伊德的理论还剩下什么?心理疗法仍然存在,种类繁多,但只是弗洛伊德主义的残余。B•F.斯金纳还剩下什么?行为主义仍然是心理学的一个卓有成效的分支,但斯金纳关于人性的观点曾经看起来如此引人注目,现在已经消亡。
为什么我们已经花费了如此多的集体智慧来理解人性,却仍然对确定的东西知之甚少?因为到目前为止,我们只能观察到行为。人们可以对人性持有不同的观点,因为我们可以大量地观察到人类的各种行为。或者用统计学的说法,人性不是由普遍的人类特征组成的,而是由分布组成的。人类是利他的还是自私的?从日常经验中,我们知道有些人表现得自私,有些人表现得利他。例如,平均值为“相当自私”的分布与平均值为“相当利他”的钟形曲线的含义非常不同。窄而陡峭的曲线(意味着几乎所有的人都非常接近中间值)的含义与宽而短的曲线(意味着这一特征的人性无处不在)的含义是非常不同的。
问题是,虽然科学家可以测量这些行为的形状,但它们一直受到先天/后天问题的阻碍。这并不是说我们一无所知。正如地质学家对基于地表岩层发现石油的可能性非常了解一样,心理学家已经学会了对观察到的特征的遗传性进行很多推断。但在这两种情况下,观察者都在处理一些表象和可能性,而确切的、无可争辩的真相却被隐藏了起来。