The terrorist attacks in London Thursday served as a stunning reminder that today’s world, you never know that you might see when you pick up newspaper or turn on the TV. Disturbing images of terror can trigger an instinctive response no matter how close or far away from home the event happened.
Throughout history, every military conflict has involved psychological warfare in one way or another as the enemy sought to break the morale of their opponent. But thanks to advances in technology, the popularity of the Internet, and proliferation news coverage, the rules of engagement in this type of mental battle have changed.
Whether it’s a massive attack or a single horrific act, the effects of psychological warfare aren’t limited to the physical damage inflicted. Instead, the goal of these attacks is to instill a sense of fear that is much greater than the actual threat itself.
Therefore, the impact of psychological terror depends largely on how the acts are publicized the interpreted. But that also means there are ways to defend yourself and your loved ones by putting these fears into perspective and protecting your children from horrific images.
What Is Psychological Terror? “The use of terrorism as a tactic is based upon inducing a climate of fear that disproportionate with the actual threat,” says Middle Eastern historian Richard Bulliet of Columbia University. “Every time you have an act of violence, publicizing that violence becomes an important part of the act itself.”
“There are various ways to have your impact. You can have your impact by the magnitude of what you do, by the symbolic character of target, or the horrific quality of what you do to a single person,” Bulliet tells WebMD. “The point is that it isn’t what you do, but it’s how it’s covered that determines the effect.” For example, Bulliet says the Iranian hostage crisis, which began in 1979 and lasted for 444 days, was actually one of the most harmless things that happened in the Middle East in the last 25 years. All of the U.S. hostages were eventually released unharmed, but the event remains a psychological scar for many Americans who watched helplessly as each evening’s newscast counted the days the hostages were being held captive.
Bulliet says terrorists frequently exploit images of a group of masked individuals exerting total power over their captives to send the message that the act is a collective demonstration of the group’s power rather than an individual criminal act. “You don’t have the notion that a certain person has taken a hostage. It’s an image of group power, and the force becomes generalized rather than personalized,” say Bulliet. “The randomness and the ubiquity (无处不在) of the threat give the impression of vastly greater capacities.”
Psychiatrist Ansar Haroun, who served in the U.S. army Reserves in the first gulfWar and more recently in Afghanistan, says that terrorist groups often resort to psychological warfare because it’s the only tactic they have available to them. “They don’t have M-16s, and we have M-16s. They don’t have the mighty military power that we have, and they only have access to things like kidnapping,” says Haroun, who is also a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.
“In psychological warfare, even one beheading (斩首) can have the psychological impact that might be associated with killing 1,000 of the enemy,” Haroun tells webMD. “You haven’t really harmed the enemy very much by killing one person on the other side. But in terms of inspiring fear, anxiety, terror, and making us all feel bad, you’ve achieved a lot of demoralization.”
1. What has changed the rules of psychological warfare?
2. The goal of psychological warfare is to ________.
3. According to Richard Bulliet, publicizing a act of violence becomes an important part of terrorism itself because ________.
4. The Iranian hostage crisis shows that ________.
5. In this passage the author ________.
问题1选项
A.Terrorist attacks.
B.The increase of military conflicts.
C.Advances in nuclear weapons.
D.Prosperity of the media.
问题2选项
A.change the ideology of the opponent
B.win a battle without military attacks
C.generate a greater sense of fear
D.bring about more physical damage
问题3选项
A.psychological terrorism is a tactic
B.terrorism depends on a climate of fear rather than on the actual threat
C.the use of terrorism is to inspire fear that is more destructive than the actual threat
D.publicizing the violence can make more people know the actual threat
问题4选项
A.means determines effects
B.hostage crises are prevalent
C.psychological terrors remain harmless
D.the American media is effective
问题5选项
A.emphasizes the great impact of psychological warfare
B.criticizes the violence of terrorism
C.calls for an end to psychological warfare
D.opposes the hostage crisis
第1题:D
第2题:C
第3题:C
第4题:A
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
What has changed the rules of psychological warfare? 是什么改变了心理战的规则?
A. Terrorist attacks. A. 恐怖袭击。
B. The increase of military conflicts. B. 军事冲突的增加。
C. Advances in nuclear weapons. C. 核武器的进展。
D. Prosperity of the media. D. 媒体的繁荣。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到第二段第二句话指出“但是,由于技术的进步(advances in technology)、互联网的普及(the popularity of the Internet)和新闻报道的激增(and proliferation news coverage),这种心理斗争的规则已经改变。”由此可知,是媒体和技术的繁荣导致了心理战的规则,对应D选项,因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项属于心理战的内容,属于出处错位;
B、C选项原文并未提到,属于无中生有;
第2题:
【选项释义】
The goal of psychological warfare is to ________.心理战的目标是________。
A. change the ideology of the opponent A. 改变对手的意识形态
B. win a battle without military attacks B. 在没有军事攻击的情况下赢得一场战斗
C. generate a greater sense of fear C. 产生更大的恐惧感
D. bring about more physical damage D. 带来更多的物理伤害
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干可定位到第三段第二句话指出“相反,这些袭击的目的是灌输一种比实际威胁本身更大的恐惧感。”由此可知心理战的目标实际上是制造恐惧感,对应C选项,因此C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B选项文中并未提到,因此属于无中生有;
D选项可定位到第三段“无论是大规模的袭击还是单一的恐怖行为,心理战的影响并不局限于物理伤害。相反,这些袭击的目的是灌输一种比实际威胁本身更大的恐惧感。”由此可知心理战的根本目的是制造恐惧感,D选项只是心理战的影响之一,属于以偏概全。
第3题:
【选项释义】
According to Richard Bulliet, publicizing a act of violence becomes an important part of terrorism itself because ________.
根据Richard Bulliet的说法,公开暴力行为本身就是恐怖主义的一个重要组成部分,因为________。
A. psychological terrorism is a tactic A. 心理恐怖主义是一种战术
B. terrorism depends on a climate of fear rather than on the actual threat B. 恐怖主义依赖于恐惧的气氛而不是实际的威胁
C. the use of terrorism is to inspire fear that is more destructive than the actual threat C. 使用恐怖主义是为了激发比实际威胁更具破坏性的恐惧
D. publicizing the violence can make more people know the actual threat D. 宣传暴力可以让更多的人知道真正的威胁
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到第五段第二句话指出“利用恐怖主义作为一种战术,是基于制造一种与实际威胁不相称的恐惧气氛(inducing a climate of fear)。”“每次发生暴力行为时,宣传暴力行为就会成为行为本身的重要组成部分。”说明暴力行为是为了制造一种与实际威胁不相称的恐惧气氛,对应C选项,因此C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
公开暴力行为是心理恐怖主义的内容之一,两者不是因果关系,A选项属于出处错位;
原文指出“利用恐怖主义作为一种战术,是基于制造一种与实际威胁不相称的恐惧气氛(inducing a climate of fear)”,而这种气氛是通过暴力行为形成的实际威胁达到的,由此可见实际威胁也是其中一环,B选项暗示实际威胁不重要,属于曲解原文;
D选项与原文观点不符,属于曲解原文。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The Iranian hostage crisis shows that ________.伊朗人质事件表明________。
A. means determines effects A. 方法决定效果
B. hostage crises are prevalent B. 人质危机很普遍
C. psychological terrors remain harmless C. 心理恐惧仍然无害
D. the American media is effective D. 美国媒体是有效的
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】第六段,最后两句话指出“始于1979年、持续了444天的伊朗人质危机,实际上是过去25年来中东发生的最无害的事情之一。所有的美国人质最终都安然无恙地获释,但这件事仍然是许多美国人的心理创伤,他们每天晚上都在无助地观看新闻,数着人质被劫持的日子。”说明即使没有造成伤亡,恐怖组织依然在人们心中留下了心理阴影,这是由恐怖组织运用心理战的技巧制造出的恐怖气氛,达到了使人们产生恐惧的效果,对应A选项,因此A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项文中并未提到,属于无中生有;
文中提到心理恐惧对人们心中留下阴影,并非无害,C选项与原文观点不符,属于曲解原文;
D选项“美国媒体”是心理战规则改变的原因,不符合题干,属于出处错位。
第5题:
【选项释义】
In this passage the author ________.在本文中,作者________。
A. emphasizes the great impact of psychological warfare A. 强调了心理战的巨大影响
B. criticizes the violence of terrorism B. 批评恐怖主义的暴力
C. calls for an end to psychological warfare C. 呼吁结束心理战
D. opposes the hostage crisis D. 反对人质危机
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】全文围绕恐怖组织实行的心理战术去阐述心理战的巨大影响,全文主旨句“这些袭击的目的是灌输一种比实际威胁本身更大的恐惧感(inducing a climate of fear that disproportionate with the actual threat)”,由此可知作者旨在强调心理战带来的巨大影响,对应A选项,因此A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项重点落在批评上,原文并未就恐怖主义的暴力进行论述并提出批评,且恐怖主义的暴力行为只出现在了文中二、三、四、五段,作者提到恐怖主义的暴力行为是为了给这种行为造成的恐惧感提供论据,并不是在阐述暴力行为本身,因此B选项属于曲解原文;
C、D选项原文并未提到,属于无中生有。