9.28 考研英语阅读题源外刊模拟试题【新难度 5.3&7.0】

Section II Reading Comprehension 

Part A 

Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. 

Text 4

In one of Dr Seuss's best-loved stories, an upbeat character called Sam-I-Am spends an entire book pestering a grumpy narrator to try a dish he refuses even to taste — until, worn down, the narrator finally tries it and discovers he loves it. The story works as a neat shorthand for a common human pattern: avoiding something we would actually enjoy, simply because we dread it in advance.

Not every dreaded experience turns into a pleasant surprise, of course; some misery really is unavoidable. Yet people go to remarkable lengths trying to dodge it anyway — clinging to false hope, pushing painful thoughts away, or defending their pride at any cost. Such strategies may ease the pain of the moment, but research suggests they tend, over time, to leave people considerably more miserable.

Relationships offer a clear example. Turning down a chat with a stranger on a plane avoids one obvious risk — an unwanted, hard-to-escape conversation — but repeating this habit quietly denies us interactions that might have been genuinely rewarding, without our ever realising what we missed. The same instinct turns more damaging in close relationships: people who are especially sensitive to rejection often withdraw or lash out pre-emptively at the first ambiguous sign of it, such as an unanswered message — behaviour meant to head off rejection that ends up provoking the very rejection they feared.

A survey of adults found that, while roughly half felt they took about the right amount of risk in life, most of the remainder believed they took too little — and the reason they most often gave was a wish to avoid emotions like fear and regret.

Much of this comes down to "counterfactual thinking," our habit of picturing how things might have turned out differently. People dwell far more on how a situation could have gone better than on how it could have gone worse, and it is the paths never taken — the job offer turned down, the relationship never pursued — that tend to haunt people longest, more than any specific mistake they made.

Avoidance also happens purely in the mind, through distraction and busyness. But emotions cannot be selectively numbed: dulling sadness dulls the capacity for joy as well. Counterintuitively, studies on pain find that consciously attending to an unpleasant feeling, or simply naming it, reduces its intensity more effectively than trying to distract from it.

None of this is an argument for seeking out misery on purpose. But treating the avoidance of unhappiness as a guiding principle for life, rather than an occasional and sensible precaution, tends to backfire: it narrows the range of experience available to us, including the kind that — like Sam-I-Am's dish — might have been worth trying all along.

36. Why does the author begin with the Green Eggs and Ham story?
A. To criticize parents who pressure children into trying new foods.
B. To argue that children's books offer better life lessons than adult ones.
C. To introduce the idea of avoiding things we would actually enjoy.
D. To recall a specific memory of reading to his own children.

37. According to the survey mentioned in the text, among adults who did not feel they took the right amount of risk in life,
A. most felt they took too little risk, out of a wish to avoid fear and regret
B. most felt they took too much risk, largely because of social pressure
C. an equal number felt they took too much and too little risk
D. nearly all attributed their risk-taking level to their relationships

38. According to the text, what tends to haunt people longest?
A. Mistakes they actively made and cannot undo
B. Situations where the outcome was worse than expected
C. Decisions that turned out well but felt risky at the time
D. Opportunities they chose not to pursue

39. What does research on pain mentioned in the text suggest?
A. Distracting oneself from a painful feeling is the most effective coping method.
B. Consciously acknowledging or naming a painful feeling can lessen its intensity.
C. Painful emotions cannot be reduced by any conscious mental effort.
D. Sadness and joy can be numbed independently of each other.

40. Which of the following best expresses the author's overall argument?
A. People should deliberately seek out difficult and painful experiences.
B. Avoiding emotional risk is generally a wise long-term strategy.
C. Childhood stories offer more reliable guidance than psychological research.
D. Treating the avoidance of unhappiness as a life principle is self-defeating.

附注：根据历年考研英语真题阅读题源外刊等，摘选最新文章，模拟仿真出题。

参考答案见以下。

Quick look: CADBD

36.【正确答案】C
【解析】题型：例证/功能推理题
定位：第一段末句 "The story works as a neat shorthand for a common human pattern: avoiding something we would actually enjoy, simply because we dread it in advance."
分析：作者开篇借苏斯博士的故事，是为了引出全文的核心行为模式——人们常常因为提前预设的恐惧而回避自己其实会喜欢的事物。C项准确对应这一功能。
干扰项：[A]"批评强迫孩子尝试新食物的父母"无中生有，原文没有对任何家长行为作出评判；[B]"论证儿童读物比成人读物更具人生启示"无中生有，原文没有在儿童读物与成人读物之间做任何比较；[D]"回忆给自己孩子读书的具体经历"无中生有，本文改写后并未保留"讲给自己孩子听"这一私人细节，故事在文中是作为普遍行为模式的引子，而非个人回忆的叙述对象。

37.【正确答案】A
【解析】题型：细节理解题（方向辨析）
定位：第四段 "most of the remainder believed they took too little — and the reason they most often gave was a wish to avoid emotions like fear and regret."
分析：调查发现，在认为自己冒险程度不合适的人当中，多数人认为自己冒险"太少"而非"太多"，原因是想要避免恐惧和遗憾等情绪。A项准确对应这一方向和原因。
干扰项：[B]"多数人认为冒险太多，主要因为社会压力"方向与原因均相反，原文明确是"太少"，原因是情绪回避而非社会压力；[C]"认为太多与太少的人数相当"无中生有，原文明确用"most"（多数）而非"相当"来描述这部分人的倾向；[D]"几乎所有人都将冒险程度归因于人际关系"无中生有，本段给出的原因是"避免恐惧和遗憾"，"人际关系"是文中另一段单独讨论的例子，与本调查的归因无关，属于跨段借用陷阱。

38.【正确答案】D
【解析】题型：细节理解题（方向辨析）
定位：第五段 "it is the paths never taken — the job offer turned down, the relationship never pursued — that tend to haunt people longest, more than any specific mistake they made."
分析：原文明确指出，最让人长久耿耿于怀的是"未曾走过的路"（错失的机会），其困扰程度超过任何具体做错的事情。D项准确对应这一结论。
干扰项：[A]"主动做出且无法挽回的错误"与原文比较关系相反，原文说的是"未选择的机会"比"具体做错的事"更持久地困扰人，而非后者更持久；[B]"结果比预期更糟的情形"偷换概念，原文强调的是人们更多设想"事情本可以更好"（upward），而非纠结于"结果比预期更差"；[C]"事后看来正确但当时觉得冒险的决定"无中生有，原文未提及此类决定。

39.【正确答案】B
【解析】题型：细节理解题（反常识结论）
定位：第六段末句 "consciously attending to an unpleasant feeling, or simply naming it, reduces its intensity more effectively than trying to distract from it."
分析：该段给出一个反直觉的研究结论：有意识地关注或说出令人不快的感受，比转移注意力更能有效降低其强度。B项准确对应这一结论。
干扰项：[A]"转移注意力是最有效的应对方式"与原文结论相反，原文明确"专注/命名情绪"比"转移注意力"更有效；[C]"痛苦情绪无法通过任何有意识的努力减轻"与原文相反，原文恰恰说明有意识地关注/命名情绪能够减轻其强度；[D]"悲伤与快乐可以被分别独立地麻痹"与原文相反，原文明确"emotions cannot be selectively numbed: dulling sadness dulls the capacity for joy as well"，即二者无法被独立地分开处理。

40.【正确答案】D
【解析】题型：主旨大意题
定位：末段 "treating the avoidance of unhappiness as a guiding principle for life, rather than an occasional and sensible precaution, tends to backfire: it narrows the range of experience available to us"
分析：末段是对全文论证的收束——文章并非主张主动追求痛苦，而是指出把"回避不快乐"当作人生的指导原则会适得其反，缩窄一个人可能拥有的经历范围。D项准确概括这一核心论点，也与开篇的比喻（可能被错过的美好事物）首尾呼应。
干扰项：[A]"人们应该主动追求困难和痛苦的经历"程度夸大，末段开篇即明确"None of this is an argument for seeking out misery on purpose"（这并非主张主动招致痛苦）；[B]"回避情感风险总体上是明智的长期策略"与全文观点完全相反，这正是文章从头到尾在反驳的立场；[C]"童年故事比心理学研究更可靠"无中生有，全文中苏斯博士的故事只是引出话题的比喻手法，原文未对二者的可靠性做任何比较。

【参考译文】

在苏斯博士（Dr. Seuss）最受喜爱的故事之一中，一位名叫“山姆”（Sam-I-Am）的乐观角色整本书都在软磨硬泡，试图让一位脾气暴躁的叙述者尝尝一道他连碰都不愿碰的菜——直到最后，叙述者终于在纠缠下尝了一口，结果发现自己竟然爱上了这道菜。这个故事生动地概括了一种常见的人性模式：仅仅因为预先心存恐惧，我们就避开了那些本能让我们乐在其中的事物。

当然，并非每一次令人畏惧的经历最终都会带来惊喜；有些痛苦确实是无法避免的。然而，人们往往会费尽心思试图逃避痛苦——比如紧抓虚假的希望不放、排斥痛苦的念头，或者不惜一切代价维护自尊。这些策略或许能缓解当下的痛苦，但研究表明，从长远来看，它们往往会让人们陷入更深的痛苦之中。

人际关系就是一个典型的例子。在飞机上拒绝与陌生人交谈，确实避免了一个显而易见的风险——即陷入​​一场不情愿且难以脱身的对话；但如果这种习惯成为常态，我们就会在不知不觉中错失许多真正有益的互动机会。这种本能在亲密关系中往往会造成更大的破坏：那些对拒绝特别敏感的人，一旦察觉到哪怕一丝模糊的拒绝信号（比如对方没回信息），往往会选择退缩或先发制人地发起攻击——这种本意是为了防范拒绝的行为，最终却恰恰招致了他们所恐惧的拒绝。

一项针对成年人的调查发现，尽管约有一半人认为自己在生活中承担的风险适度，但其余大多数人则认为自己承担的风险太少——而他们给出的最主要理由，就是希望避免恐惧和遗憾等情绪。

这在很大程度上归结于“反事实思维”，即我们习惯于想象事情可能会有怎样不同的走向。相比于设想情况可能变得更糟，人们往往更纠结于事情本可以变得多好；那些未曾踏足的路径——比如拒绝了一份工作邀约、没有去追求一段感情——往往比犯下的任何具体错误更长久地萦绕在人们心头。

逃避也可能纯粹发生在内心层面，表现为通过分心或让自己忙碌来回避问题。然而，情感无法被选择性地麻痹：若削弱了悲伤的感受，也会随之削弱感受快乐的能力。反直觉的是，针对疼痛的研究发现，与其试图转移注意力，不如有意识地关注那种不适感，甚至仅仅是给它起个名字，反而能更有效地降低其强度。

这并非主张人们刻意去寻求痛苦。但如果将“回避不快乐”奉为人生准则，而非仅仅视其为一种偶尔采取的明智防范措施，往往会适得其反：这会局限我们的人生体验范围，让我们错失那些本值得一试的事物——就像那个“山姆”（Sam-I-Am）故事里的那道菜一样。

附注：