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《考研英语阅读理解100篇 基础版》第4章 科学研究类 Unit 59

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2019年01月16日

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Whether you are a gorilla,a four-year-old child,a politician or an Olympic athlete,the signs of victory are obvious for all to see: the chest inflates,the head is thrown back and the victor displays a strutting and confident air.Shame at being defeated is equally recognizable: the head bows,and sometimes the shoulders slump and the chest narrows too—something that is not a million miles away from the cringing postures associated with submission in animals,from chimpanzees to rats,rabbits and even salamanders. Are these displays of pride and shame common to all humans? If they are,they will have evolved to serve some function. 
The past week in Beijing demonstrates that different cultures do indeed show similar displays of pride and shame.But it is difficult to say if these reactions are instinctive or learnt.Jessica Tracy at the University of British Columbia and David Matsumoto at San Francisco State University decided to explore this by comparing pictures of blind and sighted athletes from different cultures. 
In their research,published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,the team analyzed images from the judo competition held in the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games.They looked for whether or not competitors indulged in post-match behavior such as tilting their heads back,raising their arms or expanding their chests in victory,or hiding their face or narrowing their chests in defeat.They found that in response to success and failure,people from different cultures displayed the stereotypical gestures of pride and some of the components of expressions of shame.This included the blind competitors—even those blind from birth. 
Although the researchers say that congenitally blind children might have been taught by their parents to lift their hands above their heads after a victory,they speculate that it would be harder to teach them the full spectrum of displays they witnessed.These findings,then,imply that displays of pride are not simply cultural stereotypes learnt after birth,but an innate form of behavior that was relevant to the way humans lived.A display of pride(or shame),in other words,may be an evolved and innate behavioral response. 
Why? Such displays may have an evolutionary function.People could be advertising their accomplishments and ensuring their status and acceptance within their social group.Similarly,shame shows acceptance of a defeat and a reluctance to fight on(which may help to avoid further aggression),and so might well be a display of submission. 
The researchers also found that the behavioral response to shame was weaker in sighted athletes from cultures that were individualistic—or“self-expression valuing”—societies in the West.They suggest that athletes from these parts were suppressing responses in accordance with“cultural norms” that stigmatize displays of shame.If so,this would explain why the congenitally blind displayed more shame in defeat than did people who became blind later in life. 
Culture has a lot to do with displays of victory,whether it is the two-fingered“V” salute or footballers removing their clothing.Both are culturally influenced,but they have their roots in showing exactly who is on top. 
注(1):本文选自Economist; 
注(2):本文习题命题模仿对象为2004年真题Text 4(个别题目顺序加以调整)。 
1.The ways humans of different cultures display the expressions of pride and shame are ______. 
A) learnt 
B) identical 
C) alike 
D) instinctive 
2.We can infer from the text that the object of the study is to ______. 
A) discover whether displays of pride and shame are culturally determined or innate 
B) find out how differently blind and sighted athletes would display pride and shame 
C) pinpoint how being blind can influence people's specific behaviors 
D) compare the behaviors of athletes from different cultural backgrounds 
3.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,according to the text,is probably ______. 
A) a manual on scientific research 
B) an academic conference 
C) an online academic forum 
D) an academic journal 
4.According to the text,people display pride or shame probably because ______. 
A) they are in favor of evolutionary progress 
B) they want to be accepted by a social group and protect themselves 
C) they are required by their culture to show these emotions 
D) they want to fight for victory and avoid failure 
5.What can we learn from the last two paragraphs? 
A) Culture is ultimately accountable for human display of pride and shame. 
B) The fact that culture still exerts influence on human display of pride and shame undermines the conclusion of the research. 
C) Culture plays a part in shaping the way people display their pride and shame. 
D) Congenitally blind people display more shame in defeat than those who become blind later in life because they have different genes. 

无论是大猩猩、四岁幼童、政治家、还是奥运会运动员,表达胜利的方式都显而易见:昂首挺胸,而且显出骄傲自得和信心百倍的样子。被打败时的羞愧也很容易辨认:垂头含胸,有时两肩耷拉,与动物表现的顺从的畏缩姿态非常接近,无论是黑猩猩、老鼠,还是兔子,甚至是蝾螈。这些自豪与羞愧的表现是人类共有的吗?如果是的话,那么这些表现将会进化出一些功能。 
上周在北京展示了不同文化的确存在相似的自豪与羞愧的表现。但很难确定这些反应是出于本能还是后天习得。英属哥伦比亚大学的杰西卡·特雷西和旧金山州立大学的戴维·松本决定研究这个问题,他们比较了来自不同文化的失明的和视力正常的运动员的照片。 
在这项发表于美国《国家科学院院刊》的研究中,科研小组分析了2004年奥运会和残奥会的柔道比赛图像。他们查看竞技者是否会沉浸于一些赛后动作,例如成功时昂起头颅、高举双臂,或挺起胸膛,或失利后掩面含胸。他们发现在对胜利和失败作出反应时,来自不同文化的人展示出典型的胜利姿态和某些羞愧表现的成分。其中包括盲人竞技者,甚至先天失明的竞技者也是如此。 
尽管研究人员指出,那些先天失明的儿童可能是由父母教会在胜利后高举双手,但图像中显示出了完整的情绪表现,研究人员推测要教会这些是较为困难的。这些发现意味着自豪的表现并不只是后天习得的文化定势,而是一种与人类生存方式相关的先天行为。换句话说,自豪(或羞愧)的表现或许是进化形成的先天行为反应。 
为什么呢?此类表现也许有进化的作用。人们可能是在夸耀自己的成就,确保自己的地位并获得所处社会群体的认同。类似地,羞愧表现出承认失利和对继续抗争的犹豫(如此可能有助于避免遭受进一步攻击),因此也可能是顺从的表现。 
研究人员还发现,在来自崇尚个性或是自我表现的西方社会的视力正常运动员中,羞愧的行为反应相对较弱。他们提出,来自这些地方的运动员刻意压抑自己的反应来遵从反对表现耻辱的“文化规范”。如果是这样,也就可以解释为什么先天失明的盲人在失败后会比后天失明者表现出更强烈的羞愧。 
文化与胜利的表现息息相关,不论是竖起两指的“V”型手势,还是足球运动员脱掉球衣。这些都受文化的影响,但其根源都是彰显究竟谁是赢家。 
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