2011年3月全国英语等级考试第三级PETS-3真题分题型解析—Reading Comprehension
SECTION Ⅲ Reading Comprehension
(40 minutes)
Part A
Directions:
Read the following three texts. Answer thequestions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWERSHEET 1.
Text 1
WheneverCatherine Brown, a 37-year-old journalist, and her Mends, professionals intheir 30s and early 40s, meet at a London cafe, their favorite topic ofconversation is relationships: men’s reluctance to commit, women’sindependence, and when to have children—or, increasingly, whether to have themat all. “With the years passing my chances of having a child go down, but Iwon’t marry anyone just to have a child,” says Brown. To people like Brown,babies are great—if the timing is right. But they’re certainly not essential.
Inmuch of the world, having kids is no longer a given. “Never before haschildlessness been an understandable decision for women and men in so manysocieties,” says Frank Hakim at the London School of Economics. Young peopleare extending their child-free adulthood by postponing children until they arewell into their 30s, or even 40s and beyond.
A growing share is ending up with no children at all. Lifetime childlessness inwestern Germany has hit 30 percent among university-educated women，and is rapidly risingamong lower-class men. In Britain, the number of women remaining childless hasdoubled in 20 years.
The latest trend of childlessness does not follow historic patterns. For centuriesit was not unusual for a quarter of European women to remain childless. But inthe past, childlessness was usually the product of poverty or disaster, ofmissing men in times of war. Today the decision to have—or not have—a child is the result of acomplex combination of factors, including relationships, career opportunities,lifestyle and economics.
In some cases childlessness among women can be seen as aquiet form of protest. In Japan， support for working mothers hardly exists. Child care is expensive, mendon’t help out, and some companies strongly discourage mothers from returningto work. “In Japan, it’s career or child,” says writer Kaori Haishi. It’s notjust women who are deciding against children; according to a recent study,Japanese men are even less inclined to marry or want a child. Their motivations,though, may have more to do with economic factors.
46. Catherine Brown and her friends feel that having childrenis not _______.
[A] totally wise [B]a huge problem
[C] a rational choice [D]absolutely necessary
47. It can be inferred that, for many women, having babiesnowadays is _______.
[A] a hard commitment [B]helpful to their career
[C] essential forhappiness [D]an understandable decision
48. In the old days, many women remained childless _______.
[A] as a quiet form ofprotest [B]because of lack of support
[C] because of unfortunatecircumstances [D] because theylacked social responsibility
49. We learn that childlessness at present ________.
[A] affects Europe more than it does Asia
[B] produces more benefitsthan in the past
[C] is more a woman’sdecision than a man’s
[D] is more complex in itscause than that in the past
50. According to the text, when a Japanese man decides not to havechildren, he probably feels unable to _______.
[A] help with housework [B]afford to have a child
[C] be a responsible father [D]balance work and family
Text 2
Faced with a mission-critical decision, who wouldyou turn to for advice? Someone you had great confidence in, surely. Butseveral lines of research show that our instincts about where to turn to forcounsel are often not completely correct.
My research looks at prejudices that affect howpeople use advice, including why they often blindly follow recommendations frompeople who—as far as they know—are as knowledgeable as they are. In studies Iconducted with Don Moore of Carnegie Mellon University, for example, I foundthat people tend to overvalue advice when the problem they’re addressing ishard and to undervalue it when the problem is easy.
In our experiments, subjects were asked to guess theweight of people in various pictures, some of which were in focus and some ofwhich were unclear. For each picture, subjects guessed twice : the first timewithout advice and the second time with input from another participant. Whenthe pictures were in focus，we found，subjectstended to discount the advice; apparently，theywere confident in their ability to guess correctly. When the pictures wereunclear, subjects leaned heavily on the advice of others and seemed less secureabout their initial opinion. Because they misjudged the value of the advicethey received—consistently overvaluing or undervaluingit depending on the difficulty of the problem—oursubjects did not make the best guesses overall. They would have done better ifthey’d considered the advice equally, and to a moderate degree, on both hardand easy tasks.
Another advice-related prejudice I’ve found compelspeople to overvalue advice that they pay for. In one study I conducted,subjects answered different sets of questions about American history. Beforeanswering some of the questions, they could get advice on the correct answerfrom another subject whom they knew was no more expert than they were. In oneversion of the experiment, people could get advice for free, while in anotherversion, they paid for it. When they paid for advice, people tended to havefirm belief in it, I suspect, by a combination of sunk-cost prejudice and thenearly instinctual belief that cost and quality are linked.
51. In theface of a mission-critical decision, people tend to _______.
[A] trust their own effort [B] rely onresearch findings
[C] get affected by other’s opinion [D] seek help from the moreknowledgeable
52. Researchshows that when faced with difficult problems people often ______ .
[A] discount others’ advice [B] overlookothers’ advice
[C] disagree with others’ advice [D] over-rely onothers’ advice
53. Thefirst experiment tries to prove how objective conditions _______.
[A] strengthen people’s initial opinion [B] strengthen people’sself-confidence
[C] influence people’s response to advice [D] influence people’s guess ofweight loss
54. It canbe inferred that people are likely to _______.
[A] undervalue free advice [B] overvaluepeer’s advice
[C] misinterpret specialist’s advice [D] misjudge theirinstinctual belief
55. The twoexperiments mentioned in the text reveal _______.
[A] how to follow others’ advice [B] how to understandothers’ advice
[C] what causes people to seek advice [D] what affects people’sattitude to advice
Text 3
Top National Health Service (NHS) nurses will beable to earn $ 40,000 a year without leaving frontline patient care in amodification to salary structures. New “super nurse” grades will be created toenable the best staff to increase their salaries without having to move intomanagement desk jobs. Currently the most senior NHS nurses can earn a maximum $28,000 a year unless they are willing to withdraw from the frontline and becomeadministrators. Hundreds of experienced and highly-qualified nurses are lost topatient care every year because of this oddity.
While only a few thousand of Britain’s 332,000 NHSnurses will qualify for the $ 40,000-plus salary, fast-track promotion schemesand a simpler grading system will increase the pay of many more. The governmentannounced that a new simplified career structure would see just four gradesreplacing the existing six. Nurses will begin their careers as healthcareassistants before moving up to registered practitioner grade，followed by senior registered practitioner andultimately consultant practitioner and a $ 40,000 salary.
“Nurses are rising to the challenge of modernisation,"said a government official. "These proposals will help them improve theirprofessional role further and provide a better service to patients. We do notthink that in order to be paid more，nursesshould have to move into management. Nurses working at the sharp end of patientcare should have a career structure which no longer penalises them for wantingto stay there. “
The Nursing Strategy will include proposals to allowmore flexible training courses and improve opportunities for qualified nurseswho have left the profession to return in part-time roles. The Royal College ofNursing welcomed the reforms. The top salary level falls into line with figuresit had presented to ministers.
56. Hundredsof experienced nurses are lost to patient care every year because they _______.
[A] dislike the nursing job [B] aredissatisfied with their pay
[C] are replaced by “super nurses” [D] lack further trainingfor the profession
57. The newsystem will mostly benefit those who _______.
[A] move into management [B] work on apart time basis
[C] have retired from the nursing job [D] have reached the top of thesystem
58. The newcareer structure is different from the existing one in its_______.
[A] quality of nurses’ services [B] possibility ofa job transfer
[C] opportunities for promotion [D] simplicity ofnurses’ grades
59. TheNursing Strategy will be adopted in order to_______.
[A] provide more consultation topractitioners
[B] encourage experienced nurses to workpart time
[C] enable the most experienced nurses tobe paid more
[D] promote the most experienced nursesto management
60. TheRoyal College of Nursing_______.
[A] proposed similar top salary fornurses [B] raised the managementissue to ministers
[C] suggested a four-grade system fornurses [D] put forward the NursingStrategy to ministers
Part B
Directions:
Read the texts from a magazine in whichfive people voice their different opinions in response to an article on theissue of praising. For questions 61 to 65, match the name of each person (61 to 65) to one of the statements (A to G) given below. Mark your answers on ANSWERSHEET 1.
Ankita Agarwal:
Your article made me ashamed. I’ve always thought of myself as not the typical self-absorbedteenager, but I guess I was wrong. While I sit in my large, warm and cozyhouse, wishing for the shoes and clothes I see in teen magazines，there are people in the world wishing for something as simple as cleanwater. Thank you for reminding me about people who would be more than happywith what I have.
Janet Tejada:
What about therelationship between population, consumption and resources? After all, poverty,most simply defined, is not having enough resources. The steady growth of theglobal population, overconsumption of resources by developed nations such asthe U.S.，and increasing levels of consumption amongthe growing middle class in many developing nations ensure that there is everless of the planet’s already dwindling resources to go around.
Tadaship Kawabe:
Extreme poverty is so tragic. Sudden natural disasters like an earthquake mobilize a largenumber of people and money for a short period of time，while the slow but massive wave of poverty and death in Africa doesn’tattract the world’s attention in the same way. When we try to help thoseaffected by disasters and extreme poverty, however, we shouldn’t focus on theoverwhelming number of the dead but simply try to do something good for others.
Jane Thomas:
The poor should be trained to organize, set priorities and develop skills and resources to puttheir own community plans into action. What your article proposes is theconventional top-down way for doing things: outsiders determine the prioritiesand solutions, then throw money at them. To actually help, we must firstdevelop our own skills and understanding. We need to find out what the poorwant and what the root causes of the problems are. We have to listen to poorpeople.
Sanjay Kathe:
Concerned and sensible people’s endeavors to reduce poverty in underdeveloped countries aredeserving of high praise. It is sad, however, that only a small part of thefunds raised for the poor actually reach them. The generous people who donatemoney to reduce poverty would be more successful if they spent time in the poornations to check first-hand the use of their funds.
Now match the name of each person (61 to 65) to the appropriate statement.
Note: there are two extra statements.
Statements
61. Ankita Agarwal [A] What we should do is to help the poor help themselves.
62. Janet Tejada [B] I have always been deeply grieved by the tragicdisasters.
63. Tadaship Kawabe [C] The root of poverty lies in the unfairdistribution of resources.
64. Jane Thomas [D] The situation in Africa has been overlooked by theworld.
65. Sanjay Kathe [E] The use of donated funds should be put under strictcontrol.
[F]People living in prosperity should cherish what they have.
[G]It’s our duty to end global poverty.
【答案速查】
46~50 D A C D B
51~55 C D C A D
56~60 B D D C A
61~65 F C D A E
【答案解析】
Part A
Text 1
46.【答案】D
【题型】细节题
【出处】题目问的是：CatherineBrown和他的朋友觉得有孩子不是_____。从第一段最后一句话“But theyare certainly not essential(必要的)”得知，此空应填“必要的”的同义词necessary。故选D。
47.【答案】A
【题型】推理题
【出处】题目问的是从文中可以看出，对于很多女性来说，现今有孩子是_______。从文章中得知现代社会妇女生育并非理所当然，而是综合一系列因素之后做出的决定，是个艰难的选择。故选A。
48.【答案】C
【题型】细节题
【出处】题目问的是：在旧时代，很多女性不生孩子是为了什么。从第四段第三句“But in the past, childlessnesswas usually the product of poverty or disaster, of missing men in times of war.”可以看出旧时代女性不生孩子是因为一系列不幸的因素。
49.【答案】D
【题型】细节题
【出处】题目问的是：我们可以从文中看出，现今不生孩子的现象______。从文章第四段第四句话“achild is the result of a complexcombination of factors”得知，不生孩子的原因比过去更复杂。故选D。其他选项在文中并没有明确的出处。
50.【答案】B
【题型】细节题
【出处】 题目问的是：由文章可知，当一个日本男人决定不生孩子时，他很可能觉得自己不能_____。从文章第五段第三句话“Childcare is expensive，and men don’t help out.”及最后一句话“Their motivations, though,may have more to do with economicfactors.”可知，日本男人决定不要孩子很可能是因为财力无法承担。故选B。
参考译文
凯瑟琳•布朗，一位三十七岁的记者，每次和她三四十岁的朋友们在伦敦一间咖啡屋碰面时，她们最爱聊的话题就是“关系”：男人们怠于承担，女人们的自立，还有什么时候要孩子——或者，越来越多地谈到到底要不要孩子。“年华流逝，我要孩子的机会也在减少，但是我不会仅为了要孩子而找个人结婚，”布朗说道。对于像布朗一样的人而言，有孩子再好不过了——当然如果时机到了。但孩子肯定不是必须的。
在世界的许多地方，要孩子都不再是必须的。“从前，不要孩子这个决定对于许多社会中的男男女女都是不可理解的，”伦敦经济学院的弗朗克•哈基姆说道。年轻人正在延长他们无子无女的成年时光，推迟生儿育女的年龄，直到他们步入三十，或四十岁，或更久。
越来越多的人终生没有孩子。在德国西部，受过大学教育的女性中，百分之三十终生无子女，这一比例在下层男性中正快速增长。在英国，女性无子女的人数在二十年内翻了一番。
新近流行的无子女潮流并没有延续历史的模式。几个世紀以来，四分之一欧洲女性无子女是很寻常的事。但是在过去，无子女常常是因为贫穷或灾害，或是因为战争时期缺少男性。如今，决定要或是不要——孩子取决于一系列的因素，包括各类关系、事业机遇、生活方式以及经济状况。
某些情况下女性充子女可视为一种沉默的反抗形式。在日本，工作女性几乎孤立无援。照料孩子开销很大，男人不分担，并且许多公司强烈抗议妈妈级女性重新面来工作。“在日本，事业与孩子不可兼得，”作家叶石香织说道。根据最近一项研究表明，不光是女人不想要孩子，日本的男人更不想结婚生子。日本男人考虑更多的是经济方面的原因。
Text 2
51.【答案】C
【题型】细节题
【出处】题目问的是：在面临关键任务决策的时候，人们倾向于______。首先在第一段第一句发现关键词：mission-critical decision. 第一句问当你面临关键决策时，会向谁寻求意见?第二句答：“Someone you had great confidence in(你十分信任的某人), surely!” 得知，当面临重大决定时，人们总是受到他人影响。故选C。
52.【答案】D
【题型】细节题
【出处】题目问的是：“调查显示，当面临困难问题时，人们经常______。文中第二段第二句中部，“I found thatpeople tend to overvalue advice…”得知人们经常过度依赖他人的建议，故选D.
53.【答案】C
【题型】推理题
【出处】题目问的是：第一次实验试图证明客观环境如何______。第三段第三句提到，当影像清晰的时候，人们倾向于排斥他人的意见，而当影像模糊的时候，调查对象会过于依赖他人的建议，可见客观环境的变化会影响人们对他人建议的反应。故选C。
54.【答案】A
【题型】推理题
【出处】题目问的是：从文中可以看出，人们倾向于______。从文章最后一段第一句“I’ve found compels people to overvalue advice that they pay for.”得知，人们缴纳咨询费时，往往会对别人的建议坚信不疑，可推知如果免费得到建议，则可能不太重视。故选A。
55.【答案】D
【题型】推理题
【出处】题目问的是：文中提到的两种实验揭示了______。文章的后两段分别阐释了两个实验的内容和目的，第一个实验是为了测试客观条件对人们是否依赖他人建议的影响，第二个是为了判断付费对人们是否依赖他人建议的影响。二者都是为了测试什么影响了人们对他人建议的态度。故选D。
参考译文
当面临重大决定时，你会向谁求助呢?当然是你最信任的人!但是多项研究表明我们向别人求助的本能经常不是完全正确的。
我的研究旨在观察影响人们对待建议的态度的 偏见，包括他们为什么会执着于和他们自身见识一样的人的建议。我与卡内基麦隆大学的顿•摩尔共同进行的研究表明，当人们处理的问题棘手时，他们倾向于过于重视他人意见，反之则轻视他人意见。
在实验中，我们要求调查对象猜测几幅画中人物的体重，有的清晰，有的不清晰。对每幅画，他们都有两次猜的机会，第一次没有别人的建议，而笫二次则可以依据另一个参与者的信息。我们发现，当图像清晰的时候，他们倾向于排斥他人的意见，相信自己正确判断的能力。而当图像模糊的时候，他们则过于依赖他人的建议，对于自己原先的判断不确定。由于他们对于所接受的建议的价值一直都没有做出正确的判断，一直都是高估或低估，所以他们整体上没有做出最佳的猜测。如果他们在一定程度上平等考虑所有的建议，他们的表现可能会好很多。
我发现了另一个与建议有关的倾向性，即人们会高估他们付费的建议。在我开展的一个研究中，调查对象回答了几组关于美国历史的问题。回答一些问题之前，他们可以从另外一个调查对象那里得到一个正确答案的建议，他明白这个调查对象知道的和他一样多。在一次试验中，他们无偿得到建议。而在另一个实验中却要付费。付费时，人们倾向于坚信这个建议。我怀疑，这是由于沉没成本偏见以及近乎本能的一种信念，即代价与质量相关。
Text 3
56.【答案】B
【题型】细节题
【出处】题目问的是：数以百计的有经验的护士门对护理逐年失去耐心的原因。从文章第一段第四句话“Hundreds of experienced and highly-qualified nurses are lost to the patient care each year because of this oddity”本句中，this oddity指的是前一句说到的“顶级国民保健护理员最高年薪为28，000美金，条件是护理员自愿撤离第一线，而成为管理人员。”这一怪象。得知，保健护理人员是不满足之前的低薪水，所以离开了护理第一线。故选B。
57.【答案】D
【题型】细节题
【出处】题目问的是：新的体系会最使什么人获益。从文章第一段第二句话“New “super nurse” grades will be created toenable the best staff to increase their salaries”得知受益最大的是级别最髙的护士。故选D。
58.【答案】D
【题型】细节题
【出处】题目问的是：新事业结构域现存的事业结构的不同在于什么。从文章第二段第二句话“Thegovernment announcedthat a new simplified career structure would see just four grades replacing theexisting six. ”得知，新规定的特点是简化了护士的等级，由六级减为四级。故选D。
59.【答案】C
【题型】推理题
【出处】题目问的是：采纳护理策略的目的是什么。第三段最后两句话，We do not think that in order to be paidmore，nurses should have to move into management.Nurses working at the sharp end of (第一线)patientcare should have a career structure which no longer penalises them for wantingto stay there. “新规定的目的就是增加有经验的护士的收入，使他们不必加入管理层才能加薪。故选C。
60.【答案】A
【题型】细节题
【出处】题目中提到皇家护理学院，定位到文章第四段第三句话“The Royal College of Nursing welcomedthe reforms.Thetop salary level falls into line with figures it had presented tothe ministers. ”得知，皇家护理学院为护士提出的最高工资与已提交给政府的数据保持一致。故选A。
参考译文
在修正的薪金结构中，一流的国民保健护理人员在无需离开病人监护第一线的情况下，将得到40，000 美金的年薪。新“超级护理员”级别的创建将使优秀人员在不转向管理型文案工作的情况下提高薪水成为可能。目前，顶级国民保健护理员最高年薪为28，000美金，条件是护理员自愿撤离第一线，而成为管理人员。由于这一奇怪现象，病人护理行业每年都会流失成百上千位经验丰富且十分合格的护理员。
尽管英国33，200位国民保健护理员中仅有几千人能合格，并获得超过40，000美金的年薪，但平步青云之道和更简化的评级制度将大大增加他们的薪水。政府声明，新的简化的事业结构将用四个级别来代替现有的六个级别。护理员将从保健助理的身份起步，之后将升为注册医疗师、高级注册医疗师，最后是高级顾问医生，年薪40，000美金。
“护理员正在应对来自现代化的挑战，” 一位政府官员讲到。“这些调整将有助于护理员改善其职业作用，给病人提供更好的服务。我们认为，护理人员不应为了高薪水而调入管理部门。理应有一事业结构使工作在病人保健第一线的护理员不因留在保健部门而在薪资方面处于不利地位。”
护理策略将嚢括：准许更加灵活的培训课程，为业已离开其本职工作而转向兼职的合格护理员提供更多机会。皇家护理学院乐于接受这些改进。最高薪资水平与已提交给政府的数据相应。
Part B
61.【答案】 F
【题型】主旨题。
【解析】第一段第三句提到，当安基塔•阿加瓦尔自己坐在宽敞温暖舒适的房子里，渴望着更多的鞋子与衣服时，有的人却连最基本的饮用水都没有，相比之下，忽然觉得自己很幸福，与F项“富裕中的人们应当珍惜当下的生活”表示的意思相同。故选F。
62. 【答案】C
【题型】主旨题。
【解析】第二段最后一句提到珍妮特•特哈达认为贫困之源在于发达国家和发展中国家中产阶级过度 消费资源导致的资源全球性分配不公，与C项“贫困之源在于资源分配不公”表示的意思相同。故选C。
63.【答案】 D
【题型】主旨题。
【解析】第三段第二句提到，河边正认为国际社会对地震等天灾很关注，但对于慢性的、大规模的贫困却不重视，与D项“非洲形势被世界忽略”表示的意思相同。故选D。
64. 【答案】A
【题型】主旨题。
【解析】第四段简•托马斯认为我们应该教会穷人建立组织，学习技能，使他们的社区实现自立，与A项“我们应该帮助穷人自助”表示的意思相同。故选A。
65. 【答案】E
【题型】主旨题。
【解析】第五段第二句指出桑杰•克提认为旨在帮助穷人的基金只有很少一部分真正用到了穷人身上，提出要监督资金使用情况，与E项“基金的使用应受到严格控制”表示的意思相同。故选E。
参考译文
说明：下文来自于五个人对全球贫因议题的评 论。为61—65题中的人物名字(61—65)挑选出与他们的观点相应的观点(A—G)。将答案填到答题纸上。
安基塔•阿加瓦尔：
您的文章让我感到很惭愧。一直以来，我总认为自己不是那种典型的自以为是的少年，但我还是错了。当我坐在既宽敞又温暖舒适的家里,梦想着那些我在青春杂志里看到的鞋子和衣服时，世界上还有人在盼望着诸如干净的水源这样极其简单的东西。谢谢您让我明白应该为拥有的事物感到幸福。
珍妮特•特哈达：
人口，消费和资源之同有什么样的关系呢?总之,简单点来定义贫困，就是拥有资源的不足。全球人口的持续增长,如美国之类的发达国家严重的过度资源消费，和不断成长的发展中国家的中产阶级不断攀升的消费水平，让地球的资源不断减少并且难以供应。
河边正：
极端贫困实在是个悲剧。突发的自然灾害，比如地震,会在短时期内引来大量的人力和资金。然而在非洲过程更慢但规模巨大的贫困和死亡浪潮，却没有受到那样的关注。当我们在帮助那些灾难和贫困中的人时,我们更应该帮助那些生还者，使他们过得更好一些，而非过多关注那些死去的人们。
简•托马斯：
在建立组织、学习技能、开发资源、实施所在社区的计划方面，那些贫因的人们应该优先受到培训。你文中主张的是传统的自上而下的方式：外来人决定优先权和方案，然后给予他们资金。为了更切实际地帮助他们，我们必须发展我们自己的技能并对他们进行理解。我们需要弄清楚那些贫困的人们的需要，以及这些困难的根源所在。我们需要聆听那些穷人们怎么说。
桑杰•克提：
为减轻发展中国家的贫穷而做出巨大贡献的人 们,他们心怀忧虑和担心，他们的作为是值得赞赏的。然而可悲的是，到穷人手里的只是很少一部分基金。如果那些慷慨解嚢的人花点时间直接到那些贫穷国家去督查一下的话，那些用于减贫的基金将会得到更有效地利用。
