When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s amazi

题文

When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s amazing how little we have developed in other respects. We may speak contemptuously of the poor old Romans becau they relished the orgies of slaughter that went on in their arenas. We may despi them becau they mistook the goings on for entertainment. We may forgive them condescendingly becau they lived 2000 years ago and obviously knew no better. But are our feelings of superiority really justified? Are we any less blood-thirsty? Why do boxing matches, for instance, attract such universal interest? Don’t the spectators who attend them hope they will e some violence? Human beings remains as bloodthirsty as ever they were. The only difference between ourlves and the Romans is that while they were honest enough to admit that they enjoyed watching hungey lions tearing people apart and eating them alive, we find all sorts of sophisticated arguments to defend sports which should have been banned long age; sports which are quite as barbarous as, say, public hangings or bearbaiting.It really is incredible that in this day and age we should still allow hunting or bull-fighting, that we should be prepared to sit back and watch two men batter each other to pulp in a boxing ring, that we should be relatively unmoved by the sight of one or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames. Let us not deceive ourlves. Any talk of ‘the sporting spirit’ is sheer hypocrisy. People take part in violent sports becau of the high rewards they bring. Spectators are willing to pay vast sums of money to e violence. A world heavyweight championship match, for instance, is front page news. Millions of people are disappointed if a big fight is over in two rounds instead of fifteen. They feel disappointment becau they have been deprived of the exquisite pleasure of witnessing prolonged torture and violence.Why should we ban violent sports if people enjoy them so much? You may well ask. The answer is simple: they are uncivilized. For centuries man has been trying to improve himlf spiritually and emotionally – admittedly with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate the sight madmen cooped up in cages, or public floggings of any of the countless other barbaric practices which were common in the past. Prisons are no longer the grim forbidding places they ud to be. Social welfare systems are in operation in many parts of the world. Big efforts are being made to distribute wealth fairly. The changes have come about not becau human beings have suddenly and unaccountably improved, but becau positive steps were taken to change the law. The law is the biggest instrument of social change that we have and it may exert great civilizing influence. If we banned dangerous and violent sports, we would be moving one step further to improving mankind. We would recognize that violence is degrading and unworthy of human beings.小题1:It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s opinion of nowadays’ human beings is A．not very high. B．high.C．contemptuous. D．critical.小题2:The main idea of this passage is A．vicious and dangerous sports should be banned by law.B．people are willing to pay vast sums money to e violence.C．to compare two different attitudes towards dangerous sports.D．people are bloodthirsty in sports.小题3:That the author mentions the old Romans isA．To compare the old Romans with today’s people.B．to give an example.C．to show human beings in the past know nothing better.D．to indicate human beings are ud to bloodthirsty.小题4:.How many dangerous sports does the author mention in this passage?A．Three. B．Five.C．Six. D．Seven.小题5:The purpo of the author in writing this passage isA．that, by banning the violent sports, we human beings can improve our lves.B．that, by banning the dangerous sports, we can improve the law.C．that we must take positive steps to improve social welfare system.D．to show law is the main instrument of social change.Vocabularyrelish   从……获得乐处，享受orgy   狂欢，放纵arena   竞技场，活动或斗争的场所blood-thirsty 残忍的，嗜血的 bear-baiting 逗熊游戏bull-fight    斗牛batter   猛击，连续地猛打/捶，乱打pulp  成纸浆，成软块burst into flames    突然燃烧起来/着火grim   令人窒息的，简陋的coop up   把……关起来难句译注bear-baiting  逗熊游戏。这是一种十六、十七世纪流行于英国的游戏――驱狗去咬绑着的熊，很残忍，后被禁止。…two men batter each other to pulp in the boxing ring.【结构简析】batter one to pulp =" beat" one to a pulp 狠揍某人，打瘫某人【参考译文】两个人在拳击场内彼此狠揍，知道一个人被打倒在地，爬不起来。…unmoved by the sight of one or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames.【参考译文】眼见一辆或多辆赛车相互撞击，突然烧起来而无动于衷。A world heavy weight championship match is front page news.【参考译文】世界重量级冠军赛总是头版头条新闻。写作方法与文章大意作者采取先对比、后分析的写作手法。先是今人和古罗马人对暴虐体育上对此两者都欣赏。后者坦率成人“欣赏暴力体育”，前者施以各种接口、实际都是嗜血成性者。第二段进一步剖析今人欣赏暴虐体育的种种实例，最后指出改善“暴虐”的根本嗜为改善法律采取积极的步骤，法律才能施以巨大的文明影响，否则人类很难改变。 题型：未知难度：其他题型

答案

小题1:A小题2:A小题3:D小题4:B小题5:A

解析

小题1:A.  不太高。文章一开始就点出科技巨大进步，而其他方面进展很少。人们以轻蔑的口气谈及可怜的古罗马人，因为他们欣赏竞技场上的屠杀。我们轻视他们，因为他们把这些屠杀视为娱乐。我们可以降阶/屈尊地谅解他们，因为他们生活在2000年前，显然，对好的东西不知道。在这里作者反问，我们的优越感是否正确呢？我们的嗜血性是不是少一些？为什么拳击比赛吸引那么许多人？在场的观赏者（观众）是不是也希望看到一些暴力呢？结论是：人类和过去一样残忍。唯一的不同点在于古罗马人很诚实，他们承认他们欣赏观看饥饿的狮子把人撕碎，活生生吃掉，而我们会找出各种精辟的理由来保卫早该制止的运动。第二段举出具体例子，如斗牛、拳击中把人打瘫在地、车赛中，车子碰撞起火，人们就坐在那里观看欣赏，参赛者是为了高报酬，观众付出大笔钱财是为了看到暴力。作者指出任何体育精神的说法纯粹是虚伪。如果一场打比赛（世界重量级冠军赛），两轮而不是十五轮就告结束，成千上百万人们会感到失望――这些都证明人的卑下，不文明。这两段似乎也证明作者的观点应该是C项――蔑视的。但在第三段谈及，好几个世纪以来，人们一直试图在精神上和情感上改善自己，又得承认不怎么成功。可至少我们不再容忍疯人禁锢于笼中，当众鞭挞，以及其他许多过去普遍存在的野蛮行径。监狱也不再是过去那种令人窒息的禁锢之地，社会福利制度在全世界许多地方推行。在财富公平分配上也作了很大的努力。这些变化的出现不是因为人突然改善，而是在改变法律上采取了 积极的步骤。如果我们禁止危险的暴力体育项目，那么我们在改善人类方面又前进了一步。我们会认识暴力是人类的堕落和卑下（人类不应有的）。从这段来看，作者对人类还抱有希望，不是很蔑视。所以选A项。小题2:A.  法律应禁止堕落而又危险的体育项目。见第一题注释。作者从古罗马人欣赏残忍的体育项目说起，点出现代人也是嗜血成性，喜欢暴力体育项目。这是不文明，是堕落。必须制止，而法律是我们社会改革最强大的工具，它可应用，发挥强大的文明影响（第三段倒数第三句）B. 人们愿意支付巨大款项来观看暴力。这是作者说明“嗜血成性”的具体内容之一。C. 对比对危险体育项目不同的态度。这里没有对比。D.人类嗜血成性。这是作者认为人们为什么欣赏危险残忍体育项目的根源。小题3:D.  人们在体育上习惯于“嗜血成性”，过去是，现在仍然是，不同点只是前者坦直承认，后者婉转掩饰。见第一题注释。A. 把古罗马人和现代人对比。这项没有说明对比什么。B. 给出一个例子。太抽象。C. 说明过去人类不太知道更美好的东西，这两项都没有到位。小题4:.B.  5个。作者提到⑴逗熊游戏；⑵斗牛；⑶车赛；⑷拳击；⑸人狮斗。至于当众鞭挞和绞刑不能称作体育活动。小题5:A.  通过制止野蛮体育项目，我们能改善人类自身。这在第三段讲的最透彻，见第一题和第二题注释。B. 通过制止野蛮体育活动，我们能改善法律，不完全对。作者明确指出要用法律来禁止野蛮体育项目。C. 我们必须采取积极步骤来改善社会福利体制。D. 去表明法律是社会变革的主要工具。

考点

据考高分专家说，试题“When you think of th.....”主要考查你对 [健康环保类阅读 ]考点的理解。 健康环保类阅读

健康环保累阅读概念：

健康环保类文章常是介绍科学知识、生活常识和环境保护方面的短文。体裁有记叙文、 说明文、议论文和各种应用文。

健康环保类文章阅读技巧：

   健康环保类文章常是介绍科学知识、生活常识和环境保护方面的短文。阅读此类短文要以现象或事物为中心进行思考，理解现象产生的原因、条件和客观规律等。同时要抓住事物的特征、用途和相互关系等。科普环保类文章一般为说明文，从结构上看大致可分为三个部分：   第一部分一般是文章的首段，主要用来提出文章的主题，即文章想要阐述、说明的主要内容；   第二部分是文章的主体，可由若干个段落组成，对文章的主题进行展开说明；   第三部分是结尾段，对文章的主题进行归纳总结。这类文章多用一般现在时，而且一般多使用客观性词语表述。有时为了强调客观性，也常使用被动语态。   从近几年的考试题来看，科普环保类的文章越来越与人们的实际生活相接近。由于此类文章缺乏故事情节，很多同学对此类文章感到费解。但一般的科普类文章都是就事论事，需要逻辑推理和想象的时候较少，因此此类阅读题也没有同学们想象中的那么难，只要多加训练，就能较好地答题。【阅读策略】 1、概要(Summarizing)：  阅完材料后，将所阅材料浓缩，摘要，做出所阅材料的书面或口头梗概。 2、组织(Organization)：  阅读后根据阅读内容，识别观点、人物、事件之间的关系以及文章的结构关系。如：时间关系、比较或对比关系、相关关系及因果关系等。