2007考研英語真題閱讀A型四篇(背誦用)

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Ifyouweretoexaminethebirthcertificatesofeverysoccerplayerin2006’sWorldCuptournament．youwouldmostlikelyfendanoteworthyquirk：elitesoccerplayersaremorelikelytohavebeenbornintheearliermonthsoftheyearthaninthelatermonths．IfyouthenexaminedtheEuropeannationalyouthteamsthatfeedtheWorldCupandprofessionalranks，youwouldfindthisstrangephenomenontobeevenmorepronounced．

Whatmightaccountforthisstrangephenomenon?Hereareafewguesses：a)certainastrologicalsignsconfersuperiorsoccerskills；b)winter-bornbabiestendtohavehigheroxygencapacity,whichincreasessoccerstamina；c)soccer-madparentsaremorelikelytoconceivechildreninspringtime，attheannualpeakofsoccermania；d)noneoftheabove．

AndersEricsson，a58-year-oldpsychologyprofessoratFloridaStateUniversity,sayshebelievesstronglyin“noneoftheabove．”EricssongrewupinSweden，andstudiednuclearengineeringuntilherealizedhewouldhavemoreopportunitytoconducthisownresearchifheswitchedtopsychology．Hisfirstexperiment，nearly30yearsago，involvedmemory：trainingapersontohearandthenrepeatarandomseriesofnumbers．“Withthefirstsubject，afterabout20hoursoftraining，hisdigitspanhadrisenfrom7to20，”Ericssonrecalls．“Hekeptimproving，andafterabout200hoursoftraininghehadrisentoover80numbers．”

Thissuccess，coupledwithlaterresearchshowingthatmemoryitselfisnotgeneticallydetermined，ledEricssontoconcludethattheactofmemorizingismoreofacognitiveexercisethananintuitiveone．Inotherwords，whateverinborndifferencestwopeoplemayexhibitintheirabilitiestomemorize，thosedifferencesareswampedbyhowwelleachperson“encodes”theinformation．Andthebestwaytolearnhowtoencodeinformationmeaningfully,Ericssondetermined，wasaprocessknownasdeliberatepractice．Deliberatepracticeentailsmorethansimplyrepeatingatask．Rather,itinvolvessexingspecificgoals，obtainingimmediatefeedbackandconcentratingasmuchontechniqueasonoutcome．

Ericssonandhiscolleagueshavethustakentostudyingexpertperformersinawiderangeofpursuits，includingsoccer．Theygatherallthedatatheycan，notjustperformancestatisticsandbiographicaldetailsbutalsotheresultsoftheirownlaboratoryexperiments、^rimhighachievers．Theirworkmakesaratherstartlingassertion：thetraitwecommonlycalltalentishighlyoverrated．Or，putanotherway,expertperformers—whetherinmemoryorsurgery,balletorcomputerprogramming—arenearlyalwaysmade，notborn．

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Forthepastseveralyears，theSundaynewspapersupplementParadehasfeaturedacolumncalled“AskMarilyn．”PeopleareinvitedtoqueryMarilynVOSSavant．Whoatage10hadtestedatamentallevelofsomeoneabout23yearsold；thatgaveheranIQof228-thehighestscoreeverrecorded．IQtestsaskyoutocompleteverbalandvisualanalogies，toenvisionpaperafterithasbeenfoldedandcut，andtodeducenumericalsequences．amongothersimilartasks．SoitisabitconfusingwhenVosSavantfieldssuchqueriesfromtheaverageJoe(whoseIQis100)as，What’sthedifferencebetweenloveandfondness?Orwhatisthenatureofluckandcoincidence?It’snotobvioushowthecapacitytovisualizeobjectsandtofigureoutnumericalpatternssuitsonetoanswerquestionsthathaveeludedsomeofthebestpoetsandphilosophers．

Clearly,intelligenceencompassesmorethatascoreonatest.Justwhatdoesitmeantobesmart?Howmuchofintelligencecanbespecified，andhowmuchcanwelearnaboutitfromneurology,genetics,computerscienceandotherfields?

ThedefiningtermofintelligenceinhumansstillseemstobetheIQscore，eventhoughIQtestsarenotgivenasoftenastheyusedtobe．Thetestcomesprimarilyintwoforms：theStanfordBinetIntelligenceScaleandtheWechslerIntelligenceScales(bothcomeinadultandchildren’sversion)．Generallycostingseveralhundreddollars．theyareusuallygivenonlybypsychologists，althoughvariationsofthempopulatebookstoresandtheWideWeb．Superhighscores1ikeVosSavant’sarenolongerpossible，becausescoringisnowbasedonastatisticalpopulationdistributionamongagepeers，ratherthansimplydividingthementalagebythechronologicalageandmultiplyingby100．Otherstandardizedtests，suchastheScholasticAssessmentTest(SAT)andtheGraduateRecordExam(GRE)，capturethemainaspectsofIQtests．

Suchstandardizedtestsmaynotassessalltheimportantelementsnecessarytosucceedinschoolandinlife．arguesRobertJ．Sternberg．Inhisarticle“HowIntelligentIsIntelligenceTesting?”，Sternbergnotesthattraditionaltestsbestassessanalyticalandverbalskillsbutfailtomeasurecreativityandpracticalknowledge，componentsalsocriticaltoproblemsolvingandlifesuccess．Moreover,IQtestsdonotnecessarilypredictsowelloncepopulationsorsituationschange．ResearchhasfoundthatIQpredictedleadershipskillswhenthetestsweregivenunderlowstressconditions，butunderhighstressconditions，IQwasnegativelycorrelatedwithleadership—thatis,itpredictedtheopposite．AnyonewhohastoiledthroughSATwilltestifythattesttakingskillalsomatters，whetherit’sknowingwhentoguessorwhatquestionstoskip．

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Duringthepastgeneration，theAmericanmiddle．classfamilythatoncecouldcountonhardworkandfairplaytokeepitselffinanciallysecurehasbeentransformedbyeconomicriskandnewrealities．Nowapinkslip，abaddiagnosis，oradisappearingspousecanreduceafamilyfromsolidlymiddleclasstonewlypoorinafewmonths．

Injustonegeneration，millionsofmothershavegonetowork，transformingbasicfamilyeconomics．Scholars，policymakers，andcriticsofallstripeshavedebatedthesocialimplicationsOfthesechanges．butfewhavelookedatthesideeffect：familyriskhasrisenaswell．Today’sfamilieshavebudgetedtothelimitsoftheirnewtwo．paycheckstatus．Asaresult，theyhavelosttheparachutetheyoncehadintimesoffinancialsetback-aback．upearner(usuallyMorn)whocouldgointotheworkforceiftheprimaryearnergotlaidofforfellsick．This“addedworkereffect”couldsupportthesafetynetofferedbyunemploymentinsuranceordisabilityinsurancetohelpfamiliesweather。badtimes．Buttoday，adisruptiontofamilyfortunescannolongerbemadeupwithextraincomefromanotherwise-stay-at-homepartner．

Duringthesameperiod．familieshavebeenaskedtoabsorbmuchmoreriskintheirretirementincome．Steelworkers，airlineemployees，andnowthoseintheautoindustryarejoiningmillionsoffamilieswhomustworryaboutinterestrates，stockmarketfluctuation，andtheharshrealitythattheymayoutlivetheirretirementmoney．Formuchofthepastyear，PresidentBushcampaignedtomoveSocialSecuritytoaSavingsaccountmodel，withretireestradingmuchoralloftheirguaranteedpaymentsforpaymentsdependingoninvestmentreturns．Foryoungerfamilies，thepictureisnotanybetter．Boththeabsolutecostofhealthcareandtheshareofitbornebyfamilieshaverisenandnewlyfashionablehealth-savingsplansarespreadingfromlegislativehallstoWal-Martworkers，withmuchhigherdeductiblesandalargenewdoseofinvestmentriskforfamilies’futurehealthcare．Evendemographicsareworkingagainstthemiddleclassfamily，astheoddsofhavingaweakelderlyparent—andalltheattendantneedforphysicalandfinancialassistancehavejumpedeightfoldinjustonegeneration．

Fromthemiddleclassfamilyperspective，muchofthis，understandably,looksfarlesslikeanopportunitytoexercisemorefinancialresponsibility,andagooddealmorelikeafrighteningaccelerationofthewholesaleshiftoffinancialriskontotheiralreadyoverburdenedshoulders．Thefinancialfallouthasbegun，andthepoliticalfalloutmaynotbefarbehind．

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Itneverrainsbutitpours．Justasbossesandboardshavefinallysortedouttheirworstaccountingandcompliancetroubles，andimprovedtheirfeeblecorporationgovernance，anewproblemthreatenstoearnthem-especiallyinAmerica-thesortofnastyheadlinesthatinevitablyleadtoheadsrollingintheexecutivesuite：datainsecurity．Left，untilnow,toodd，low-levelITstafftoputright,andseenasaconcernonlyofdata-richindustriessuchasbanking，telecomsandairtravel，informationprotectionisnowhighontheboss’sagendainbusinessesofeveryvariety．

Severalmassiveleakagesofcustomerandemployeedatathisyear—fromorganizationsasdiverseasTimeWarner,theAmericandefensecontractorScienceApplicationsInternationalCorpandeventheUniversityofCalifornia，Berkeley—haveleftmanagershurriedlypeeringintotheirintricateITsystemsandbusinessprocessesinsearchofpotentialvulnerabilities．

“Dataisbecominganassetwhichneedstobeguardedasmuchasanyotherasset，”saysHaimMendelsonofStanfordUniversity’sbusinessschool．“Theabilitytoguardcustomerdataisthekeytomarketvalue，whichtheboardisresponsibleforonbehalfofshareholders”．Indeed，justasthereistheconceptofGenerallyAcceptedAccountingPrinciples(GAAP)，perhapsitistimeforGASP,GenerallyAcceptedSecurityPractices，suggestedEliNoamofNewYork’sColumbiaBusinessSchool．“Settingtheproperinvestment1evelforsecurity,redundancy,andrecoveryisamanagementissue，notatechnica