2018下半年公共英语二级阅读试题及答案解析

It’s generally believed that people act the way they do because of their personalities and attitudes. They recycle their garbage because they care about the environment. They pay $5 for a caramel brulee latte because they like expensive coffee drinks.

It’s undeniable that behavior comes from our inner dispositions(性情), but in many instances we also draw inferences about who we are, as suggested by the social psychologist Daryl Bern, by observing our own behavior. We can be strangers to ourselves. If we knew our own minds, why should we need to guess what our preferences are from our behavior? If our minds were an open book, we would know exactly how much we care about the environment or like lattes. Actually, we often need to look to our behavior to figure out who we are.

Moreover, we don’t just use our behavior to learn about our particular types of character --- we infer characters that weren’t there before. Our behavior is often shaped by little pressures around us, which we fail to recognize. Maybe we recycle because our wives and neighbors would disapprove if we didn’t. Maybe we buy lattes in order to impress the people around us. We should not mistakenly believe that we always behave as a result of some inner disposition.

Whatever pressures there can be or inferences one can make, people become what they do, though it may not be in compliance(符合)with their true desires. Therefore, we should all bear in mind Kurt Vonnegut’s advice: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

小题1:According to the passage, personalities and attitudes are commonly believed to _______. A.determine one’s behaviorB.reflect one’s taste

C.influence one’s surroundingsD.result from one’s habits

小题2:Which of the following would Daryl Bern most probably agree with? A.The return of a wallet can indicate one’s honesty.

B.A kind person will offer his seat to the old.

C.One recycles plastics to protect the environment.

D.One buys latte out of love of coffee.

小题3:What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in the passage? A.We fail to realize our inner dispositions.

B.We can be influenced by outside pressures.

C.Our behavior is the result of our true desires.

D.Our characters can shape our social relationships.

小题4:What does the author mainly discusses in the passage? A.Personalities and attitudes.B.Preferences and habits.

C.Behavior and personalities.D.Attitudes and preferences.

参考答案及解析

小题1:A

小题2:A

小题3:B

小题4:C

试题分析：

人们的行为是由什么来决定的?通常认为人的行为决定于人的内在“性情”。但是许多时候，我们却需要通过人的行为来认识人的内心，因为行为并非总能代表人的真实内心。

小题1:细节题。从第一段It’s generally believed that people act the way they do because of their personalities and attitudes.一句可知，人们通常认为“品格和态度”决定人们的行为。故选择A项。

小题2:推断题。从第二段but in many instances we also draw inferences about who we are, as suggested by the social psychologist Daryl Bern, by observing our own behavior.一句可知，与通常认为的“内在”(性情)决定“外在”(行为)不同，许多时候，我们需要通过我们的行为来认识我们的内心。这是Daryl Bern提议的。B、C、D三项都是“内在”决定“外在”的例子。A项中是“外在”显示“内在”，故该项正确。

小题3:推断题。文章第三段说到：Our behavior is often shaped by little pressures around us，下文“回收垃圾”和“买咖啡”都是说明该论点的论据。我们回收垃圾不是因为我们保护环境的内心，而是因为存在外界可能的负面评价的压力所致。故选择 B项。

小题4:主旨大意题。本文主要讨论如何认识人们的行为(外在)与品性(内在)之间的内在联系及因果关系。故选择C项。