Part A: Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Text 3
In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell argues that “social epidemics” are driven in large part by the actions of a tiny minority of special individuals, often called influentials, who are unusually informed, persuasive, or well connected. The idea is intuitively compelling, but it doesn’t explain how ideas actually spread.
The supposed importance of influentials derives from a plausible-sounding but largely untested theory called the “two-step flow of communication”: Information flows from the media to the influentials and from them to everyone else. Marketers have embraced the two-step flow because it suggests that if they can just find and influence the influentials, those select people will do most of the work for them. The theory also seems to explain the sudden and unexpected popularity of certain looks, brands, or neighborhoods. In many such cases, a cursory search for causes finds that some small group of people was wearing, promoting, or developing whatever it is before anyone else paid attention. Anecdotal evidence of this kind fits nicely with the idea that only certain special people can drive trends.
In their recent work, however, some researchers have come up with the finding that influentials have far less impact on social epidemics than is generally supposed. In fact, they don’t seem to be required at all.
The researchers’ argument stems from a simple observation about social influence: With the exception of a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey-whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media, not interpersonal, influence- even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others. Yet it is precisely these non-celebrity influentials who, according to the two-step-flow theory, are supposed to drive social epidemics, by influencing their friends and colleagues directly. For a social epidemic to occur, however, each person so affected must then influence his or her own acquaintances, who must in turn influence theirs, and so on; and just how many others pay attention to each of these people has little to do with the initial influential. If people in the network just two degrees removed from the initial influential prove resistant, for example, the cascade of change won’t propagate very far or affect many people.
Building on the basic truth about interpersonal influence, the researchers studied the dynamics of social influence by conducting thousands of computer simulations of populations, manipulating a number of variables relating to people’s ability to influence others and their tendency to be influenced. They found that the principal requirement for what is called “global cascades”-the widespread propagation of influence through networks-is the presence not of a few influentials but, rather, of a critical mass of easily influenced people.
31. By citing the book The Tipping Point, the author intends to
32. The author suggests that the “two-step-flow theory”
33. What the researchers have observed recently shows that
34. The underlined phrase “these people” in Paragraph 4 refers to the ones who
35. What is the essential element in the dynamics of social influence?
Answers & Explanations (答案与深度解析)
试题精解
31. [B] discuss influentials’ function in spreading ideas.
【解析】写作意图题。文章开头提到 Gladwell 的书是为了引出“社会流行是由少数特殊人才（influentials）驱动的”这一核心观点，并随后展开讨论他们在信息传播中的作用。A 选项“分析后果”文中未提；D 选项“描述特征”只是文章提及的一部分，不是引用该书的主要目的。
32. [D] requires solid evidence for its validity.
【解析】作者态度题。第二段首句提到该理论是 plausible-sounding but largely untested（听起来有道理但很大程度上未经检验）。这表明作者认为该理论缺乏坚实的证据支持其正确性。故选 D。
33. [A] the power of influence goes with social interactions.
【解析】细节题。第四段首句提到，研究人员的论点源于对“社交影响”的一个简单观察：除了少数名人外，即使最有影响力的人也并不与那么多人互动（don't interact with that many others）。这说明影响力的实现依赖于人际互动（social interactions）。
34. [C] are influenced and then influence others.
【解析】词义指代题。定位到第四段 "...each person so affected must then influence his or her own acquaintances, who must in turn influence theirs... pay attention to each of these people..."。这里的 these people 指代的是前面提到的那些“受到影响并接着去影响熟人的人”，即传播链条中的中间节点。故选 C。
35. [C] The readiness to be influenced.
【解析】细节题。文章最后一段提到，研究发现大规模传播的关键不在于少数影响力人物，而在于存在 a critical mass of easily influenced people（大量容易受影响的人）。readiness to be influenced（乐于/准备好被影响）是对 easily influenced 的同义替换。故选 C。
全文翻译
马尔科姆·格拉德威尔在其著作《引爆点》中认为，"社会流行潮"在很大程度上是由一小部分特殊个体的行为驱动的，这些人通常被称为意见领袖，他们消息异常灵通、具有说服力或人脉广泛。这一观点直觉上很有吸引力，但它并没有解释思想实际上是如何传播的。
意见领袖所谓的重要性源自一个听起来合理但基本未经检验的理论——"两级传播"：信息从媒体流向意见领袖，再从他们流向其他人。营销人员接受了这一理论，因为它表明只要他们能找到并影响意见领袖，那些精选出来的人就会为他们完成大部分工作。这一理论似乎也解释了某些外观、品牌或社区突然且出乎意料地流行起来的原因。在许多此类案例中，粗略地寻找原因就会发现，在其他人关注之前，某个小群体一直在穿、推广或开发着某种东西。这类趣闻轶事式的证据与只有某些特殊人物才能引领潮流的观点非常契合。
然而，在最近的研究中，一些研究人员发现意见领袖对社会流行潮的影响远比通常认为的要小。事实上，他们似乎根本就不是必需的。
研究人员的论点源自对社会影响的一个简单观察：除了像奥普拉·温弗瑞这样的少数名人——她的巨大影响力主要是媒体而非人际影响的结果——即使是人群中最有影响力的成员，也根本不会与那么多人互动。然而，按照两级传播理论，正是这些非名人意见领袖应该通过直接影响他们的朋友和同事来驱动社会流行潮。然而，一场社会流行潮要发生，每个受影响的人必须接着影响自己的熟人，而那些人又必须影响他们自己的熟人，依此类推；而有多少其他人关注这些人中的每一个，与最初的意见领袖几乎没有关系。例如，如果网络中与最初意见领袖仅隔两个层级的被影响者表现出抵触，那么变化的级联就不会传播很远，也不会影响很多人。
基于人际影响的基本事实，研究人员通过进行数千次人口计算机模拟，操控与人们影响他人的能力和被影响的倾向相关的一系列变量，来研究社会影响的动态。他们发现，所谓"全局级联"——影响力通过网络广泛传播——的主要条件不是少数意见领袖的存在，而是大量容易被影响的人的存在。
考研核心句型与词汇
【长难句剖析】
1. 嵌套从句结构：
"Yet it is precisely these non-celebrity influentials who, according to the two-step-flow theory, are supposed to drive social epidemics, by influencing their friends and colleagues directly."
【解析】强调句型 It is... who...。被强调部分是 these non-celebrity influentials。中间插入语 according to... 增加了阅读难度。
"Yet it is precisely these non-celebrity influentials who, according to the two-step-flow theory, are supposed to drive social epidemics, by influencing their friends and colleagues directly."
【解析】强调句型 It is... who...。被强调部分是 these non-celebrity influentials。中间插入语 according to... 增加了阅读难度。
2. 否定对比结构：
"...the principal requirement for what is called 'global cascades' ... is the presence not of a few influentials but, rather, of a critical mass of easily influenced people."
【解析】not... but rather...（不是...而是...）是考研英语极其高频的命题点。这里将“少数影响力人物”与“大量易受影响的人”进行对比，点明文章主旨。
"...the principal requirement for what is called 'global cascades' ... is the presence not of a few influentials but, rather, of a critical mass of easily influenced people."
【解析】not... but rather...（不是...而是...）是考研英语极其高频的命题点。这里将“少数影响力人物”与“大量易受影响的人”进行对比，点明文章主旨。