Part A: Reading Comprehension

Text 2

I was addressing a small gathering in a suburban Virginia living room—a women’s group that had invited men to join them. Throughout the evening, one man had been particularly talkative, frequently offering ideas and anecdotes, while his wife sat silently beside him on the couch. Toward the end of the evening, I commented that women frequently complain that their husbands don’t talk to them. This man quickly nodded in agreement. He gestured toward his wife and said, “She’s the talker in our family.” The room burst into laughter; the man looked puzzled and hurt. “It’s true,” he explained. “When I come home from work, I have nothing to say. If she didn’t keep the conversation going, we’d spend the whole evening in silence.”

This episode crystallizes the irony that although American men tend to talk more than women in public situations, they often talk less at home. And this pattern is wreaking havoc with marriage.

The pattern was observed by political scientist Andrew Hacker in the late 1970s. Sociologist Catherine Kohler Riessman reports in her new book Divorce Talk that most of the women she interviewed—but only a few of the men—gave lack of communication as the reason for their divorces. Given the current divorce rate of nearly 50 percent, that amounts to millions of cases in the United States every year—a virtual epidemic of failed conversation.

In my own research, complaints from women about their husbands most often focused not on tangible inequities such as having given up the chance for a career to accompany a husband to his, or doing far more than their share of daily life-support work like cleaning, cooking and social arrangements. Instead, they focused on communication: “He doesn’t listen to me.” “He doesn’t talk to me.” I found, as Hacker observed years before, that most wives want their husbands to be, first and foremost, conversational partners, but few husbands share this expectation of their wives.

In short, the image that best represents the current crisis is the stereotypical cartoon scene of a man sitting at the breakfast table with a newspaper held up in front of his face, while a woman glares at the back of it, wanting to talk.

26. What is most wives’ main expectation of their husbands?

[A]

Talking to them. 

[B]

Trusting them. 

[C]

Supporting their careers. 

[D]

Sharing housework. 

27. Judging from the context, the phrase “wreaking havoc” (Para. 2) most probably means

[A]

generating motivation. 

[B]

exerting influence. 

[C]

causing damage. 

[D]

creating pressure. 

28. All of the following are true EXCEPT

[A]

men tend to talk more in public than women. 

[B]

nearly 50 percent of recent divorces are caused by failed conversation. 

[C]

women attach much importance to communication between couples. 

[D]

a female tends to be more talkative at home than her spouse. 

29. Which of the following can best summarize the main idea of this text?

[A]

The moral decaying deserves more research by sociologists. 

[B]

Marriage break-up stems from sex inequalities. 

[C]

Husband and wife have different expectations from their marriage. 

[D]

Conversational patterns between man and wife are different. 

30. In the following part immediately after this text, the author will most probably focus on

[A]

a vivid account of the new book Divorce Talk. 

[B]

a detailed description of the stereotypical cartoon. 

[C]

other possible reasons for a high divorce rate in the U.S. 

[D]

a brief introduction to the political scientist Andrew Hacker. 

答案与解析 (Answers)

26. [A] Talking to them.
解析：第四段末尾明确提到：“most wives want their husbands to be, first and foremost, conversational partners（大多数妻子首先想要丈夫成为她们的谈话伙伴）”。这对应了选项A的“跟她们说话”。

27. [C] causing damage.
解析：第二段提到这种男人在公共场合多话而在家沉默的模式正在对婚姻“wreaking havoc”。Havoc意为“大破坏”，wreak意为“造成”。结合婚姻危机的背景，该词组意为“造成损害”，选C。

28. [B] nearly 50 percent of recent divorces are caused by failed conversation.
解析：本题要求选出“不正确”的一项。第三段指出：“离婚率接近50%……这相当于每年数百万起失败的谈话案例（a virtual epidemic of failed conversation）”。文中并没有说这50%的离婚都是由“谈话失败”引起的，而是说离婚率本身接近50%，且其中很多伴随着沟通失败。选项B过度推导了数据逻辑。

29. [D] Conversational patterns between man and wife are different.
解析：文章首段通过轶事引入，第二段点明核心：男女在公共和家庭场合的谈话模式存在倒置。整篇文章都在分析这种沟通模式的差异如何导致婚姻隔阂。选项D最符合主旨。[C]项范围过大，偏离了“沟通”这一核心。

30. [B] a detailed description of the stereotypical cartoon.
解析：考研英语常见题型。文章最后一段以一个典型的漫画场景收尾（一个男人拿着报纸挡脸，一个女人怒视其后）。按照写作逻辑，接下来最可能对这个形象的、具有代表性的危机画面进行更详细的解读或延伸，故选B。

核心长难句精解 (High-Light)

1. 复杂的对比结构与分词状语：
"Throughout the evening, one man had been particularly talkative, frequently offering ideas and anecdotes, while his wife sat silently beside him on the couch."
【解析】while 在这里引导对比，形成“健谈的丈夫”与“沉默的妻子”在公共场合的鲜明反差。offering... 是现在分词短语作伴随状语。

2. 插入语与并列动名词短语：
"...complaints from women... focused not on tangible inequities such as having given up the chance for a career... or doing far more than their share of daily life-support work..."
【解析】not... instead... 结构。作者先排除了有形的不公平（事业牺牲、家务重担），通过 such as 引导两个并列的动名词短语进行举例，最后引出“沟通”才是核心问题。