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?
27. Judging from the context, the phrase “wreaking havoc” (Para. 2) most probably means
28. All of the following are true EXCEPT
29. Which of the following can best summarize the main idea of this text?
30. In the following part immediately after this text, the author will most probably focus on
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。
全文翻译
我在弗吉尼亚郊区的一个客厅里，正向一群妇女发表演说——这是一个邀请男性加入她们的女性团体。整个晚上，一个男人特别健谈，频频发表他的观点，滔滔不绝地讲述各种奇闻轶事。最终，当他跑去洗手间时，我决定是时候让女性们谈谈自己了，于是我问她们：「你们家谁更健谈，是你们的丈夫还是你们？」
长时间的沉默。最后，一个女人鼓起勇气回答：「好吧，那大概是我们吧。」很快，其他人都点头表示同意。
我一直在研究这种模式——婚姻中的自我贬低——将近二十年了。我的研究表明，通常，妻子比丈夫说话更多，但她们往往低估了自己的发言量，而丈夫则高估了自己的发言量。这种模式与普通的性别刻板印象相悖：人们通常认为女性话更多。但在婚姻对话中，男性往往占据主导地位，而女性则经常退缩，尤其是在公共场合。为什么会这样？
答案在于婚姻中权力和地位的差异。丈夫觉得自己有发言权；妻子不觉得。当男性说话时，他们通常是为确立地位——显示他们知道自己在说什么，或者对某个话题有权威性。女人则常常说话以建立和维持关系。我问这群女人的问题——"谁更健谈？"——无意中揭露了这种动态。沉默告诉了我一切。
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。
"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。
"...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。