Section C: Reading Comprehension
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
We often think of drawing as something that takes inborn talent, but this kind of thinking stems from our misclassification of drawing as, primarily, an art form rather than a tool for learning.
Researchers, teachers, and artists are starting to see how drawing can positively impact a wide variety of skills and disciplines.
Most of us have spent some time drawing before, but at some point, most of us stop drawing. There are people who don’t, obviously, and thank god for that: a world without designers and artists would be a very shabby one indeed.
Some argue that so many adults have abandoned drawing because we’ve miscategorized it and given it a very narrow definition. In his book, Stick Figures: Drawing as a Human Practice, Professor D. B. Dowd argues that we have misfiled the significance of drawing because we see it as a professional skill instead of a personal capacity. We mistakenly think of “good” drawings as those which work as recreations of the real world, as realistic illusions. Rather, drawing should be recategorized as a symbolic tool.
Human beings have been drawing for 73,000 years. It’s part of what it means to be human. We don’t have the strength of chimpanzees (大猩猩) because we’ve given up animal strength to manipulate subtle instruments, like hammers, spears, and—later—pens and pencils. The human hand is an extremely dense network of nerve endings. In many ways, human beings are built to draw.
Some researchers argue that doodling (涂画) activates the brain’s so-called default circuit—essentially, the areas of the brain responsible for maintaining a baseline level of activity in the absence of other stimuli. Because of this, some believe that doodling during a boring lecture can help students pay attention. In one study, participants were asked to listen to a list of names while either doodling or sitting still. Those who doodled remembered 29 percent more of the names than those who did not.
There’s also evidence that drawing talent is based on how accurately someone perceives the world. The human visual system tends to misjudge size, shape, color, and angles but artists perceive these qualities more accurately than non-artists. Cultivating drawing talent can become an essential tool to improve people’s observational skills in fields where the visual is important.
Rather than think of drawing as a talent that some creative people are gifted in, we should consider it as a tool for seeing and understanding the world better—one that just so happens to double as an art form. Both absent-minded doodling and copying from life have been shown to positively affect your memory and visual perception, so complain loudly the next time your school board slashes the art department’s budget.
46. What do people generally think about drawing?
47. What do we learn about designers and artists?
48. What does Professor D. B. Dowd argue in his book?
49. What have some researchers found from one study about doodling?
50. What is characteristic of people with drawing talent?
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
The car has reshaped our cities. It seems to offer autonomy for everyone. There is something almost delightful in the detachment from reality of advertisements showing mass-produced cars marketed as symbols of individuality and of freedom when most of their lives will be spent making short journeys on choked roads.
For all the fuss made about top speeds, cornering ability and acceleration, the most useful gadgets on a modern car are those which work when you’re going very slowly: parking sensors, sound systems, and navigation apps which will show a way around upcoming traffic jams. This seems to be one of the few areas where the benefit of sharing personal information comes straight back to the sharer: because these apps know where almost all the users are, and how fast they are moving almost all the time, they can spot traffic congestion (堵塞) very quickly and suggest ways round it.
The problem comes when everyone is using a navigation app which tells them to avoid everyone else using the same gadget. Traffic jams often appear where no one has enough information to avoid them. When a lucky few have access to the knowledge, they will benefit greatly. But when everyone has perfect information, traffic jams simply spread onto the side roads that seem to offer a way round them.
This new congestion teaches us two things. The first is that the promises of technology will never be realised as fully as we hope; they will be limited by their unforeseen and unintended consequences. Sitting in a more comfortable car in a different traffic jam is pleasant but hardly the liberation that once seemed to be promised. The second is that self-organisation will not get us where we want to go. The efforts of millions of drivers to get ahead do not miraculously produce a situation in which everyone does better than before, but one in which almost everyone does rather worse. Central control and collective organisation can produce smoother and fairer outcomes, though even that much is never guaranteed.
Similar limits can be foreseen for the much greater advances promised by self-driving cars. Last week, one operated by the taxi company Uber struck and killed a woman pushing her bicycle across a wide road in Arizona. This was the first recorded death involving a car which was supposed to be fully autonomous. Experts have said that it suggests a “catastrophic failure” of technology.
Increasingly, even Silicon Valley has to acknowledge the costs of the intoxicating (令人陶醉的) hurry that characterises its culture. What traffic teaches us is that reckless and uncontrolled change is as likely to harm us as it is to benefit us, and that thoughtful regulation is necessary for a better future.
51. What does the author say about car advertisements?
52. What does the author imply about the various gadgets on cars?
53. What does the author say about the use of navigation apps?
54. What does the author say about technology?
55. What key message does the author try to convey in the passage?
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
Passage One
46. A。解析：题干问“人们通常如何看待绘画”。第一段第一句指出：“We often think of drawing as something that takes inborn talent...” (我们经常认为绘画是需要天生天赋的东西...)。inborn talent 对应选项 A 中的 gift (天赋)，creative people are endowed with 意为“有创造力的人被赋予的(天赋)”。因此选 A。
47. C。解析：题干问“关于设计师和艺术家我们了解到什么”。第三段最后一句指出：“...a world without designers and artists would be a very shabby one indeed.” (一个没有设计师和艺术家的世界确实将是非常破旧/可悲的)。反过来理解，就是设计师和艺术家让世界不那么破旧，即给世界增添了美丽。对应选项 C (They add beauty and charm to the world 它们为世界增添了美丽和魅力)。
48. A。解析：题干问“D. B. Dowd教授在他的书中主张什么”。第四段指出：“Professor D. B. Dowd argues that we have misfiled the significance of drawing because we see it as a professional skill instead of a personal capacity.” (多德教授认为，我们把绘画的意义归错了类，因为我们把它视为一种专业技能，而不是一种个人能力)。personal capacity 意为每个人都拥有的个人能力，即人人生来就有绘画的能力，对应选项 A (Everybody is born with the capacity to draw 每个人生来就具有绘画的能力)。
49. D。解析：题干问“一些研究人员从一项关于涂鸦的研究中发现了什么”。第六段提到涂鸦可以帮助学生集中注意力 (help students pay attention)，并在研究中发现涂鸦的人比不涂鸦的人多记住了29%的名字 (remembered 29 percent more of the names)。这说明涂鸦能提高注意力和记忆力，对应选项 D (It helps improve concentration and memory 它有助于提高注意力和记忆力)。
50. D。解析：题干问“有绘画天赋的人的特征是什么”。第七段首句指出：“There’s also evidence that drawing talent is based on how accurately someone perceives the world.” (也有证据表明，绘画天赋是基于一个人感知世界的准确程度)。第二句接着说：“artists perceive these qualities more accurately than non-artists” (艺术家比非艺术家更准确地感知这些特质)。accurately perceives 对应选项 D (Precision in visual perception 视觉感知的精确性)。
Passage Two
51. B。解析：题干问“作者对汽车广告有什么看法”。第一段最后一句指出：“There is something almost delightful in the detachment from reality of advertisements showing mass-produced cars marketed as symbols of individuality and of freedom when most of their lives will be spent making short journeys on choked roads.” (汽车广告脱离现实，把量产车宣传为个性和自由的象征，而实际上它们的大部分寿命都将耗费在拥堵道路的短途旅行上，这几乎令人感到好笑)。这说明广告虚假地呈现了汽车提供的自主性(自由)，对应选项 B (They present a false picture of the autonomy cars provide 它们呈现了一幅汽车提供自主性的虚假画面)。
52. C。解析：题干问“作者暗示汽车上的各种小装置(gadgets)是什么”。第二段首句指出：“For all the fuss made about top speeds, cornering ability and acceleration, the most useful gadgets on a modern car are those which work when you’re going very slowly: parking sensors, sound systems, and navigation apps...” (尽管人们对最高速度、转弯能力和加速性能大做文章，但现代汽车上最有用的小装置是那些当你开得很慢时起作用的东西：倒车雷达、音响系统和导航应用)。这暗示只有当车速缓慢（如拥堵的当前交通状况下）时，这些装置（而非速度相关装置）才有用，对应选项 C (Only some can be put to use under current traffic conditions 只有一部分能在当前的交通状况下投入使用)。
53. A。解析：题干问“作者关于使用导航应用程序说了什么”。第三段最后一句指出：“But when everyone has perfect information, traffic jams simply spread onto the side roads that seem to offer a way round them.” (但是当每个人都拥有完美信息时，交通拥堵就会简单地蔓延到似乎提供绕行路线的支路上)。这说明导航让所有人都去绕路，从而在别的地方造成拥堵。对应选项 A (It is likely to create traffic jams in other places 它可能会在其他地方造成交通拥堵)。
54. B。解析：题干问“作者对技术怎么看”。第四段第二句指出：“The first is that the promises of technology will never be realised as fully as we hope; they will be limited by their unforeseen and unintended consequences.” (首先，技术的承诺永远不会像我们希望的那样完全实现；它们将受到未预见和非预期后果的限制)。这直接对应选项 B (It seldom delivers all the benefits as promised 它很少兑现承诺的所有好处)。
55. C。解析：题干问“作者试图在文章中传达的关键信息是什么”。最后一段最后一句点明了文章主旨：“What traffic teaches us is that reckless and uncontrolled change is as likely to harm us as it is to benefit us, and that thoughtful regulation is necessary for a better future.” (交通告诉我们，鲁莽和不受控制的变革既可能伤害我们，也可能造福我们，而为了更美好的未来，深思熟虑的监管是必要的)。这对应选项 C (Technological innovation should be properly regulated 技术创新应该受到适当的监管)。
核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
think of... as...：把...看作，把...视为（think of drawing as something that takes inborn talent）
stem from：源于，由...造成（this kind of thinking stems from our misclassification）
rather than：而不是（rather than a tool for learning）
detachment from：脱离，独立于（detachment from reality of advertisements）
make a fuss about：对...大惊小怪/大做文章（For all the fuss made about top speeds）
as likely to... as to...：一样有可能...（is as likely to harm us as it is to benefit us）
【亮点句型解析】
Rather than 置于句首表对比：
"Rather than think of drawing as a talent... we should consider it as a tool..."
（与其把绘画看作是某些有创造力的人才具备的天赋，我们不如把它看作是一种工具……）`Rather than` 置于句首，强调了作者对传统观点的否定，并引出下文的正确观点，逻辑清晰，是四六级作文中极佳的高分句型。
"Rather than think of drawing as a talent... we should consider it as a tool..."
（与其把绘画看作是某些有创造力的人才具备的天赋，我们不如把它看作是一种工具……）`Rather than` 置于句首，强调了作者对传统观点的否定，并引出下文的正确观点，逻辑清晰，是四六级作文中极佳的高分句型。
For all 表让步（尽管，虽然）：
"For all the fuss made about top speeds... the most useful gadgets... are those which work when you’re going very slowly..."
（尽管人们对最高速度大做文章，但最有用的小装置是当开得很慢时才起作用的那些……）`For all` 相当于 `Despite`，表示让步，后接名词短语。此处与后文形成强烈的对比和讽刺。
"For all the fuss made about top speeds... the most useful gadgets... are those which work when you’re going very slowly..."
（尽管人们对最高速度大做文章，但最有用的小装置是当开得很慢时才起作用的那些……）`For all` 相当于 `Despite`，表示让步，后接名词短语。此处与后文形成强烈的对比和讽刺。