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.
Many people associate their self-worth with their work. The more successful their career, the better they feel about themselves. Work-related self-esteem is therefore a worthy ideal to pursue with vigor, right? Well, not always. According to recent research, in which psychologists interviewed 370 full-time workers over a period of three weeks, the reality is a little more complicated. And it involves negative as well as positive consequences.
It’s natural to be drawn towards pleasure and to step away from pain. In the workplace, if that pleasure comes from a triumph which swells our self-respect, people will try to repeat that accomplishment. But repeating that accomplishment is often not realistic, which can lead to severe negative emotional consequences when it doesn’t reoccur. This form of motivation is widely regarded as a negative type of motivation. It can hinder other more positive motivation types, such as completing a task purely because it’s fulfilling or enjoyable.
What consumes the employee instead is a pressing need to feel mighty and sure of themselves. They then take on only tasks and objectives which serve that ego-driven need. As a result, to avoid feelings of shame and worthlessness associated with failure, they extend themselves to such a degree that there’s a subsequent adverse effect on their well-being. This internal pressure to succeed at all costs demands a lot of effort. It depletes their energy, culminating in disproportionate levels of damaging sentiment.
Those negative emotions mount into heightened anxiety, impacting their ability to make the most of their personal life. Their desire to avoid feeling inferior ends up making them feel inferior when it comes to their diminished capacity for friendship and leisure. They end up dissatisfied both at work and outside of it.
But thankfully, for those people compelled almost entirely by this specific form of motivation, the news isn’t all bad, or bad at all. The study also discovered several positive outcomes that can actually outweigh the harmful ones. Though these types of employees are motivated by the desire to avoid negative consequences, they are also motivated by the excitement of pursuing emotional rewards. This excitement makes pursuing goals enjoyable and stimulates pleasure and pride that would result from success. An effect of the positive motivation is that it neutralizes the existence of negative motivation.
Sure, it affects people’s personal lives to what could be deemed an unhealthy extent, because leisure activities are often seen as a part of life that must be sacrificed to manage work and family demands. However, the way people feel about their work has less to do with whether they’re motivated by the preservation of self-esteem but more with the fact that they’re simply motivated.
46. What does the author say about the pursuit of work-related self-esteem?
47. What do employees tend to do in pursuing work-related self-esteem?
48. What do we learn about people over-concerned with work-related self-esteem?
49. What is the good news we learn from the recent research?
50. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Degradation of the world’s natural resources by humans is rapidly outpacing the planet’s ability to absorb the damage, a recent UN environmental study has found. The study concludes that without radical action the level of prosperity that millions of people in the developed world count on will be impossible to maintain or extend to poorer countries.
Water scarcity is the curse of some of the poorest regions on Earth, leaving developing countries increasingly unable to feed themselves, and causing hardship for millions of people. There appears little prospect of this desperate situation being remedied without radical action being taken. Water resources are under increasing threat from population growth, climate change, rapid urbanization, rising levels of consumption, and the degradation of lands that previously provided a natural replenishment (补充) of water resources.
The rate of damage to the natural environment was found to increase globally, despite concerted efforts to persuade government to take measures to improve the condition. “If current trends continue, and the world fails to improve patterns of production and consumption, then the state of the world’s environment will continue to decline,” warned UN executive director Achim Steiner.
He said the tools for improving the environment for millions of people existed in developed countries, but were in danger of not being used.
The study found that basic measures to tackle some of the key causes of environmental damage were still not being taken. These included measures to reduce air pollution; to control the damage to marine eco-systems, which can have a huge effect on fish stocks on which hundreds of millions of people depend; and to curb the degradation of land where modern agricultural methods were pursued without regard to the longer-term consequences.
Despite the recent global agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, global carbon output continues to rise. This will put a long-term strain on the ability of developing economies to feed their own people. Climate change is aggravated by the emissions of greenhouse gases from chemical and natural fertilisers used in agriculture which increased by more than a quarter between 2000 and 2010. Other problem areas identified in the report included glaciers, which provide vital water resources for millions of people, but which are shrinking as the climate warms.
In rich countries, these problems have built up over decades and centuries while economic growth was pursued at the expense of the environment. Subsequent efforts to remedy the environment have met with partial success. But in developing countries, the path of future development has more potential to change, which has encouraged international institutions to devise more sustainable growth pathways that are supposed both to alleviate poverty and preserve the environment.
51. What is the major finding of the UN environmental study?
52. What is said about water scarcity in some of the poorest regions?
53. What does Achim Steiner say about the environmental condition?
54. What is the dilemma developing countries face?
55. What should developing countries do in their future development according to the passage?
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
Passage One
46. A。解析：题干问“作者对追求与工作相关的自尊有何看法”。第二段最后两句指出：“This form of motivation is widely regarded as a negative type of motivation. It can hinder other more positive motivation types...” (这种形式的动机被广泛视为一种负面动机。它会阻碍其他更积极的动机类型...)。这直接对应选项 A (It may result in negative motivation 它可能导致负面动机)。
47. B。解析：题干问“在追求与工作相关的自尊时，员工倾向于做什么”。第三段指出：“...to avoid feelings of shame and worthlessness... they extend themselves to such a degree that there’s a subsequent adverse effect on their well-being. This internal pressure to succeed at all costs demands a lot of effort.” (为了避免伴随失败而来的羞耻感和无价值感……他们过度消耗自己，以至于对他们的身心健康产生了随后的不利影响。这种不惜一切代价取得成功的内部压力需要付出大量的努力)。这对应选项 B (Strive to succeed at the expense of their well-being 以牺牲健康为代价努力取得成功)。
48. B。解析：题干问“关于过度关注工作相关自尊的人，我们了解到了什么”。第四段指出：“Those negative emotions mount into heightened anxiety, impacting their ability to make the most of their personal life... They end up dissatisfied both at work and outside of it.” (那些负面情绪积累成加剧的焦虑，影响了他们充分利用个人生活的能力……他们最终在工作内外都不满意)。这对应选项 B (They cannot enjoy their personal life to the full 他们不能充分享受个人生活)。
49. A。解析：题干问“从最近的研究中我们得知的好消息是什么”。第五段指出：“The study also discovered several positive outcomes... This excitement makes pursuing goals enjoyable and stimulates pleasure and pride that would result from success.” (这项研究还发现了一些积极的结果……这种兴奋使追求目标变得令人愉快，并刺激了由成功带来的快乐和自豪)。这对应选项 A (The pursuit of goals may turn out to be enjoyable and pleasant 追求目标结果可能是令人愉快和高兴的)。
50. D。解析：题干问“从最后一段我们可以推断出什么”。最后一段最后一句指出：“However, the way people feel about their work has less to do with whether they’re motivated by the preservation of self-esteem but more with the fact that they’re simply motivated.” (然而，人们对工作的感觉，与其说与他们是否被维护自尊的动机所驱使有关，不如说是与他们‘仅仅是被激励着’这一事实有关)。这表明只要有动机，人们对工作的感觉就是积极的，对应选项 D (People feel positive about their work as long as they are motivated 只要有动力，人们对工作的感觉就是积极的)。
Passage Two
51. B。解析：题干问“联合国环境研究的主要发现是什么”。文章第一段第一句点明主旨：“Degradation of the world’s natural resources by humans is rapidly outpacing the planet’s ability to absorb the damage, a recent UN environmental study has found.” (最近一项联合国环境研究发现，人类对世界自然资源的破坏正在迅速超过地球吸收这种破坏的能力)。这直接对应选项 B (Humans are doing more damage to the earth than it can cope with 人类对地球造成的破坏超过了它所能应对的程度)。
52. C。解析：题干问“关于一些最贫穷地区的水资源短缺，文章怎么说”。第二段第二句指出：“There appears little prospect of this desperate situation being remedied without radical action being taken.” (如果不采取激进措施，这种绝望的局面似乎没有得到补救的希望)。这对应选项 C (It can hardly be relieved if no drastic measures are taken 如果不采取严厉措施，它很难得到缓解)。drastic measures 同义替换 radical action。
53. A。解析：题干问“阿齐姆·施泰纳对环境状况怎么说”。第三段引用他的话说：“If current trends continue... then the state of the world’s environment will continue to decline...” (如果目前的趋势继续下去……那么世界环境状况将继续恶化……)。decline 对应 deteriorate (恶化)，这对应选项 A (It will deteriorate worldwide 它将在世界范围内恶化)。
54. C。解析：题干问“发展中国家面临的困境是什么”。第六段指出：“...global carbon output continues to rise. This will put a long-term strain on the ability of developing economies to feed their own people. Climate change is aggravated by the emissions of greenhouse gases from chemical and natural fertilisers used in agriculture...” (...全球碳排放量持续上升。这将对发展中经济体养活本国人民的能力造成长期压力。农业中使用的化学和天然肥料排放温室气体加剧了气候变化...)。这表明发展中国家为了农业增产（养活人民）不得不使用肥料，但这又会导致温室气体排放，陷入两难。这对应选项 C (They cannot boost crop yields without causing greenhouse gas emissions 他们如果不排放温室气体就无法提高农作物产量)。
55. D。解析：题干问“根据文章，发展中国家在未来的发展中应该怎么做”。最后一段最后一句指出：“But in developing countries, the path of future development has more potential to change, which has encouraged international institutions to devise more sustainable growth pathways that are supposed both to alleviate poverty and preserve the environment.” (但在发展中国家，未来发展的道路有更大的改变潜力，这鼓励了国际机构设计更可持续的增长路径，这些路径应该既能减轻贫困又能保护环境)。减轻贫困即改善民生，这对应选项 D (They improve people’s livelihood without harming the environment 他们在不破坏环境的情况下改善人民的生计)。
核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
associate... with...：将...与...联系起来（associate their self-worth with their work）
step away from：离开，避开（step away from pain）
at all costs：不惜一切代价（succeed at all costs）
make the most of：充分利用（make the most of their personal life）
when it comes to：当涉及到...时（when it comes to their diminished capacity）
have less to do with... but more with...：与...关系较小，而与...关系更大（has less to do with whether... but more with the fact that...）
count on：依赖，指望（prosperity that millions of people... count on）
without regard to：不顾，不考虑（without regard to the longer-term consequences）
at the expense of：以...为代价，牺牲（at the expense of the environment）
【亮点句型解析】
The more... the more... 比较级句型：
"The more successful their career, the better they feel about themselves."
（他们的事业越成功，他们对自己的感觉就越好。）经典的比较级并列句，用于表达两个变量之间的正相关关系，简洁有力。
"The more successful their career, the better they feel about themselves."
（他们的事业越成功，他们对自己的感觉就越好。）经典的比较级并列句，用于表达两个变量之间的正相关关系，简洁有力。
Without... (being done) 的双重否定/隐含条件句：
"There appears little prospect of this desperate situation being remedied without radical action being taken."
（如果不采取激进措施，这种绝望的局面似乎没有得到补救的希望。）使用了 `little prospect` 和 `without` 构成双重否定表示强烈肯定，同时 `without... being taken` 作为伴随状语/条件，极大地增强了学术文章的严谨感。
"There appears little prospect of this desperate situation being remedied without radical action being taken."
（如果不采取激进措施，这种绝望的局面似乎没有得到补救的希望。）使用了 `little prospect` 和 `without` 构成双重否定表示强烈肯定，同时 `without... being taken` 作为伴随状语/条件，极大地增强了学术文章的严谨感。