Section B: Information Matching

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet.

[A] Numbers do not exist in all cultures. There are numberless hunter-gatherers in Amazonia, living along branches of the world's largest river tree. Instead of using words for precise quantities, these people rely exclusively on terms similar to “a few” or “some.” In contrast, our own lives are governed by numbers. As you read this, you are likely aware of what time it is, how old you are, your checking account balance, your weight and so on. The exact numbers we think with impact everything in our lives.

[B] But, in a historical sense, number-conscious people like us are the unusual ones. For the bulk of our species' approximately 200,000-year lifespan, we had no means of precisely representing quantities. What's more, the 7,000 or so languages that exist today vary dramatically in how they utilize numbers.

[C] Speakers of anumeric, or numberless, languages offer a window into how the invention of numbers reshaped the human experience. Cultures without numbers, or with only one or two precise numbers, include the Munduruku and Piraha in Amazonia. Researchers have also studied some adults in Nicaragua who were never taught number words. Without numbers, healthy human adults struggle to precisely distinguish and recall quantities as low as four. In an experiment, a researcher will place nuts into a can one at a time and then remove them one by one. The person watching is asked to signal when all the nuts have been removed. Responses suggest that anumeric people have some trouble keeping track of how many nuts remain in the can, even if there are only four or five in total.

[D] This and many other experiments have led to a simple conclusion: When people do not have number words, they struggle to make quantitative distinctions that probably seem natural to someone like you or me. While only a small portion of the world's languages are anumeric or nearly anumeric, they demonstrate that number words are not a human universal.

[E] It is worth stressing that these anumeric people are cognitively normal, well-adapted to the surroundings they have dominated for centuries. As a child, I spent some time living with anumeric people, the Piraha who live along the banks of the black Maici River. Like other outsiders, I was continually impressed by their superior understanding of the ecology we shared. Yet numberless people struggle with tasks that require precise discrimination between quantities. Perhaps this should be unsurprising. After all, without counting, how can someone tell whether there are, say, seven or eight coconuts in a tree? Such seemingly straightforward distinctions become blurry through numberless eyes.

[F] This conclusion is echoed by work with anumeric children in industrialized societies. Prior to being spoon-fed number words, children can only approximately discriminate quantities beyond three. We must be handed the cognitive tools of numbers before we can consistently and easily recognize higher quantities. In fact, acquiring the exact meaning of number words is a painstaking process that takes children years. Initially, kids learn numbers much like they learn letters. They recognize that numbers are organized sequentially, but have little awareness of what each individual number means. With time, they start to understand that a given number represents a quantity greater by one than the number coming before it. This “successor principle” is part of the foundation of our numerical cognition, but requires extensive practice to understand.

[G] None of us, then, is really a “numbers person.” We are not born to handle quantitative distinctions skillfully. In the absence of the cultural traditions that fill our lives with numbers from infancy, we would all struggle with even basic quantitative distinctions. Number words and their written forms transform our quantitative reasoning as they are introduced into our cognitive experience by our parents, peers and school teachers. The process seems so normal that we sometimes think of it as a natural part of growing up, but it is not. Human brains come equipped with certain quantitative instincts that are refined with age, but these instincts are very limited.

[H] Compared with other mammals, our numerical instincts are not as remarkable as many assume. We even share some basic instinctual quantitative reasoning with distant non-mammalian relatives like birds. Indeed, work with some other species suggests they too can refine their quantitative thought if they are introduced to the cognitive power tools we call numbers.

[I] So, how did we ever invent “unnatural” numbers in the first place? The answer is, literally, at your fingertips. The bulk of the world's languages use base-10, base-20 or base-5 number systems. That is, these smaller numbers are the basis of larger numbers. English is a base-10 or decimal language, as evidenced by words like 14 (“four” + “10”) and 31 (“three” x “10” + “one”). We speak a decimal language because an ancestral tongue, proto-Indo-European, was decimally based. Proto-Indo-European was decimally oriented because, as in so many cultures, our ancestors' hands served as the gateway to the realization that “five fingers on one hand is the same as five fingers on the other.” Such momentary thoughts were represented in words and passed down across generations. This is why the word “five” in many languages is derived from the word for “hand.” Most number systems, then, are the by-product of two key factors: the human capacity for language and our inclination for focusing on our hands and fingers. This manual fixation—an indirect by-product of walking upright on two legs—has helped yield numbers in most cultures, but not all.

[J] Cultures without numbers also offer insight into the cognitive influence of particular numeric traditions. Consider what time it is. Your day is ruled by minutes and seconds, but these concepts are not real in any physical sense and are nonexistent to numberless people. Minutes and seconds are the verbal and written representations of an uncommon base-60 number system used in ancient Mesopotamia. They reside in our minds, numerical artifacts that not all humans inherit conceptually.

[K] Research on the language of numbers shows, more and more, that one of our species' key characteristics is tremendous linguistic and cognitive diversity. If we are to truly understand how much our cognitive lives differ cross-culturally, we must continually explore the depths of our species' linguistic diversity.

36. It is difficult for anumeric people to keep track of the change in numbers even when the total is very small.

37. Human numerical instincts are not so superior to those of other mammals as is generally believed.

38. The author emphasizes being anumeric does not affect one's cognitive ability.

39. In the long history of mankind, humans who use numbers are a very small minority.

40. An in-depth study of differences between human languages contributes to a true understanding of cognitive differences between cultures.

41. A conclusion has been drawn from many experiments that anumeric people have a hard time distinguishing quantities.

42. Making quantitative distinctions is not an inborn skill.

43. Every aspect of our lives is affected by numbers.

44. Larger numbers are said to be built upon smaller numbers.

45. It takes great efforts for children to grasp the concept of number words.

Answers & Explanations

36. C。解析：题干中的 keep track of the change... when total is small 对应 [C] 段末尾的 anumeric people have some trouble keeping track of how many nuts remain... even if there are only four or five in total（即使总共只有四五个，无数字概念的人也很难记录剩下多少）。

37. H。解析：题干中的 numerical instincts... not so superior... to other mammals 对应 [H] 段首句的 Compared with other mammals, our numerical instincts are not as remarkable as many assume（与其它哺乳动物相比，我们的数字本能并不像许多人认为的那样卓越）。

38. E。解析：题干中的 being anumeric does not affect one's cognitive ability 对应 [E] 段首句的 these anumeric people are cognitively normal（这些无数字概念的人在认知上是正常的）。

39. B。解析：题干中的 long history of mankind... small minority 对应 [B] 段的 number-conscious people like us are the unusual ones（像我们这样对数字敏感的人是不寻常的/少数的）以及 Bulk of our species' approximately 200,000-year lifespan（在我们物种20万年的大部分时间里）。

40. K。解析：题干中的 in-depth study... contributes to a true understanding 对应 [K] 段末句的 If we are to truly understand... we must continually explore the depths of our species' linguistic diversity（如果我们想要真正理解...我们必须不断探索物种语言多样性的深度）。

41. D。解析：题干中的 conclusion... drawn from many experiments... hard time distinguishing quantities 对应 [D] 段首句的 This and many other experiments have led to a simple conclusion: ... they struggle to make quantitative distinctions（这和许多其它实验得出了一个简单的结论：...他们很难做出数量上的区分）。

42. G。解析：题干中的 not an inborn skill 对应 [G] 段首句的 We are not born to handle quantitative distinctions skillfully（我们并非天生就能熟练处理数量上的区分）。

43. A。解析：题干中的 Every aspect... affected by numbers 对应 [A] 段末句的 The exact numbers we think with impact everything in our lives（我们思考时用到的精确数字影响着我们生活中的每件事）。

44. I。解析：题干中的 Larger numbers... built upon smaller numbers 对应 [I] 段的 smaller numbers are the basis of larger numbers（较小的数字是较大数字的基础）。

45. F。解析：题干中的 takes great efforts for children... to grasp 对应 [F] 段中的 acquiring the exact meaning... is a painstaking process that takes children years（习得精确含义是一个耗时数年的艰苦过程）。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• rely exclusively on：完全依赖于...
• checking account balance：支票账户余额
• offer a window into：提供一个了解...的窗口（offer a window into how the invention of numbers reshaped...）
• keep track of：记录，追踪（keeping track of how many nuts remain）
• a small portion of：一小部分...
• be well-adapted to：非常适应...
• spoon-feed sb. sth.：向某人灌输/填鸭式教导某事（prior to being spoon-fed number words）
• come equipped with：生来具备，配有...
• in the first place：起初，首先
• be derived from：源自，衍生自

【亮点句型解析】

• Instead of doing A, B rely on... (对比结构)：
  "Instead of using words for precise quantities, these people rely exclusively on terms similar to 'a few' or 'some'."
  （这些人不使用表示精确数量的词，而是完全依赖于类似于“一些”或“几个”的术语。）此句型通过 `Instead of` 形成鲜明的习惯对比，非常适合在作文中描述两种不同的社会现象。
• Virtual Conditional (虚拟/假设推论)：
  "In the absence of the cultural traditions... we would all struggle with even basic quantitative distinctions."
  （如果缺乏将数字填满我们生活的文化传统...我们甚至在基础的数量区分上都会感到吃力。）使用 `In the absence of...` (在缺乏...的情况下) 引导假设，配合 `would` 引导的推论，展示了严密的逻辑思考能力。