Passage Two
Crime has its own cycles, a magazine reported some years ago. Police records show a surprising relation between changes in the season and crime patterns.
The pattern of crime has changed very little over a long period of years. Murder reaches its high during July and August, as do other violent attacks. Murder, in addition, is more than seasonal; it is a weekend crime. It is also a nighttime crime: 62 percent of murders are committed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. One is most likely to be robbed between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. on a Saturday night in December, January, or February. Except for one strange statistic, May is the least criminal month of all.
Apparently our intellectual season cycles are completely different from our criminal patterns. Professor Huntington made a lot of studies to discover the seasons when people read serious books, attend scientific meetings, and make the highest scores on examinations. In all examples, he found a spring peak and an autumn peak separated by a summer low. On the other hand, Professor Huntington’s studies showed that June is the peak month for suicides and for admitting patients to mental hospital. June is also a peak month for marriages!
Possibly, high temperature and humidity bring on our strange and surprising summer actions, but police officers are not so sure. “There are, of course, no proof of a relation between humidity and murder”, they say. “Why murder’s high time should come in the summer time we really don’t know”.
Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
29. What is the passage mainly about? 【解析】
選[D]。根據(jù)選項(xiàng)的概括性強(qiáng)、信息密集可知，本題考查短文主旨。文章開頭的Police records show a surprising relation between changes in the season and crime patterns為短文主題句，故[D]為答案。
30. Which is the safest season? 【解析】
選[B]。文章明確提到May is the least criminal month of all，表明五月是犯罪率最低的月份，也就是說五月最安全，故選項(xiàng)[B]正確。
31. What did Professor Huntington’s research show? 【解析】
選[C]。推斷題。文章講到，Professor Huntington調(diào)查人們讀嚴(yán)肅小說、出席科技會(huì)議和考試得高分的季節(jié)，所有數(shù)據(jù)表明在春季和秋季是高峰，而夏季卻是低峰，排除[B]、[D]；另外短文中聽到June出現(xiàn)最多的地方提到了兩個(gè)peak, 他們分別是自殺和醫(yī)院接收精神病患者數(shù)目最高峰以及結(jié)婚的高峰，由此可以排除[A]項(xiàng)，得出答案[C]。
Passage Three Despite the presence of workaholics, there is a growing realization in the United States that too much work demand can be physically and mentally harmful. Many people have been rebelling against the work ethic, saying that no job is so important as to damage personal relationships and rob people of relaxation. There has been a shift in values, with more emphasis being given to personal relationships and relaxation. Leisure time provides opportunities to find personal satisfaction and freedom from the routine of work.
Increased leisure time in the United States has not altered the idea that work and play are distinct activities. This distinction is clear-cut; there are “work-hours” and “afterwork-hours”. There is a belief that it is desirable “to work hard and play hard” and undesirable to combine the two. In many offices, stores, and factories socializing among employees is discouraged. An employee under pressure at work often cannot afford to respond to social calls and visits. However, the amount of personal contact on the job depends on the nature of the work. There may be more social interaction between teachers in a school than between scientists doing independent research. Nevertheless, work and play are usually perceived and maintained as separate activities.
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard. 32. What is the result of too much work demand? 【解析】
選[C]。本文開頭就說too much work demand can be physically and mentally harmful(工作量過大在體力上和腦力上都是有害的)，即[C]。
33. In order to rebel against the work ethic, what do many people believe now? 【解析】
選[B]。文中claiming(宣稱)即表明人們是這樣認(rèn)為(believe)的，no job is so important as to...表明工作并不是最重要的，人們應(yīng)該多注意與人的交往和放松自己，即[B]。
34. What do people expect an employee under pressure at work to do? 【解析】
選[B]。這個(gè)例子出現(xiàn)在to work hard and play hard這個(gè)概念被引出之后，文中原話說：處于工作重壓下的職員是不能進(jìn)行社交拜訪活動(dòng)(意即休閑)的，與[B]表達(dá)的意思是一樣的。
35. What does the speaker imply by saying “the distinction is clear-cut”? 【解析】
選[A]。文中clear-cut一詞出現(xiàn)前有work and play are distinct (不同的) activities，之后又出現(xiàn)了work-hours and afterwork-hours和 to work hard and play hard等詞句，均說明美國(guó)人認(rèn)為工作和休閑是截然分開的。
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