Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.
It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zoe Zysman. English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.
Thus the American president and vice-president have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bush's predecessors (including his father) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi). The world's three top central bankers (Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the world's five richest men (Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison and Albrecht).
Can this merely be coincidence? One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged, is that the rest sets in early. At the start of the first year in infant school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So shortsighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked the improving questions posed by those insensitive teachers. At the time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.
The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ. Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees: all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients lose interest as they plough through them.
1.What does the author intend to illustrate with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars?
A.A kind of overlooked inequality. B.A type of conspicuous bias.
C.A type of personal prejudice. D.A kind of brand discrimination.
2.What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?
A.In both East and West, names are essential to success.
B.The alphabet is to blame for the failure of Zoe Zysman.
C.Customers often pay a lot of attention to companies' names.
D.Some form of discrimination is too subtle to recognize.
3.The 4th paragraph suggests that_______.
A.questions are often put to the more intelligent students
B.alphabetically disadvantaged students often escape from class
C.teachers should pay attention to all of their students
D.students should be seated according to their eyesight
4.What does the author mean by "most people are literally having a ZZZ" (Line 2, Para. 5)?
A.They are getting impatient. B.They are noisily dozing off.
C.They are feeling humiliated. D.They are busy with word puzzles.
5.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A.People with surnames beginning with N to Z are often ill-treated.
B.VIPs in the Western word gain a great deal from alphabetism.
C.The campaign to eliminate alphabetism still has a long way to go.
D.Putting things alphabetically may lead to unintentional bias.
長難例句分析
［長難例句］This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.
［結構分析］本句中，主干是this...refers to discrimination。for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage作全句的狀語；as yet unaware of such a disadvantage作定語修飾those people。as yet的意思是“到目前為止（仍），現(xiàn)在還，至今”。against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet是修飾discrimination的定語，由whose surnames引導的定語從句修飾those。
［參考譯文］對于那些至今尚未意識到這種不利因素的人來說，它指的是一種對姓氏首字母排在字母表后半部分的人的歧視。
全文參考譯文
在過去的一個世紀，所有的不平等和歧視都受到譴責或被視為違法。但一種陰險的形式繼續(xù)流行開來：字母歧視。對于那些至今尚未意識到這種不利因素的人來說，它指的是一種對姓氏首字母排在字母表后半部分的人的歧視。
很久之前人們就知道，當客戶在翻看他們的電話簿時，叫做AAAA汽車的出租車公司比Zodiac汽車公司有更大的優(yōu)勢。不那么為人所知的是Adam Abbott 比Zoe Zysman在生活中所具有的優(yōu)勢。英語名字按字母表相當均勻地分布。但難以置信的是有很大數(shù)量的上層人士，其姓氏是以A到K的字母開頭的。
同樣美國的總統(tǒng)和副總統(tǒng)的姓氏分別以B和C開頭，并且在喬治·布什的前任總統(tǒng)中（包括他父親），有26人其姓氏是以字母表前半部分開頭的，姓氏以字母表后半部分開頭的僅有16人。更驚人的是，七國集團富裕國的政府首腦有6位的姓氏有字母表順序優(yōu)勢（Berlusconi，Blair，Bush，Chirac，Chretien和Koizumi）。世界的3個頂級中央銀行家（Greenspan，Duisenberg和Hayami）的姓氏都以字母表最前面的字母開頭，即使他們中有一人實際上用的是日本字符。世界上最富有的5個人（Gates，Buffett，Allen，Ellison和Albrecht）的姓氏也是如此。
這僅是巧合嗎？一種由處于字母表不利位置的人在空閑時間構思出的理論認為，這種情況早就存在。在幼兒園第一年的開始階段，老師按學生姓氏的字母表順序由前往后安排座位，這樣比較容易記住學生的名字。所以眼睛近視的Zysman只能坐在后排，并且很少被那些感覺遲鈍的老師問一些有質量的問題。那時處于字母表不利位置的學生可能覺得他們很幸運，可以逃避老師的提問。但結果可能更糟，因為他們很難得到個人關注，同時在公共場合講話時也缺乏自信。
這種恥辱繼續(xù)著。在大學畢業(yè)典禮上，姓氏以A、B、C等前面字母開頭的學生可以首先自豪地得到獎勵，輪到Zysman時，大多數(shù)人都在打瞌睡了。求職者面試的順序、投票選舉名單，會議演講者和出席者的名單列表，都會按字母順序列出，隨著他們的收件人按字母順序查看這些名單，他們就會慢慢失去興趣。
題目答案與解析
1.作者用AAAA cars和Zodiac cars汽車公司為例，意欲說明什么？
A.一種被人們忽視的不平等?！ .一種顯而易見的偏見。
C.一種個人偏見。 D.一種少見的歧視。
【答案】A
【解析】本題可參照文章的第一段和第二段。從文章的第一段可知，一種隱秘的不公平和歧視繼續(xù)盛行——按字母排序；第二段接著講到，人們早就知道，當乘客通過電話本叫出租車時，一家名為“AAAA”的出租車公司所具有的優(yōu)勢就比一家名為“Zodiac”的汽車公司大；人們不太知曉的是這樣的有利條件——在生活中，Adam Abbott比Zoe Zysman有優(yōu)勢。據(jù)此可知，作者舉“AAAA cars”和“Zodiac cars”汽車公司為例是為了說明——人們忽視了一種隱秘的不公平和歧視。因此A項為正確答案。
2.我們從文章的前三段中可以推知什么？
A.不管是在東方還是在西方，姓名對于成功至關重要。
B.人們指責字母表導致姓氏靠后者的失敗。
C.消費者通常非常注重公司的名字。
D.某種歧視太細微因而難以辨別。
【答案】D
【解析】從文章的第一、第二、第三段的內容可知，過去，各種各樣的不公平和歧視受到人們的譴責或是被視為違法；但是，一種隱秘的不公平和歧視繼續(xù)盛行；人們早就知道，當乘客通過電話本叫出租車時，名為“AAAA”的出租車公司所具有的優(yōu)勢就比名為“Zodiac”的汽車公司大；人們不太知曉的是這樣的有利條件——在生活中，Adam Abbott比Zoe Zysman有優(yōu)勢；然后舉例說明，指出有些人有字母方面的優(yōu)勢。據(jù)此可知，由于某些隱秘的不公平和歧視太細微，所以難以被人們關注。因此D項為正確答案。
3.第四段暗示_________。
A.更聰明的學生經常被提問 B.不具備字母優(yōu)勢的學生經常逃課
C.老師應該關注所有學生 D.應該根據(jù)學生的視力來給他們排座位
【答案】C
【解析】文章第四段講道，這只能算是巧合嗎？一種理論認為，這種情況早就存在；在幼兒園的起始階段，老師根據(jù)字母順序從前到后給學生排座位，一些近視的、姓氏靠后的幼兒不得不坐在后排，那些不敏感的老師很少向這些幼兒提一些有助于提高的問題；那時，那些不具備字母優(yōu)勢的人可能認為他們有幸躲過了提問；結果可能會造成更嚴重的后果。據(jù)此可知，老師不應該忽視那些沒有字母優(yōu)勢的學生。C項的“老師應該關注所有學生”與文章的意思相符，因此C項為正確答案。
4.作者講“most people are literally having a ZZZ”（第五段第二至三行）的含義是什么？
A.他們變得不耐煩?！ .他們已是鼾聲大作。
C.他們覺得丟臉?！ .他們忙于做字謎游戲。
【答案】B
【解析】從文章第五段的內容可知，在大學的畢業(yè)典禮上，那些姓氏靠前者首先獲得獎品；等到該姓氏靠后者獲獎時，大多數(shù)人都在打瞌睡了；求職面試的最后名單、投票選舉單、會議發(fā)言以及參加者名單往往都是根據(jù)字母先后順序制作的，等人們費勁地觀看時，他們的興趣也隨之消失了。據(jù)此可知，該句話的意思應該是——大多數(shù)人都在打鼾。B項與文章的意思相符，因此為正確答案。
5.依照本文的觀點，以下選項中正確的是哪項？
A.以N到Z為姓氏的人經常受到虐待。
B.西方世界的重要人物從以字母先后排序的做法中獲得極大的好處。
C.消除以字母先后排序的運動仍然任重道遠。
D.以字母先后排序的做法可能會導致無心的偏見。
【答案】D
【解析】從文章第一段的內容可知，過去，各種各樣的不公平和歧視受到人們的譴責或是被視為違法；但是，有一種隱秘的不公平和歧視繼續(xù)盛行——按字母排序；從第二段的內容可知，人們早就知道，當乘客通過電話本叫出租車時，名為“AAAA”的出租車公司所具有的優(yōu)勢就比名為“Zodiac”的汽車公司大；但是，人們不太知曉的是：在生活中，Adam Abbott比Zoe Zysman有優(yōu)勢；第三段舉例說明；第四段接著講到，這只能算是巧合嗎？跟著舉例指出：在幼兒園，老師根據(jù)字母順序從前到后給學生排座位，結果可能會造成更嚴重的后果，因為這些人受到的關注更少，他們也更缺乏公開表達自己信心的機會；從文章的最后一段內容可知，這種使人蒙羞的情況還在繼續(xù)。據(jù)此可知，根據(jù)字母的先后排序的做法可能無意中導致偏見。因此D項為正確答案。
