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Divorce doesn't necessarily make adults happy. But toughing it out in an unhappy marriage until it turns around just might do, a new study says.
The research identified happy and unhappy spouses. culled (選出 ) from a national database. Of the unhappy partners who divorced. about half were happy five years later. But unhappy spouses who stuck it out often did better. About two-thirds were happy five years later. Study results contradict what seems to be common sense, says David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values, a think-tank on the family. The institute helped sponsor the research leam based at the University of Chicago. Findings will be presented in Arlington, Va.. at the "Smart Marriage" conference. sponsored by the Coalition for Marriage. Families and Couples Education.
The study looked at data on 5,232 married adults from the National Survey of Families and Households. It included .64.5 who were unhappy. The adults in the national sample were analyzed through 13 measures of psychological well being. Within the five years, 167 of the unhappy were divorced or separated and 478 stayed married.
Divorce didn't reduce symptoms of depression, raise self-esteem or increase sense of mastery compared with those who stayed married, the report says.
Results were controlled for factors including race, age, gender and income. Staying married did not tend to trap unhappy spouses in violent relationships. What helped the unhappy married turn things around? To supplement the formal study data, the research team asked professional firms to recruit focus groups totaling 55 adults who were "marriage survivors". All had moved from unhappy to happy marriages. These 55 once-discontented married felt their unions got better via one of three routes, the report says:
Marital endurance. "Wich time, job situations improved, children got older or better. or chronic ongoing problems got put into new perspective." Partners did not work on their marriages.
Marital work. Spouses actively worked "to solve problems, change behavior of improve communication".
Personal change. Partners found "alternative ways to improve their own happiness and build a good and happy life despite a mediocre marriage." In effect the unhappy partner changed.
【測試題】
1. According to David Blankenhorn. people commonly believe that________.
A) divorce is a better solution to an unhappy marriage than staying together
B) divorce is not necessarily the only solution to an unhappy marriage
C) keeping an unhappy marriage needs much courage and endurance
D) to end an unhappy marriage or not is a tough decision for the spouses
2. Which of the following is true about the research under discussion?
A) It was conducted by che Institute for the American Values headed by David Blankenhorn.
B) It was sponsored by the Coalition for Marriage, Families and Couples Education.
C) Its subjects were chosen from a national database based at the University of Chicago.
D) Its report will be included in the schedule of the "Smart Marriage"conference.
3. The 13 measures of psychological well-being are used to_______.
A) serve as the standards for choosing the subjects of the research
B) serve as the ways to help adults to get over their unhappy marriage
C) examine all the 5232 married adults
D) examine all the adults in the database
4. The author's attitude towards divorce may best be described as ________".
A) critical B) impersonal C) arbitrary D) scornful
5. According to the report, chose unhappily-wedded may not survive their marriage by_______.
A) waiting for the living conditions to get improved
B) achieving children’s understanding
C) changing their own attitude towards mediocre marriages
D) working on their problems and strengthening communication
【選項翻譯與答案詳解】
1.David Blankenhorn認為,人們通常認為_________。
A) 對于一段不美滿的婚姻,離婚比勉強在一起是更好的解決方法。
B) 對于一段不美滿的婚姻,離婚不一定是唯一的解決方法。
C) 要維系一段不美滿的婚姻需要很大的勇氣和容忍度。
D)要不要結(jié)束一段不美滿的婚姻對于夫妻來說是一個很難做的決定。
[A]根據(jù)第2段第5句首先可以推斷人們普遍的觀點與研究結(jié)果相反。第2段開頭四句表明堅持不離婚的人最終的情況會變得比離婚的人好,與此相反的觀點即為:人們通常認為離婚比堅持不離婚好。因此選項A為本題答案。選項B是本文的主題,研究的結(jié)果也支持這個說法,而人們普遍的看法應(yīng)與此相反;第2段并沒有討淪如何才能維持婚姻,選項C是無關(guān)內(nèi)容;本段對比了婚姻不幸福的人采取不同做法的結(jié)果,并沒有討論人們面臨婚姻問題時內(nèi)心的掙扎,因此選項D也是無關(guān)內(nèi)容。
2. 下列關(guān)于正在討論的研究哪一個是正確的?
A) 研究是由David Blankenhorn任所長的美國價值觀研究所主持的。
B) 研究是由婚姻、家庭和夫妻教育聯(lián)盟資助的。
C) 研究對象選自基于芝加哥大學的全國數(shù)據(jù)庫。
D) 研究報告會被納入“智慧婚姻”大會的日程當中。
[D]第2段末句表明“智慧婚姻”會議的內(nèi)容包括宣讀研究報告,由此可見,選項D是對第2段末句的近義改寫。第2段第6句表明選項A中提到的研究所贊助該研究,并非“主持”開展該研究,而且原文也沒有表示David Blankenhorn是該研究所的領(lǐng)導,故A不正確;第2段段末sponsored by 引出的名詞結(jié)構(gòu)修飾的對象是“智慧婚姻”會議,它并沒有贊助該研究,故選項B不對;database在第2段首句提到,the University of Chicago在第6句提到,它們之間并沒有關(guān)系,選項C也不對。
3. 13項心理健康指標是用來__________。
A) 作為選擇研究對象的標準
B) 作為幫助成年人解決不美滿婚姻的方法
C) 檢測所有的5232名已婚人士
D) 檢測數(shù)據(jù)庫中的所有成年人
[C]第3段第3句中的The adults in the national sample指的就是已被抽樣出來的受試者,即指第3段首句提到過的5232 married adults,因此本題答案為選項C。第3段第3句表明這13項指標是用于分析the adults in the national sample的,言下之意,sample(subjects) 都已經(jīng)選好了,因此選項A的說法是錯誤的;該句也表示這13項指標是用于analyze受試者的,該段沒有進一步說明如何幫助婚姻不幸福的夫婦克服困難,因此選項B不難確;本文的主題是婚姻狀況,因此, 13項指標所分析的對象應(yīng)該也與主題密切相關(guān),不需要分析數(shù)據(jù)庫中的所有成年人,只要關(guān)注有婚則狀況的就行了,因此選項D覆蓋范圍過于寬泛,也不對。
4.形容作者對于離婚的態(tài)度最好的形容詞是___________.
A) 批判的 B)客觀的 C)模棱兩可的 D)諷刺的
[B]首段的結(jié)構(gòu)就像新聞報道的結(jié)構(gòu),將信息的來源放在了段末,指出本文將要介紹一項新研究的結(jié)果,其他段落的首句都含有research, study或report等詞,表明本文作者只是客觀地轉(zhuǎn)述研究的過程和結(jié)果,沒有發(fā)表自己的見解,因此B正確。雖然本文顯示,在遇到不快樂的婚姻的時候,離婚并不一定使人快樂,但不能因此說作者對離婚抱著“批評”或“諷刺”的態(tài)度,因為本文主要介紹了一項研究及其結(jié)果,因此選項A和D都不正確;作者引用了研究中的很多數(shù)據(jù),而且客觀地陳述了研究的結(jié)果,對divorce的任何評價都來自于那項研究,并沒有武斷地妄下結(jié)論,因此選項C也不正確。
5. 根據(jù)報告所稱,婚姻不美滿的人如果只是________也許不能挽救婚姻。
A) 坐等生活水平提高
B) 得到子女的理解
C) 改變自己對于平庸婚姻的態(tài)度
D) 著手解決自己的問題,加強溝通
[B]選項B在原文沒有提及,雖然倒數(shù)第3段第2句也提到了有關(guān)children的信息,但從該句不能推斷出與understanding有關(guān)的任何信息,因此B符合本題題意。選項A概括了政善婚姻的第1條途徑;選項D是第2途徑;而選項C是第3條途徑。
【參考譯文】
離婚不一定使成年人快樂,而一項新的研究認為忍受不快樂的婚姻直到它出現(xiàn)轉(zhuǎn)機,可能使人快樂。
該研究從一個全國性的數(shù)據(jù)庫中選出配偶,分為快樂型和不快樂型。在離婚的不快樂型伴侶中,約有半數(shù)的人5年后變得快樂了。[1]但堅持不離婚的不快樂型配偶往往情況更佳,5年后約有三分之二的人變得快樂了。家庭問題智囊機構(gòu)美國價值觀研究所的戴維·布蘭肯霍說,研究結(jié)果與看似常理的觀點不一致。該研究所協(xié)助為一個設(shè)在芝加哥大學的研究小組提供贊助。[2]研究結(jié)果將在弗吉尼亞州阿靈頓市召開的“智慧婚姻”會議上宣讀,這次會議由婚姻、家庭、夫妻教育聯(lián)盟贊助舉辦。
這項研究考察了從全國家庭和家務(wù)調(diào)查中選出的5232位已婚成人的資料,其中645人生活得不快樂。[3]人們對全國抽樣的這些成年人進行了13項心理健康指標分析。5年中,過得不快樂的人中有l(wèi)67人離婚或分居,478人維持婚姻。
研究報告指出,與維持婚姻的人相比,離婚的人并沒有減輕他們的抑郁癥狀、提高自信,或增強自我把握的意識。研究結(jié)果針對種族、年齡、性別、收入等因素進行了調(diào)整。維持婚姻不一定必然使不快樂的夫妻陷入惡化的關(guān)系。是什么促使不快樂的婚姻出現(xiàn)轉(zhuǎn)機呢?為補充正式的研究數(shù)據(jù),研究小組請求專業(yè)公司征集了共55名“婚姻幸存者”組成重點研究小組。這些人都經(jīng)歷了從不快樂婚姻到快樂婚姻的過程。研究報告顯示,這55名曾對婚姻不滿的人覺得他們婚姻的改善得益于以下3種途徑之一:
[5]婚姻盡顯耐力?!半S著時間流逝,就業(yè)狀況好轉(zhuǎn),孩子們長大成人或更聽話,可以從新的角度看待長期存在的問題了。”夫妻雙方不曾著力去改善他們的婚姻。
婚姻建設(shè)。夫妻雙方積極行動“以解決問題。改變自身行為舉止或增進交流”。
個人變化。夫妻雙方找到“其他途徑來提升自身的快樂、創(chuàng)造美好快樂的生活,盡管他們的婚姻勉強湊合”。實際上,不快樂的配偶發(fā)生了變化。