新東方：大學(xué)英語四級考試閱讀講義(五)

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

　　Imagine a world in which there was suddenly no emotion — a world in which human beings could feel no love or happiness, no terror or hate. Try to imagine the consequences of such a transformation. People might not be able to stay alive: knowing neither joy nor pleasure, anxiety nor fear, they would be as likely to repeat acts that hurt them as acts that were beneficial. They could not learn: they could not benefit from experience because this emotionless world would lack rewards and punishments. Society would soon disappear: people would be as likely to harm one another as to provide help and support. Human relationships would not exist: in a world without friends or enemies, there could be no marriage, affection among companions, or bonds among members of groups. Society's economic underpinnings (支柱) would be destroyed: since earning $ 10 million would be no more pleasant than carning $ 10, there would be no incentive to work. In fact, there would be no incentives of any kind. For as we will see, incentives imply a capacity to enjoy them.

　　In such a world, the chances that the human species would survive are next to zero, because emotions are the basic instrument of our survival and adaptation. Emotions structure the world for us in important ways. As individuals, we categorize objects on the basis of our emotions. True we consider the length, shape, size, or texture, but an object's physical aspects are less important than what it has done or can do to us — hurt us, surprise us, anger us or make us joyful. We also use categorizations colored by emotions in our families, communities, and overall society. Out of our emotional experiences with objects and events comes a social feeling of agreement that certain things and actions are “good” and others are “bad”, and we apply these categories to every aspect of our social life — from what foods we eat and what clothes we wear to how we keep promises and which people our group will accept. In fact, society exploits our emotional reactions and attitudes, such as loyalty, morality, pride, shame, guilt, fear and greed, in order to maintain itself. It gives high rewards to individuals who perform important tasks such as surgery, makes heroes out of individuals for unusual or dangerous achievements such as flying fighter planes in a war, and uses the legal and penal (刑法的) system to make people afraid to engage in antisocial acts.

　　31. The reason why people might not be able to stay alive in a world without emotion is that .

　　A) they would not be able to tell the texture of objects

　　B) they would not know what was beneficial and what was harmful to them

　　C) they would not be happy with a life without love

　　D) they would do things that hurt each other's feelings

　　32. According to the passage, people's learning activities are possible because they .

　　A) believe that emotions are fundamental for them to stay alive��

　　B) benefit from providing help and support to one another��

　　C) enjoy being rewarded for doing the right thing��

　　D) know what is vital to the progress of society

　　33. It can be inferred from the passage that the economic foundation of society is dependent on .

　　A) the ability to make money

　　B) the will to work for pleasure

　　C) the capacity to enjoy incentives

　　D) the categorizations of our emotional experiences

　　34. Emotions are significant for man's survival and adaptation because .A) they provide the means by which people view the size or shape of objects

　　B) they are the basis for the social feeling of agreement by which society is maintained

　　C) they encourage people to perform dangerous achievements

　　D) they generate more love than hate among people

　　35. The emotional aspects of an object are more important than its physical aspects in that they .

　　A) help society exploit its members for profit

　　B) encourage us to perform important tasks

　　C) help to perfect the legal and penal system

　　D) help us adapt our behavior to the world surrounding us