2010年12月英語四六級考試閱讀專項練習(16)

　　Passage 2

　　When a person feels low, blue, or down in the clumps, it usually means he has been hurt, disappointed, or saddened by something that causes a confused and listless feeling. There is __11__ a type of music called "the blue", a low, mournful, sad sound to __12__these universal human feelings.

　　Depression is another name for this mood. Feeling depressed is a normal and natural __13__ to experiences of loss, failure, and undeserved bad luck. Indeed, it has been pointed out that without depression, we would __14__ much of the world's great tragic literature, music, and art.

　　In some cases, however, depression becomes something more than just __15__ feelings of blues or letdown. A large number of people suffer from what psychiatrists call "depressive illness. " Depressive illness is more __16__ and lasts longer than common listless feelings. Sometimes a serious __17__ of depression can begin with the loss of a loved one or a change of job. Many times, in very

　　__18__ cases, there doesn't seem to be any circumstance serious enough to have caused the depression.

　　Some psychiatrists suggest that the key feature in depression is change. The person becomes different from the way before the onset of his depression. He may even become the opposite of his usual self. There are many examples: the businessman who becomes a wanderer, the mother who wants to __19__ her children and herself. Instead of seeking satisfaction and pleasure, the depressed person__20__ it.

　　A. ever B. escape C. intense D. response

　　E. avoids F. even G. express H. realization

　　I. severe J. lessen K. dense L. period

　　M. harm N. lack O. normal

　　Passage 3

　　Social change is more likely to occur in societies where there is a mixture of different kinds of people than in societies where people are similar in many ways. The simple reason for this is that there are more different ways of looking at things present in the first kind of society. There are more ideas, more disagreements in interest, and more groups and organizations with different beliefs. In addition, there is usually a greater worldly interest and greater tolerance in mixed societies. All these factors tend to promote social change by opening more areas of life to decision. In a society where people are quite similar in many ways, there are fewer occasions for people to see the need or the opportunity for change because everything seems to be the same. And although conditions may not be satisfactory, they are at least customary and undisputed.

　　Within a society, social changes is also likely to occur more frequently and more readily in the material aspects of the culture than in the non-material, for example, in technology rather than in values; in what has been learned later in life rather than what was learned early; in the less basic and less emotional aspects of society than in their opposites; in the simple elements rather than in the complex ones; in form rather than in substance; and in elements that are acceptable to the culture rather than in strange elements.

　　Furthermore, social change is easier if it is gradual. For example, it comes more readily in human relations on a continuous scale rather than one with sharp difference. This is one reason why change has not come more quickly to Black Americans as compared to other American minorities, because of the sharp difference in appearance between them and their white counterparts.

　　21.

　　The passage is mainly discussing .

　　A. the necessity of social change

　　B. certain factors that determine the ease with which social changes occur

　　C. two different societies

　　22.

　　D. certain factors that promote social change

　　One of the factors that tend to promote social change is .

　　A. joint interest B. different points of view

　　C. less emotional people D. advanced technology

　　23.

　　According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true? A. Social change tends to meet with more difficulty in basic and emotional aspects of society.

　　B. Disagreement with and argument about conditions tend to slow down social change.

　　C. Social change is more likely to occur in the material aspect of society.

　　D. Social change is less likely to occur in what people learned when they were young.

　　24. The expression "greater tolerance "(Para. 1) refers to_______.

　　A. greater willingness to accept social change

　　B. quicker adaptation to changing circumstances

　　C. more respect for different beliefs and behavior

　　D. greater readiness to agree to different opinions and ideas