本文北美考情组为大家提供2018年3月10日
第一篇文章
The Beauty Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
I read forty or fifty pages that first day. Naomi read more. After I read the first page I waited for her to pick up where I had left off, but she insisted, in a voice that bordered on pleading, that I continue. " One more, " she said at first. And when that page had been completed, she added another “one more” to that, until eventually there were so many "pleases" and" pretty pleases" and "come on, pleases" that I was left utterly defenseless.
摘要：
本文主要讲了小女孩Naomi 与作者(narrator)一起读书的故事。Naomi 读书非常专注，并且善于观察。作者觉得跟他一起读书很美好，因此有时甚至影响了作者的 职责 ——接待店里的客人。作者对读书的热爱是源于父亲的潜移默化，并把读书的习惯带到了家庭生活。作者从这个读书的经历想起了为他读书建立的榜样的父亲，把讲故事看作是essential event, as grand and real as life。
题目：
1，主题题。问Naomi有什么明显的特征，同时，问father将读书视为怎么样的事情。
第二篇文章
Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, feel by Adam Alter
Perhaps the first experiment ever conducted in the field of social psychology suggests that humans are often faster and stronger when they test their speed and strength in the company of other people, rather than alone. That study, conducted at Indiana University in the late 1890s, was the brainchild of Norman Triplett, a cycling enthusiast and a sports aficionado.In dozens of experiments he pushed cyclist to ride as fast as they could on stationary bikes，occasionally leaving them alone in the lab room and free from distraction，at other times pacing them against a motor-driven cycle, and sometimes asking them to ride in the presence of other cyclists. Across his observations，Triplett noticed that the cyclists rode nearby. One cyclist rode a mile in 2 minutes 49 seconds when alone, but managed to ride the same mile in 2 minutes 37 seconds in the company of four pacing cyclists. similarly, he rode ten miles in 33 minutes 17 seconds while riding alone，but rode the same distance two minutes faster when riding with several pacers. Triplett acknowledged that his observations were far from rigorous，so he conducted an experiment to show that the effect persisted in a tightly controlled lab study.
摘要：
本文研究人类到底在旁人面前完成任务会更好还是更糟。研究者NT通过两个实验得出结论是人需要旁观者才能发挥latent energy;但是研究者JP和RH得出结果正好相反，认为人需要独处才能更好完成maze。最后研究者BZ通过从鸟身上做实验reconcile了这个矛盾的结论：即取决于nature of the task。
题目：
1，寻证题。两句合并的词汇题。首次出现这么神奇的考法，问两个地方simple的意思。
2，问NT的观点。应选人类拥有not always able to exploit的能力。
第三篇文章
P1
The question of why zebras have stripes has puzzled scientists-including Darwin-for over a century, leading to five main hypotheses: that the stripes repel insects, provide camouflage, confuse predators, reduce body temperature, or help the animals interact socially. For the first time, scientists played all of these theories against each other in a statistical model-and the result was pretty much, well, black and white.
摘要：
本文两篇文章都研究斑马有条纹(stripes)对于自己的生存有什么优势。第一篇主要是以列出实验procedure的形式得出斑马条纹是为了ban biting flies。第二篇通过Larison的实验提出反驳意见，认为斑马条纹是为regulate body temperature。最后让步表达由于缺乏实验验证的不确定性。
题目：
1，细节题。问P1的broad blush是什么意思。注意该词直接重复，应选require specialized focus。
2，段落主题题。问P2某段的主题。出自首句，应选区分斑马和其他带条纹的动物，对应该段首句的but zebras are especially suited for stripes。,
3，求同题。问两篇文章的相似之处。据上述主旨，从主题出发，应选stripes are not for camouflage。
第四篇文章
This passage is from Charles Dickens, American Notes for General Circulation. Originally published in 1842. After spending six months travelling in North America, British novelist Charles Dickens wrote an account of his travels and of the people he encountered. But I may be pardoned, if on such a theme as the general character of the American people, and the general character of their social system, as presented to a stranger’s eyes, I desire to express my own opinions in a few words, before I bring these volumes to a close.
摘要：
本文主要讲述查尔斯狄更斯对于美国的评论。文章前半段作者认为美国人拥有坦率热情的品质。后半部分进行反驳，并引用了他所说的普遍的不信任univeral distrust，他认为这种极端的个人主义导致人们怀疑别人，并在他人身上谋取利益。
题目：
1，词汇题。考察单词的本质含义，character和nature互换考过很多遍。
2，循证题。问支持美国人轻易相信unfounded criticism of their leaders的证据。
第五篇文章
Gut bugs may boost flu shot's effects
Every year, some unlucky people get the flu even though they’ve had their seasonal shot. One reason, according to a new study, might be their gut bacteria. Researchers have shown that, at least in mice, a strong immune response to the flu vaccine relies in part on signals from intestinal microbes. The findings could help explain variation in the response to the vaccine and suggest ways to maximize its effectiveness.
摘要：
文章主要通过做实验来证实人类肠子里面的细菌,并使其能更好地让抗体发挥作用，和加强疫苗的效果，从而更好的对抗流感病毒。
题目：
1，主题题。很简单，应选研究影响疫苗效应的因素。,
2，词汇题。问prompting the vaccine response的prompting的意思。应选加强、激发—inciting。
3，细节题。问curious和unexpected的意思。应选surprised to find a link between TLR5 coding和抗体。