考研英语阅读命题思路透析和真题揭秘(37)

While still catching-up to men in some spheres of modern life, women appear to be way ahead in at least one undesirable category. "Women are particularly susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress compared to men," according to Dr. Yehuda, chief psychiatrist at New York's Veteran's Administration Hospital.

Studies of both animals and humans have shown that sex hormones somehow affects the stress response, causing females under stress to produce more of the trigger chemicals than do males under the same conditions. In several of the studies, when stressed-out female rats had their ovaries (the female reproductive organs) removed, their chemical responses became equal to those of the males.

Adding to a woman's increased dose of stress chemicals, are her increased "opportunities" for stress. "It's not necessarily that women don't cope as well. It's just that they have so much more to cope with," says Dr. Yehuda. "Their capacity for tolerating stress may even be greater than men's," she observes, "It's just that they're dealing with so many more things that they become worn out from it more visibly and sooner."

Dr. Yehuda notes another difference between the sexes. "I think that the kinds of things that women are exposed to tend to be in more of a chronic or repeated nature. Men go to war and are exposed to combat stress. Men are exposed to more acts of random physical violence. The kinds of interpersonal violence that women are exposed to tend to be in domestic situations, by, unfortunately, parents or other family numbers, and they tend not to be one-shot deals. The wear-and-tear that comes from these longer relationships can be quite devastating."

Adeline Alvarez married at 18 and gave birth to a son, but wad determined to finish college. "I struggled a lot to get the college degree. I was living in so much frustration that that was my escape, to go to school, and get ahead and do better." Later her marriage ended and she became a single mother. "It's the hardest thing to take care of a teenager, have a job, pay the rent, pay the car payment, and pay the debt. I lived from paycheck to paycheck."

Not everyone experiences the kinds of severe chronic stresses Alvarez describes. But most women today are coping with a lot of obligations, with few breaks, and feeling the strain. Alvarez's experience demonstrates the importance of finding ways to diffuse stress before it threatens your health and your ability to function.

21. Which of the following is true according to the first two paragraphs?
[A] Women are biologically more vulnerable to stress.
[B] Women are still suffering much stress caused by men.
[C] Women are more experienced than men in coping with stress.
[D] Men and women show different inclinations when faced with stress.

[答案] A

[解题思路]

本题的对应信息在原文的前面两段，这两段主要描写男女因为生理上的差异，所以可能在相同的情况下，女性可能更容易在压力下产生焦虑和沮丧。第一段首先提出了主要话题"Women are particularly susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress compared to men"（比起男人，妇女在压力下更加容易受到由于抑郁和焦虑而引起的精神紊乱），而第二段进而开始分析原因，"Studies of both animals and humans have shown that sex hormones somehow affects the stress response, causing females under stress to produce more of the trigger chemicals than do males under the same conditions"（有关人类和动物的研究都表明性激素在某种程度上会影响对于压力的反应，导致承受压力的雌性动物和女性人类相比雄性动物和男性人类而言，在同等条件下更加容易产生引发以上病症的化学物质），由此可见这种差异主要来自于男女在生理上的差异，因此正确选项为A。B项和C项不符合文意，B项所指的女性遭受压力多来自男性偏离文章线索。C项所说的女性相比男性更有处理压力的经验也是断章取义 。D选项只是单纯描述男女之间在面对压力的差异，与中心偏离

[题目译文]

下面的哪一项符合文章的前两段？
[A] 妇女在生理上更容易受到压力的影响。
[B] 妇女仍然比男人受到更多压力的折磨
[C] 妇女比男人在应付压力方面更有经验
[D] 男人和女人在面对压力的时候显出了不同的倾向。

23. According to Paragraph 4, the stress women confront tends to be
[A] domestic and temporary.
[B] irregular and violent.
[C] durable and frequent.
[D] trivial and random.

[答案] C

[解题思路]

文章第四段谈到"I think that the kinds of things that women are exposed to tend to be in more of a chronic or repeated nature"（我认为妇女平时要做的事情都是那些惯常的、重复的琐事），相反，"Men go to war and are exposed to combat stress. Men are exposed to more acts of random physical violence"（男人则去打仗，他们面临的是格斗的压力。因而男人更多的是面对那种随机性的身体接触上的暴力行为）。四个选项可以进行一一排除。A选项的temporary与原文的chronic矛盾，可以排除。B选项是男人面对的压力的特点，因此也可以排除。D选项的random与原文的repeated矛盾，因此也可以排除。而C选项符合原文"chronic or repeated"的意思。

[题目译文]

根据文章第四段，女人们面对的压力往往是
[A] 关于家庭的和暂时的
[B] 不规律的和暴力的
[C] 持久的和频繁的
[D] 琐碎的和随机的

24. The sentence "I lived from paycheck to paycheck."(Line 6, Para. 5) shows that
[A] Alvarez cared about nothing but making money.
[B] Alvarez's salary barely covered her household expenses.
[C] Alvarez got paychecks from different jobs.
[D] Alvarez paid practically everything by check.

[答案] B

[解题思路]

本题应该把引文放到原文中去理解。题干中引文所在的这一段主要讲述了Alvarez作为单身母亲的不易，文中前面一句话是""It's the hardest thing to take care of a teenager, have a job, pay the rent, pay the car payment, and pay the debt."（最困难的事情就是我要同时带一个十几岁的孩子、工作、付房租、付养车的开销、还要还债），说明她的生存压力非常大，只有B选项符合题意。这句话的意思是"我的生活就是付掉一张账单再付下一张"。

[题目译文]

"I lived from paycheck to paycheck"（第五段第六行）这个句子说明
[A] Alvarez除了钱其它什么都不在乎。
[B] Alvarez的工资几乎不够支付她的家庭支出
[C] Alvarez从多份的工作中赚钱
[D] Alvarez一般都用支票来付账