英語四級閱讀練習(xí)附答案-18 生活的不公正

　　A friend of mine, in response to a conversation we were having about the injustices of life, asked me the question, “Who said life was going to be fair, or that it was even meant to be fair?” Her question was agood one. It reminded me of something I was taught as a youngster: life isn’t fair. It’s a disappointment, but it’s absolutely true. One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be. It’s not and it won’t be.

 

　　One of the nice things about surrendering to the fact that life isn’t fair is that it keeps us from feeling sorry for ourselves by encouraging us to do the very best we can with what we have. We know it’s not “life’s job”to make everything perfect: it’s our own challenge. Surrendering to this fact also keeps us from feeling sorry for others because we are reminded that everyone is dealt a different hand; everyone has unique strengths and problems in the process of growing up, facing the reality and making decisions; and everyone has those times that they feel unfairly treated.

　　The fact that life isn’t fair doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything in our power to improve our own lives or the world as a whole. To the contrary, it suggests that we should. When we don’t recognize or admit that life isn’t fair, we tend to feel pity for others and for ourselves. Pity, of course, is a self-defeating emotion that does nothing for anyone, except to make everyone feel worse than they already do. When we do recognize that life isn’t fair, however, we feel compassion for others and for ourselves. And compassion is a heartfelt emotion that delivers loving-kindness to everyone it touches. The next time you find yourself thinking about the injustices of the world, try reminding yourself of this very basic fact. Youmay be surprised that it can make you out of self-pity and into helpful action.

　　練習(xí)題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1.The author thought of his friend's question as a good one, because _______.

　　A. he also wanted to know who held such an opinion

　　B. it made him recall something during his childhood

　　C. like his friend, he also thought life was unfair

　　D. he learned something from the question as a youngster

　　2.Surrendering to the fact that life isn't fair will ________.

　　A. keep us from making everything perfect

　　B. keep us from doing everything in our power

　　C. make us face challenges in the life bravely

　　D. make us know it's our duty to perfect things

　　3.The second paragraph of the passage mainly discusses _______.

　　A. it's nice to accept the injustice of life

　　B. it's nice to surrender to the life

　　C. we should not surrender to the life

　　D. we should not feel sorry for ourselves

　　4.In the last paragraph, “this very basic fact” refers to the fact that ________.

　　A. you should not pity for others

　　B. life isn't and won't be fair

　　C. sympathy is a heartfelt emotion

　　D. pity is a self-defeating emotion

　　5.From the passage, we can learn that the author's attitude to life is ________.

　　A. positive B. negative C. Self-pity D. indifferent

　　1.[C] 推理判斷題。本題考查隱含的因果關(guān)系。第1段破折號后面的內(nèi)容為隱含的原因，由此可見C為本題正確選項A沒有原文依據(jù)，選項B與結(jié)論并無合理的因果關(guān)系，選項D對原文有曲解，原文是說這個問題使作者想起了年輕時候的往事，而并不是選項D中說的leam from the question。

　　2.[D] 事實細(xì)節(jié)題。本題考查復(fù)合句的理解。第2段首句中 do the very best we can 與第2句We know…it’s our challenge表明選項D為本題正確答案。本題最具干擾性的是選項C，其中的challenge在第2句明確提到，但是此處的challenge不是指挑戰(zhàn)生活，而是指本句第一個分句中提到的“讓所有事情完美”。

　　3.[A] 主旨大意題。本段第1句是主題句,理解這個同位語從句是關(guān)鍵,只有選項A表達了這一句的意思。要注意其中surrender的賓語是the fact that life isn’t fair,而不是life,這樣就可以否定最具干擾性的B選項了。

　　4.[B] 詞義推斷題。本題考查this所指的理解。最后一段倒數(shù)第2句中,this very basic fact指的是本句的從句中的the injustices of the world,另外，短語the fact that life isn’t fair在文中反復(fù)出現(xiàn)，是本文的主題，因此結(jié)合上下文可以推出答案。其余三項雖然在文中均有提及,但只是個別細(xì)節(jié),并非作者反復(fù)強調(diào)的中心話題。

　　5.[A] 觀點態(tài)度題。作者批評了自憐的情緒,提出對他人要有同情心,強調(diào)承認(rèn)生活不公平并不是向生活妥協(xié),而是將我們從自我憐憫中擺脫出來，采取一些有積極意義的行動，由此可見，作者對生活的態(tài)度是積極的，即選項A。