Question

I had an experience some years ago, which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had died “ full of years”, as the Bible would say. Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence(吊唁) calls on the two families on the same afternoon.

At the first home, the son of the deceased(已故的)woman said to me, “ If only I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today. It’s my fault that she died.” At the second home, the son of the other deceased woman said, “ If only I hadn’t insisted on my mother’s going to Florida, she would be alive today.. that long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate, was more than she could take. It’s my fault that she’s dead.”

You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out bad, they believe that the opposite course—keeping Mother at home, putting off the operation—would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse?

There are seem to be two elements involved in our willingness to feel guilty. The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens that leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds.

The second element is the view that we are the cause of what happens , especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believe that every disaster is our fault. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood.

A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up in the morning and summons the rest of the world to its tasks. He cries, and someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him , and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we do not completely outgrow that childish view that our wishes cause things to happen.

1.What is said about the two diseased elderly women?

A．They lived out a natural life

B．They died of exhaustion after the long plane ride

C．They weren’t used to the change in weather.

D．They died due to lack of care by family members.

2.The author had to conduct the two women’s funerals probably because ______.

A．he wanted to comfort the two families

B．he was an official from the community

C．he had great pity for the deceased

D．he was minister of the local church

3.People feel guilty for the deaths of their loved ones because _____.

A．they couldn’t find a better way to express their sorrow

B．they believe that they were responsible

C．they had neglected the natural course of events

D．they didn’t know things often turn in the opposite direction

4.According to the passage, the underlined part in paragraph 4 probably means that_____.

A．everything in the world is predetermined

B．the world can be interpreted in different ways

C．there is an explanation for everything in the world

D．we have to be sensible in order to understand the world

5.What’s the idea of the passage?

A．Life and death is an unsolved mystery.

B．Every story should have a happy ending.

C．Never feel guilty all the time because not every disaster is our fault.

D．In general, the survivors will feel guilty about the people who passed away.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.C

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文通过两个老人去世，儿子都把责任归咎于自己。告诉我们世界上发生的所有事情都是有自己的因果关系，没有必要为此感觉内疚。

1.A 推理题。根据第一段3,4行Both had died “ full of years”, as the Bible would say.说明他们都是自然死亡的年龄都已经很大了。故A正确。

2.D 细节题。根据第一段2,3行One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community.说明这两个葬礼我要我主持，是因为我是教堂里的牧师，故D项正确。

3.B 细节题。根据第三段第一行You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty.说明他们都认为自己对于亲人的去世是负有责任的。故B正确。

4.C 推理题。根据第四段The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens that leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds.说明世界上的每一个事物都有自己的原因和结果。每个事情的发生都有自己的理由，故C正确。

5.C 推理题。根据文章倒数2,3段说明很多人都把亲人的去世归咎于自己，实际上这是不正确的。我们我们永远都不要把这些发生的不幸的事情归咎于我们自己。故C正确。

考点：考查人生百态类短文阅读

点评：本文要求考生在阅读理解整体语篇的基础上，把握文章的真正内涵。要吃透文章的字面意思，从字里行间捕捉有用的提示和线索，这是推理的前提和基础;要对文字的表面信息进行挖掘加工，由表入里，由浅入深，从具体到抽象，从非凡到一般，通过分析、综合、判定等，进行深层处理，符合逻辑地推理。不能就是论事，断章取义，以偏概全。要忠实于原文，以文章提供的事实和线索为依据。