-
1995 Passage 4
Personality is to a large extent
inherent
—
A-type parents
usually bring about A-
type offspring.
But the environment must also have a profound
effect, since if
competition is
important to the parents, it is likely to become a
major factor in the
lives of their
children.
One
place where children soak up A characteristics is
school, which is, by its
very nature, a
highly competitive institution. Too many schools
adopt the
costs
current
passion for making children compete against their
classmates or against the
clock
produces a two-layer system, in which competitive
A-types seem in some way
better than
their B-type fellows. Being too keen to win can
have dangerous
consequences: remember
that Pheidippides, the first marathon runner,
dropped
dead seconds after saying:
By far the
worst form of competition in schools is the
disproportionate emphasis
on
examinations. It is a rare school that allows
pupils to concentrate on those things
they do well. The merits of competition
by examination are somewhat questionable,
but competition in the certain
knowledge of failure is positively harmful.
Obviously, it
is neither practical nor desirable that all A
youngsters change into
B's. The world
needs types, and schools have an important duty to
try to fit a child's
personality to his
possible future employment. It is top management.
If the
preoccupation of schools with academic work was
lessened, more time
might be spent
teaching children surer values. Perhaps selection
for the caring
professions, especially
medicine, could be made less by good grades in
chemistry
and more by such
considerations as sensitivity and sympathy. It is
surely a mistake
to choose our doctors
exclusively from A- type stock. B's are important
and should
be encouraged.
63. According to the passage, A-type
individuals are usually ________.
[A] impatient
[B] considerate
[C] aggressive
[D] agreeable
64. The author is strongly opposed to
the practice of examinations at schools
because ________.
[A] the pressure is too
great on the students
[B] some students are bound to fail
[C] failure
rates are too high
[D] the results of examinations are
doubtful
65. The selection of medical
professionals is currently based on ________.
[A] candidates'
sensitivity
[B]
academic achievements
[C] competitive spirit
[D] surer values
66. From the passage we can draw the
conclusion that ________.
[A] the personality of a child is well
established at birth
[B] family influence dominates the
shaping of one's characteristics
[C] the development of
one's personality is due to multiple factors
[D] B-type characteristics can find no
place in a competitive society
性格在很大程度上是先天形成的——
A
型性格的父母会有
A
型性格的子女。
但环境也
一定对其有深刻的影响，因为如果竞争对父母来说很重要的话，那它也可能成为
孩子生活
中的一个重要因素。
让孩子吸收
A
型性格的一个地方是学校。学校，就其本质而言，是高度竞争的机构。
很多学校采用“
不惜一切代价获取成功”的道德标准并通过炫耀成绩来估量孩子们是否成
功。目前热衷于
让孩子与同学竞争或与时间赛跑造成了一种双重体制，在这种体制中，竞
争性的
A
型学生在某些方面似乎比
B
< br>型的学生要好。过分地热衷于获胜会产生危险的后果：
记住，第一位跑马拉松的费
迪皮迪兹在说完“欢呼吧，我们赢了”之后几秒便倒地而死。
学校里最糟糕的竞争形式就是不恰当的强调考试。很少有学校
允许学生集中精力做他
们能做好的事。以考试竞争这种做法的好处本身有点值得怀疑，而
明知有人考试会通不过
的情况下还要进行竞争，则肯定是有害的。
显然，要将所有
A
型孩子变成
B
型孩子既不
现实也不可取。这个世界需要各种性格的
人，一个重要职责是使孩子的性格适合将来可能
从事的工作。这才是最好的管理理念。
如果学校对学业的强调减少一些，也许就有更多的时间教孩子
更重要的价值观念。也
许对护理职业——特别是医疗护理人员——的选择应少注重化学成
绩而多关注他们是否敏
感、是否有同情心。只从
A
型性格的人员中挑选医生的确是个错误。
B
型性格的
人非常重
要，应该受到鼓励。
难句解析：
①
But the environment must
also have a profound effect, since if competition
is
important to the parents, it is
likely to become a major factor in the lives of
their children.
▲本句的主干是
...
the environment must also have a profound effect
。后面的
since
引导一个原因状语从句
，而这个从句又是一个
if
引导的条件主从复合句。
△注意
profound
的词义为“意义深远的”。另外要看到最后一个逗号后面的
it
所指代
的是
competition
。
②
One place
where children soak up A characteristics is
school, which is, by its very
nature, a
highly competitive institution.