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Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Imagine a world in which there was suddenly no emotion-a world in which human beings could feel no love or happiness, no terror or hate. Try to imagine the consequences of such a transformation. People might not be able to stay alive: knowing neither joy nor pleasure, anxiety nor fear, they would be as likely to repeat acts that hurt them as acts that were beneficial. They could not learn: they could not benefit from experience because this emotionless world would lack rewards and punishments. Society would soon disappear: people would be as likely to harm one another as to provide help and support. Human relationships would not exist: in a world without friends or enemies, there could be no marriage, affection among companions, or bonds among members of groups. Society’s economic underpinnings (支柱) would be destroyed: since earning $10 million would be no more pleasant than earning $10, there would be no incentive to work. In fact, there would be no incentives of any kind. For as we will see, incentives imply a capacity to enjoy them.
In such a world, the chances that the human species would survive are next to zero, because emotions are the basic instrument of our survival and adaptation. Emotions structure the world for us in important ways. As individuals, we categorize objects on the basis of our emotions. True we consider the length, shape, size, or texture, but an object’s physical aspects are less important than what it has done or can do to us—hurt us, surprise us, anger us or make us joyful. We al so use categorizations colored by emotions in our families, communities, and overall society. Out of our emotional experiences with objects and events comes a social feeling of agreement that certain things and actions are good and others are bad, and we apply these categories to every aspect of our social life—from what foods we eat and what clothes we wear to how we keep promises and which people our group will accept. In fact, society exploits our emotional reactions and attitudes, such as loyalty morality, pride shame, guilt, fear and greed, in order to maintain itself It gives high rewards to individuals who perform important tasks such as surgery, makes heroes out of individuals for unusual or dangerous achievements such as flying fighter planes in a war, and uses the legal penal (刑法的) system to make people afraid to engage in antisocial acts.
31. The reason why people might not be able to stay alive in a world without emotion is that ________.
A) they would not be able to tell the texture of objects
B) they would not know what was beneficial and what was harmful to them
C) they would not be happy with a life without love
D) they would do things that hurt each other’s feelings
32. According to the passage, people’s learning activities are possible because they ________.
A) believe that emotions are fundamental for them to stay alive
B) benefit from providing help and support to one another
C) enjoy being rewarded for doing the right thing
D) know what is vital to the progress of society
33. It can be inferred from the passage that the economic foundation of society is dependent on ________.
A) the ability to make money
B) the will to work for pleasure
C) the capacity to enjoy incentives
D) the categorizations of our emotional experiences
34. Emotions are significant for man’s survival and adaptation because ________.
A) they provide the means by which people view the size or shape of objects
B) they are the basis for the social feeling of agreement by which society is maintained
C) they encourage people to perform dangerous achievements
D) they generate more love than hate among people
35. The emotional aspects of an object are more important than its physical aspects in that they ________.
A) help society exploit its members for profit
B) encourage us to perform important tasks
C) help to perfect the legal and penal system
D) help us adapt our behavior to the world surrounding us
Questions 36 to 40 based on the following passage:
The Carnegie Foundation report says that many colleges have tried to be “all things to all people”. In doing so, they have increasingly catered to a narrow minded careerism while failing to cultivate a global vision among their students. The current crisis, it contends, does not derive from a legitimate desire to put learning to productive ends. The problem is that in too many academic fields, the work has no context; skills, rather than being means, have become ends. Students are offered a variety of options and allowed to pick their way to a degree. In short, driven by careerism, “the nation’s colleges and universities are more successful in providing credentials (文凭) than in providing a quality education for their students. “The report concludes that the special challenge confronting the undergraduate college is one of shaping an integrated core of common learning. Such a core would introduce students to essential knowledge, to connections across the disciplines, and in the end, to application of knowledge to life beyond the campus. “
Although the key to a good college is a high-quality faculty, the Carnegie study found that most colleges do very little to encourage good teaching. In fact, they do much to undermine it. As one professor observed: “Teaching is important, we are told, and yet faculty know that research and publication matter most.” Not surprisingly, over the last twenty years colleges and universities have failed to graduate half of their four-year degree candidates. Faculty members who dedicated themselves to teaching soon discover that they will not be granted tenure (终身任期), promotion, or substantial salary increases. Yet 70 percent of all faculties say their interests lie more in teaching than in research. Additionally, a frequent complaint among young scholars is that “There is pressure to publish, although there is virtually no interest among administrators or colleagues in the content of the publications.”
36. When a college tries to be “all things to al people” (Lines 1-2, Para. 1) it aims to ________.
A) satisfy the needs of all kinds of students simultaneously
B) focus on training students in various skills
C) encourage students to take as many courses as possible
D) make learning serve academic rather than productive ends
37. By saying that “in too many academic fields, the work has no context” (Lines 4-5, Pare. 1) the author means that the teaching in these areas ________.
A) ignores the actual situation
B) is not based on the right perspective
C) only focuses on an integrated core of common learning
D) gives priority to the cultivation of a global vision among students
38. One of the reasons for the current crisis in American colleges and universities is that ________.
A) a narrow vocationalism has come to dominate many colleges
B) students don’t have enough freedom in choosing what they want to learn
C) skills are being taught as a means to an end
D) students are only interested in obtaining credentials
39. American colleges and universities failed to graduate half of their four-year degree candidates because ________.
A) most of them lack high-quality faculties
B) the interests of most faculty members lie in research
C) there are not enough incentives for students to study hard
D) they attach greater importance to research and publication than to teaching
40. It can be inferred from the passage that high-quality college education calls for ________.
A) putting academic work in the proper context
B) a commitment to students and effective teaching
C) the practice of putting leaning to productive ends
D) dedication to research in frontier areas of knowledge
