PassageOne
Questions 46 to 50 arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
"Thedangerousthingaboutlyingispeopledon'tunderstandhowtheactchangesus," saysDanAriely, behavioralpsychologistatDukeUniversity. Psychologistshavedocumentedchildrenlyingasearlyastheageoftwo. Someexpertsevenconsiderlyingadevelopmentalmilestone, likecrawlingandwalking, becauseitrequiressophisticatedplanning, attentionandtheabilitytoseeasituationfromsomeoneelse'sperspectivetomanipulatethem. But, formostpeople, lyinggetslimitedaswedevelopasenseofmoralityandtheabilitytoself-regulate.
HarvardcognitiveneuroscientistJoshuaGreenesays. formostofus, lyingtakeswork. Instudies, hegavesubjectsachancetodeceiveformonetarygainwhileexaminingtheirbrainsinafunctionalMRImachine，whichmapsbloodflowtoactivepartsofthebrain. Somepeopletoldthetruthinstantlyandinstinctively. Butothersoptedtolie, andtheyshowedincreasedactivityintheirfrontalparietal (颅腔壁的) controlnetwork, whichisinvolvedindifficultorcomplexthinking. Thissuggeststhattheyweredecidingbetweentruthanddishonestyandultimatelyoptingforthelatter. Forafollow-upanalysis, hefoundthatpeoplewhoseneural(神经的)rewardcentresweremoreactivewhentheywonmoneywerealsomorelikelytobeamongthegroupofliars- suggestingthatlyingmayhavetodowiththeinabilitytoresisttemptation.
Extremalconditionsalsomatterintermsofwhenandhowoftenwelie. Wearemorelikelytolie, researchshows, whenweareabletorationaliseit, whenwearestressedandfatiguedorsecothersbeingdishonest. Andwearelesslikelytoliewhenwehavemoralremindersorwhenwethinkothersarewatching. "Weasasocietyneedtounderstandthat, whenwedon'tpunishlying, weincreasetheprobabilityitwillhappenagain," Arielysays.
Ina 2016 studypublishedinthejournalNatureNeuroscience, Arielyandcolleaguesshowedhowdishonestyalterspeople'sbrains, makingiteasiertotellliesinthefuture. Whenpeopleutteredafalsehood, thescientistsnoticedaburstofactivityintheiramygdala. Theamygdalaisacrucialpartofthebrainthatproducesfear, anxietyandemotionalresponsesincludingthatsinking, guiltyfeelingyougetwhenyoulie. Butwhenscientistshadtheirsubjectsplayagame- inwhichtheywonmoneybydeceivingtheirpartner, theynoticedthenegativesignalsfromtheamygdalabegantodecrease. Notonlythat, butwhenpeoplefacednoconsequencesfordishonesty, theirfalsehoodstendedtogetevenmoresensational. Thismeansthatifyougivepeoplemultipleopportunitiestoliefortheirownbenefit, theystartwithlittlelieswhichgetbiggerovertime.
46. Whydosomeexpertsconsiderlyingamilestoneinachild'sdevelopment?
A) Itshowstheyhavetheabilitytoviewcomplexsituationsfromdifferentangles.
B) Itindicatestheyhaveanabilitymoreremarkablethancrawlingandwalking.
C) Itrepresentstheirabilitytoactivelyinteractwithpeoplearoundthem.
D) Itinvolvesthecoordinationofboththeirmentalandphysicalabilities.
47. WhydoestheHarvardneuroscientistsaythatlyingtakeswork?
A) Itishardtochoosefromseveraloptions.
B) Itisdifficulttosoundnaturalorplausible.
C) Itrequiresspeedybloodflowintoone'sbrain.
D) Itinvolveslotsofsophisticatedmentalactivity.
48. Underwhatcircumstancesdopeopletendtolie?
A) Whentheybecometooemotional.
B) Whentheyfacetoomuchpeerpressure.
C) Whenthetemptationistoostrong.
D) Whentheconsequencesarenotimminent.
49. Whenarepeoplelesslikelytolie?
A) Whentheyarewormoutandstressed.
B) Whentheyareunderwatchfuleyes.
C) Whentheythinkinarationalway.
D) Whentheyhaveaclearconscience.
50. Whatdoestheauthorsaywillhappenwhenaliardoesnotgetpunished?
A) Theymayfeeljustified.
B) Theywilltellbiggerlies.
C) Theywillbecomecomplacent.
D) Theymaymixliesandtruths.
PassageTwo
Questions 51 to 55 arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
Here'showthePacificNorthwestispreparingfor "TheBigOne". It'sthemotherofalldisasterdrillsforwhatcouldbetheworstdisasterinAmericanhistory. Californiahasspentyearspreparingfor "TheBigOne" -- theinevitableearthquakethatwillundoubtedlyunleashallkindsofhavocalongthefamousSanAndreasfault (断层). ButwhatifthefaultthatrunsalongthePacificNorthwestdeliversagiganticearthquakeofitsown? IfthepeopleoftheCascadiaregionhaveanythingtodowithit, theywon'tbecaughtunawares.
Theregionisengagedinamulti-dayearthquake-and-tsunami(海啸) drillinvolvingaround 20,000 people. TheCascadiaRisingdrillgivesarearesidentsandemergencyrespondersachancetopracticewhattodoincaseofa 9.0-magnitudeearthquakeandtsunamialongoneofthenation'sdangerous -- andunderestimated -- faults.
TheCascadiaEarthquakeZoneisbigenoughtocompetewithSanAndreas (it'sbeencalledthemostdangerousfaultinAmerica), butit'smuchlesserknownthanitsCaliforniacousin. Nearly 700 mileslong, theearthquakezoneislocatedbytheNorthAmericanPlateoffthecoastofPacificBritishColumbia, Washington, OregonandNorthernCalifornia.
Cascadiaiswhat'sknownasa "megathrust" fault. Megathrustsarecreatedinearthquakezones-landplateboundarieswheretwoplatesconverge. Intheareaswhereoneplateisbeneathanother, stressbuildsupovertime. Duringamegathrustevent, allofthatstressreleasesandsomeoftheworld'smostpowerfulearthquakesoccur. Rememberthe 9.1 earthquakeandtsunamiintheIndianOceanoffSumatrain 2004? ItwascausedbyamegathrusteventastheIndiaplatemovedbeneaththeBurmamicro-plate.
ThelasttimeamajorearthquakeoccurredalongtheCascadiafaultwasin 1700, soofficialsworrythatanothereventcouldoccuranytime. Topreventthateventfrombecomingacatastrophe, firstresponderswilljoinmembersofthepublicinrehearsalsthatinvolvecommunication, evacuation, searchandrescue, andotherscenarios.
Thousandsofcasualtiesareexpectedifa 9.0 earthquakeweretooccur. First, theearthquakewouldshakemetropolitanareasincludingSeattleandPortland. Thiscouldtriggeratsunamithatwouldcreatehavocalongthecoast. Notallcasualtiescannecessarilybeprevented -- butbycoordinatingacrosslocal, state, andevennationalborders, officialshopethattheworst-casescenariocanbeaverted. Ontheexercise'swebsite, officialsexplainthatthereporttheyprepareduringthisrehearsalwillinformdisastermanagementforyearstocome.
ForhundredsofthousandsofCascadiaresidents, "TheBigOne" isn'taquestionofif, onlywhen. Andit'snevertooearlytogetreadyfortheinevitable.
51. Whatdoes "TheBigOne" referto?
A) Agiganticgeologicalfault.
B) Alarge-scaleexercisetopreparefordisasters.
C) Amassivenaturalcatastrophe.
D) AhugetsunamiontheCaliforniacoast.
52. WhatisthepurposeoftheCascadiaRisingdrill?
A) Topreparepeopleforamajorearthquakeandtsunami.
B) Toincreaseresidents'awarenessofimminentdisasters.
C) Toteachpeoplehowtoadapttopost-disasterlife.
D) Tocopewiththeaftermathofapossibleearthquake.
53. Whathappensincaseofamegathrustearthquakeaccordingtothepassage?
A) Twoplatesmergeintoone.
B) Avarietyofforcesconverge.
C) Boundariesblurbetweenplates.
D) Enormousstressisreleased.
54. Whatdotheofficialshopetoachievethroughthedills?
A) Coordinatingvariousdisaster-reliefefforts.
B) Reducingcasualtiesintheeventofadisaster.
C) Minimizingpropertylosscausedbydisasters.
D) Establishingdisasterandemergencymanagement.
55. Whatdoestheauthorsayabout "TheBigOne"?
A) Whetheritwilloccurremainstobeseen.
B) Howitwillarriveistooearlytopredict.
C) Itsoccurrenceisjustamatteroftime.
D) ItkeepshauntingCascadiaresidents.