四级单项选择阅读理解附讲解:2011年12月真题(1)

•       第 1 页：阅读训练
•       第 2 页：参考答案

      WhatisIntegrity?
      Thekeytointegrityisconsistency--notonlysettinghighpersonalstandardsforoneself (honesty, responsibility, respectforothers, fairness) butalsolivinguptothosestandardseachday. Onewhohasintegrityisboundbyandfollowsmoralandethicalstandardsevenwhenmakinglife'shardchoices, choiceswhichmaybecloudedbystress, pressuretosucceed, ortemptation.
      Whathappensifwelie, cheat, steal, orviolateotherethicalstandards? Wefeeldisappointedinourselvesandashamed. Butalapseofintegrityalsoaffectsourrelationshipswithothers. Trustisessentialinanyimportantrelationship, whetherpersonalorprofessional. Whocantrustsomeonewhoisdishonestorunfair? Thus, integritymustbeoneofourmostimportantgoals.
RiskyBusiness
      Weareeachresponsibleforourowndecisions, evenifthedecision-makingprocesshasbeenunderminedbystressorpeerpressure. Therealtestofcharacteriswhetherwecanlearnfromourmistake, byunderstandingwhyweactedaswedid, andthenexploringwaystoavoidsimilarproblemsinthefuture.
      Makingethicaldecisionsisacriticalpartofavoidingfutureproblems. Wemustlearntorecognizerisks, becauseifwecan'tseetheriskswe'retaking, wecan'tmakeresponsiblechoices. Toidentifyrisks, weneedtoknowtherulesandbeawareofthefacts. Forexample, onewhodoesn'tknowtherulesaboutplagiarismmayaccidentallyusewordsorideaswithoutgivingpropercredit, oronewhofailstokeepcarefulresearchnotesmayunintentionallyfailtoquoteandcitesourcesasrequired. Butthefactthatsuchaviolationis "unintentional" doesnotexcusethemisconduct. Ignoranceisnotadefense.
"ButEverybodyDoesIt"
      Mostpeoplewhogetintroubledoknowtherulesandfacts, butmanagetofoolthemselvesabouttherisksthey'retakingbyusingexcuses: "Everyoneelsedoesit," "I'mnothurtinganyone," or "Ireallyneedthisgrade." Excusescangetveryelaborate: "IknowI'mlookingatanother'sexam, eventhoughI'msupposedtokeepmyeyesonmyownpaper, butthat'snotcheatingbecauseI'mjustcheckingmyanswers, notcopying." Wemustbehonestaboutouractions, andavoidexcuses. Ifwefoolourselvesintobelievingwe'renotdoinganythingwrong, wecan'tseetherealchoicewe'remaking--andthatleadstobaddecisions.
      Toavoidfoolingyourself, watchoutforexcusesandtrythistest: Askhowyouwouldfeelifyouractionswerepublic, andanyonecouldbewatchingoveryourshoulder. Wouldyoufeelproudorashamedofyouractions? Ifyou'dratherhideyouractions, that'sagoodindicationthatyou'retakingariskandrationalizingittoyourself.
EvaluatingRisks
      Todecidewhetherariskisworthtaking, youmustexaminetheconsequences, inthefutureaswellasrightnow, negativeaswellaspositive, andtoothersaswellastoyourself. Thosewhotakeriskstheylaterregretusuallyfocusonimmediatebenefits ("what'sinitforme"), andsimplyhaven'tconsidered