Text 1

If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006’s World Cup tournament.you would most likely fend a noteworthy quirk：elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the later months.If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks，you would find this strange phenomenon to be even more pronounced.

What might account for this strange phenomenon? Here are a few guesses：a)certain astrological signs confer superior soccer skills;b)winter-born babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which increases soccer stamina;c) soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime，at the annual peak of soccer mania;d)none of the above.

Anders Ericsson，a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University, says he believes strongly in “none of the above.”Ericsson grew up in Sweden，and studied nuclear engineering until he realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology.His first experiment，nearly 30 years ago，involved memory：training a person to hear and then repeat a random series of numbers.“With the first subject，after about 20 hours of training，his digit span had risen from 7 to 20，” Ericsson recalls.“He kept improving，and after about 200 hours of training he had risen to over 80 numbers.”

This success，coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined，led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.In other words，whatever inborn differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to memorize，those differences are swamped by how well each person “encodes” the information.And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined，was a process known as deliberate practice.Deliberate practice entails more than simply repeating a task.Rather, it involves sexing specific goals，obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome.

Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of pursuits，including soccer.They gather all the data they can，not just performance statistics and biographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiments、^rim high achievers.Their work makes a rather startling assertion：the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated.Or，put another way, expert performers—whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming—are nearly always made，not born.

21.The birthday phenomenon found among soccer players is mentioned to____.

A. stress the importance of professional training.

B. spotlight the soccer superstars in the World Cup.

C. introduce the topic of what makes expert performance.

D. explain why some soccer teams play better than others.

22.The word “mania”(Line 4：Paragraph 2) most probably means____.

A. fun B. craze C. hysteria D. excitement

23.According to Ericsson，good memory____.

A. depends on meaningful processing of information.

B. results from intuitive rather than cognitive exercises.

C. is determined by genetic rather than psychological factors.

D. requires immediate feedback and a high degree of concentration.

24.Ericsson and his colleagues believe that____.

A. talent is a dominating factor for professional success.

B. biographical data provide the key to excellent performance.

C. the role of talent tends to be overlooked.

D. high achievers owe their Success mostly to nurture.

25.Which of the following proverbs is closest to the message the text tries to convey?

A. “Faith will move mountains.” B. “One reaps what one sows.”

C. “Practice makes perfect.” D. “Like father，like son.”

答案解析

文章解析：根据中心统一原则确定，

文章首段主题句是If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk：elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the later months.如果你查一下参加2006年世界杯足球锦标赛的每位运动员的出生证明，就极可能发现一个值得注意的奇怪现象：出色的运动员一般出生在一年内的前几个月而不是后几个月。

第二段确定段落内容方向的语句是What might account for this strange phenomenon?　如何解释这一奇怪现象呢?

第三段确定段落内容方向的语句是Anders Ericsson，a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University, says he believes strongly in “none of the above”. Anders Ericsson是佛罗里达州立大学的心理学教授，他坚信前三种推测不成立。

第四段确定段落内容方向的语句是This success，coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined，led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.后来进行的实验表明了记忆力本身不是由基因决定的，这些结果与第一次实验的成功一起让Ericsson 得出结论，记忆行为与其说是一种直觉行为不如说是一种认知行为。

第五段确定段落内容方向的语句是Or，put another way, expert performers—whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming—are nearly always made，not born.换一种方式来说，那些专家级的从业者，无论是记忆力超群者，还是专家级外科医生，无论是卓越的芭蕾舞演员，还是出色的计算机程序员，他们几乎都是后天练就的，而非天生。

不难发现，这篇文章围绕着专家是如何培养出来的来展开。

题目解析：

21.结构题The birthday phenomenon found among soccer players is mentioned to_____.

选项A. stress the importance of professional training.

强调职业培训的重要性。

B. spotlight the soccer superstars in the World Cup.

突出世界杯中的超级巨星。

C. introduce the topic of what makes expert performance.

引出如何造就专家表现的主题。

D. explain why some soccer teams play better than others.

解释为什么一些球队比另外一些球队踢得好。

该题作为结构题将例子“The birthday phenomenon found among soccer players”定位到文章第一段If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006’s World Cup tournament, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk：elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the later months.If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks，you would find this strange phenomenon to be even more pronounced.根据结构题方位论原则，找例子对应的论点句。整个第一段都是例子。例子后面相邻的段落，即第二段是对这种现象解释的猜想。因此，我们可以大胆得出结论，文章的结构可能是“分—总”结构，文章主题体现在文章的尾段中。尾段主题句为Or，put another way, expert performers—whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming—are nearly always made，not born.“换一种方式来说，那些专家级的从业者，无论是记忆力超群者，还是专家级外科医生，无论是卓越的芭蕾舞演员，还是出色的计算机程序员，他们几乎都是后天练就的，而非天生。”综上所述，正确答案为C. introduce the topic of what makes expert performance.引出如何造就专家表现的主题。(补充：文章首段/首句含义是什么?这种提问方式确定答案对应文章的中心思想。)

22.识词题The word “mania”(Line 4：Paragraph 2) most probably means_____.

选项A. fun娱乐 B. craze狂燥，狂热

C. hysteria歇斯底里 D. excitement兴奋

该题将识别的词汇“mania”在文章中定位到第二段What might account for this strange phenomenon? Here are a few guesses：a)certain astrological signs confer superior soccer skills;b)winter-born babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which increases soccer stamina;c) soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime，at the annual peak of soccer mania;d)none of the above.作为识词题，按照“方位论原则”：在识别词汇后面找表示“解释说明，逻辑关系”的表达，或者向前面找平行结构。在词汇后面没有任何解释说明或逻辑关系的表达。因此，向前面找平行结构soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime，“对足球狂热的父母可能在春天这个一年之中足球狂热的高峰期孕育子女”。因此答案应选B. craze狂燥，狂热。

23.细节题According to Ericsson，good memory_____.

选项A. depends on meaningful processing of information.

依靠有意义的信息处理过程。

B. results from intuitive rather than cognitive exercises.

由于天生而不是认知练习。

C. is determined by genetic rather than psychological factors.

由基因决定而不是心理因素。

D. requires immediate feedback and a high degree of concentration.

需要立刻反馈并且注意力高度集中。

该题利用“Ericsson”粗略定位到文章第三段Anders Ericsson，a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University, says he believes strongly in “none of the above”. Ericsson grew up in Sweden，and studied nuclear engineering until he realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology.His first experiment，nearly 30 years ago，involved memory：training a person to hear and then repeat a random series of numbers.“With the first subject，after about 20 hours of training，his digit span had risen from 7 to 20，” Ericsson recalls.“He kept improving，and after about 200 hours of training he had risen to over 80 numbers.”但是整个段落中没有出现定位词 “good memory” 。继续定位到文章第四段 This success，coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined，led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.“后来进行的实验表明了记忆力本身不是由基因决定的，这些结果与第一次实验的成功一起让Ericsson 得出结论，记忆行为与其说是一种直觉行为不如说是一种认知行为。” 选项A. depends on meaningful processing of information.依靠有意义的信息处理过程，与定位的语句动作“实验表明了记忆力本身不是由基因决定的， Ericsson 得出结论记忆行为与其说是一种直觉行为不如说是一种认知行为”没有任何关联;选项B. results from intuitive rather than cognitive exercises.由于天生而不是认知练习，与定位的语句动作“实验表明了记忆力本身不是由基因决定的， Ericsson 得出结论记忆行为与其说是一种直觉行为不如说是一种认知行为”没有任何关联;选项C. is determined by genetic rather than psychological factors.由基因决定而不是心理因素，与定位的语句动作“实验表明了记忆力本身不是由基因决定的， Ericsson 得出结论记忆行为与其说是一种直觉行为不如说是一种认知行为”没有任何关联;选项D. requires immediate feedback and a high degree of concentration.需要立刻反馈并且注意力高度集中，与定位的语句动作“实验表明了记忆力本身不是由基因决定的， Ericsson 得出结论记忆行为与其说是一种直觉行为不如说是一种认知行为”没有任何关联。该句子与四个选项没有直接联系，作为细节题，定位词所在的句子不能确定答案时，向下继续找信息。下面相邻的句子In other words，whatever inborn differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to memorize，those differences are swamped by how well each person “encodes” the information.“换句话说，不管两个人在记忆能力方面表现出来的先天差异有多大，这种差异都会被每个人解码信息能力的强弱所掩盖。” 选项A. depends on meaningful processing of information.依靠有意义的信息处理过程，与相关信息句动作“记忆能力的差异会被人的解码信息能力的强弱所掩盖”相关联，动作“依靠信息处理过程”对应于 “被解码信息能力所掩盖”，体现“主动被动替换”的关系;选项B. results from intuitive rather than cognitive exercises.由于天生而不是认知练习，与相关信息句动作“记忆能力的差异会被人的解码信息能力的强弱所掩盖”没有任何关联;选项C. is determined by genetic rather than psychological factors.由基因决定而不是心理因素，与相关信息句动作“记忆能力的差异会被人的解码信息能力的强弱所掩盖”没有任何关联;选项D. requires immediate feedback and a high degree of concentration.需要立刻反馈并且注意力高度集中，与相关信息句动作“记忆能力的差异会被人的解码信息能力的强弱所掩盖”没有任何关联。因此，正确答案为A. depends on meaningful processing of information.依靠有意义的信息处理过程。

24.细节题Ericsson and his colleagues believe that_____.

选项A. talent is a dominating factor for professional success.

天赋是职业成功的决定因素。

B. biographical data provide the key to excellent performance.

生物表格中的数据是出色表现的关键。

C. the role of talent tends to be overlooked.

天赋的作用被忽略了。

D. high achievers owe their success mostly to nurture.

卓越的成功者将其成功归咎与后天的培育。

该题利用定位词“Ericsson and his colleagues”定位到文章尾段Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of pursuits，including soccer.They gather all the data they can，not just performance statistics and biographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiment with high achievers.Their work makes a rather startling assertion：the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated.Or，put another way, expert performers—whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming—are nearly always made，not born.题目明确提问他们得出的结论是什么?因此段落中，段尾句Or，put another way, expert performers—whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming—are nearly always made，not born.“换一种方式来说，那些专家级的从业者，无论是记忆力超群者，还是专家级外科医生，无论是卓越的芭蕾舞演员，还是出色的计算机程序员，他们几乎都是后天练就的，而非天生。” 选项A. talent is a dominating factor for professional success. 天赋是职业成功的决定因素，与相关信息句动作“专家级从业者几乎都是后天练就的，而非天生的”完全相悖;选项B. biographical data provide the key to excellent performance.生物表格中的数据是出色表现的关键，与相关信息句动作“专家级从业者几乎都是后天练就的，而非天生的”没有任何关联;选项C. the role of talent tends to be overlooked.天赋的作用被忽略了，与相关信息句动作“专家级从业者几乎都是后天练就的，而非天生的”没有任何关联;选项D. high achievers owe their success mostly to nurture.卓越的成功者将其成功归咎与后天的培育，与相关信息句动作“专家级从业者几乎都是后天练就的，而非天生的”完全对应。因此，正确答案为D. high achievers owe their success mostly to nurture.卓越的成功者将其成功归咎与后天的培育。

25.主旨题Which of the following proverbs is closest to the message the text tries to convey?

选项A. “Faith will move mountains” 精诚所至，金石为开。

B. “One reaps what one sows” 一份耕耘，一份收获。

C. “Practice makes perfect” 熟能生巧。

D. “Like father，like son” 有其父必有其子。

作为主旨题要明确找到文章每个段落的主题句。通过前面四道题目的定位和分析理解不难发现文章的结构为“分—总”，文章的主题体现在尾段的主题句中。因此，相关信息句仍然是段尾句Or，put another way, expert performers—whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming—are nearly always made，not born.“换一种方式来说，那些专家级的从业者，无论是记忆力超群者，还是专家级外科医生，无论是卓越的芭蕾舞演员，还是出色的计算机程序员，他们几乎都是后天练就的，而非天生。” 因此，正确答案为C. “Practice makes perfect” 熟能生巧。(补充：本题目作为主旨题也可以用中心统一原则提炼的确定各段内容方向的语句来确定答案。)

全文翻译如果你查一下参加2006年世界杯足球锦标赛的每位运动员的出生证明，就极可能发现一个值得注意的怪现象：出色的足球运动员往往出生在一年内的前几个月而不是后几个月。如果你再查一下为世界杯和职业球队输送球员的欧洲国家青年队的出生证明，你就会发现这一现象更加明显。

如果何解释这一怪现象呢?这里有几种猜测：1)某些星象迹象赋予这些人出色的球技;2)冬天出生的孩子氧容量高，因此踢足球的耐力好;3)对足球狂热的父母更可能在春天这个一年之中足球狂热的高峰期孕育子女;4)以上猜测都不成立。

Anders Ericsson是佛罗里达州立大学的心理学教授，他坚信前三种推测均不成立。Ericsson在瑞典长大，开始时学习核工程，直到他意识到如果自己改学心理学，就会有更多的机会进行自己的研究。大约30年前他做了第一个实验，与记忆力相关：训练一个人听，然后复述一组随机的数字。他回忆到：“在经过大约20个小时的训练后，第一个受试者的数字记忆跨度从7个上升至20个，他不断地进步，在经过大约200个小时的训练后，他记忆的数字超过了80个。”

后来进行的实验表明了记忆力本身不是由基因决定的，这些结果与第一次实验的成功一起让Ericsson得出结论，记忆行为与其说是一种直觉行为，不如说是一种认知行为。换句话说，不管两个人的记忆能力方面表现出来的先天差异有多大，这些差异都会被每个人解码信息能力的强弱所掩盖。Ericsson认为，学习有意义地解码信息的最好方式就是一个被称为“有意练习”的过程。“有意练习”需要的不仅仅是简单的重复一项任务，而是要确立特定目标，获得即时反馈，既关注结果又关注技巧。

因而，Ericsson和他的同事开始研究不同领域的技艺精湛的从业者，包括足球运动员。他们收集所有能够得到的数据，不仅是他们的表现数据，个人生活细节内容，还包括对于那些取得大成就的人的实验研究结果。他们的研究结论令人吃惊：我们对通常认为的天赋评价过高。换一种方式来说，那些专家级的从业者，无论记忆力超群者，还是专家级外科医生，无论是卓越的芭蕾舞演员还是出色的计算机程序员，他们几乎都是后天练就的，而非天生的。