Question

【題目】Money is the root of all evil (邪惡) and new study claims there may be some truth behind the saying. Scientists at the University of California Berkeley, US, announced on February 27 that rich people are more likely to do immoral things, such as lie or cheat, than poorer people. The scientists did a series of eight experiments. They published their findings online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNA《美國國家科學(xué)院院刊》).

They carried out the first two experiments from the sidewalk near Berkeley. They noted that drivers of newer and more expensive cars were more likely to cut off other cars and pedestrians at crosswalks. Nearly 45 percent of people driving expensive cars ignored a pedestrian compared with only 30 percent of people driving more modest cars.

In another experiment, a group of college students was asked if they would do immoral things in various everyday situations. Examples included taking printer paper from work and not telling a salesperson when he or she gave back more change. Students from higher-class families were more likely to act dishonestly.

According to the scientists, rich people often think money can get them out of trouble. This makes them less afraid to take risks. It also means they care less about other people's feelings.

Finally, it just makes them greedier. "Higher wealth status seems to make you want even more, and that increased want leads you to bend the rules or break the rules to serve your self-interest," said Paul Piff, lead scientist of the study.

Piff pointed out that the findings don't mean that all rich people are untrustworthy or all poor people honest. He said the experiments were to show how people living in different social situations express their instincts (本能) and values in different ways.

【1】By saying "money is the root of all evil", the author wants to ________.

A. link wealth with bad behavior

B. draw readers' attention to the research

C. show how the saying proves the findings

D. defend rich people who do immoral things

【2】According to the scientists, which is NOT the factor that makes rich people immoral?

A. They welcome risks.

B. They have more desires.

C. They believe money talks.

D. They become more selfish.

【3】Why did the scientists do the experiments?

A. To show how social status affects people's morality.

B. To show people's instincts and values in different ways.

C. To test whether the saying "money is the root of all evil" is true.

D. To show the difference between higher-class people and lower-class people.

【4】What does the passage really want to show us?

A. The poor are respectable.

B. Money is the root of all evil.

C. All rich people are untrustworthy.

D. The rich are more likely to act badly.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】A

【3】A

【4】D

【解析】金錢是萬惡之源嗎？加利福尼亞伯克利大學(xué)的實驗證明：有錢人比窮人更加有可能做不道德的事，更不值得信任。

【1】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第一段new study claims there may be some truth behind the saying…that rich people are more likely to do immoral things, such as lie or cheat, than poorer people.可知，用這個俗語“金錢是萬惡之源”來引出本文的話題——富人們是否比窮人們更加有可能做不道德的事情，通過一些實驗來證實，讓讀者們看到這一研究，目的是吸引讀者對這個研究的注意，故答案為B。

【2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第三段According to the scientists, rich people often think money can get them out of trouble. This makes them less afraid to take risks. It also means they care less about other people's feelings.（按照科學(xué)家的研究，富人們通常認為錢可以解決一切麻煩，所以他們更不害怕冒險，也意味著他們更少在乎其他人的感受）可知，他們喜歡冒險并不是讓他們不道德的因素，而且從常識來說，并不是所有喜歡冒險的人就是富人，而且喜歡冒險也不代表不道德，故答案為A。

【3】推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段He said the experiments were to show how people living in different social situations express their instincts(本能) and values in different ways.可知，實驗的目的是展示生活在不同的社會狀況下的人們?nèi)绾我圆煌�的方式來表達他們的本能和價值觀。故選A項。B項“以不同的方式來展示人們的本能和價值觀”并不是實驗的目的；C項“去檢驗‘金錢是萬惡之源’的說法是否屬實”也不是實驗的目的，文章只是引用這句話來激發(fā)讀者的興趣；D項“展示上層人和下層人的區(qū)別”也不是實驗的目的。

【4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段Piff pointed out that the findings don't mean that all rich people are untrustworthy or all poor people honest.可知，并不是所有的富人都是不值得信任的，也并不是所有的窮人都是誠實的，故A，C都錯誤；B項“金錢是萬惡之源”這只是一個引子，并不是文章要告訴我們的；根據(jù)文章第一段科學(xué)家發(fā)表的聲明可知，富人們更加有可能不道德，也就是行為上更糟糕，惡劣。故D項是對的。