Primary among the arguments against uniforms is their lack of variety and the consequentloss of individuality experienced by people who must wear them. Though there are manytypes of uniforms, the wearer of any particular type is generally stuck with it, without change,until retirement. When people look alike, theytend to think, speak, and act similarly, on the jobat least.

　　Uniforms also give rise to some practical problems. Though they are long-lasting, often theirinitial expense is greater than the cost of civilian clothes. Some uniforms are also expensive tomaintain, requiring professional dry cleaning rather than the home laundering possible withmany types of civilian clothes.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1.It is surprising that Americans who worship variety and individuality ________.

　　A. still judge a man by his clothes

　　B. hold the uniform in such high regard

　　C. enjoy having a professional identity

　　D. will respect an elevator operator as much as a general in uniform

　　2. People are accustomed to think that a man in uniform ________.

　　A. suggests quality work

　　B. discards his social identity

　　C. appears to be more practical

　　D. looks superior to a person in civilian clothes

　　3. The chief function of a uniform is to ________.

　　A. provide practical benefits to the wearer

　　B. make the wearer catch the pubic eye

　　C. inspire the wearer’s confidence in himself

　　D. provide the wearer with a professional identity

　　4. According to the passage, people wearing uniforms ________.

　　A. are usually helpful

　　B. have little or no individual freedom

　　C. tend to lose their individuality

　　D. enjoy greater popularity

　　5. The best title for this passage would be ________.

　　A. Uniforms and Society

　　B. The Importance of Wearing a Uniform

　　C. Practical Benefits of Wearing a Uniform

　　D. Advantages and Disadvantages of Uniforms

　　1.[B] 事實細節題。根據文章首句轉折詞yet后面的信息“盡管美國人很為他們的多樣性和個性自豪，但是沒有什么比制服更讓他們喜愛與尊敬的了”結合核心詞uniform及同義表達(hold…in high regard即respect),故選B。

　　2.[A] 推理判斷題。根據第2段第2句“人們習慣性地期望穿制服的人有較高的專業素質”，故選A。選項D錯在用superior來比較人了，文中用的是superior quality。

　　3.[D] 主旨大意題。根據第 2 段首句“they look more professional than civilian clothes”及尾句的反問“What easier way is there…to lose professional identity than to step out of uniform? ”選含有高頻詞匯 professional的D。

　　4.[C] 推理判斷題。根據第4段首句中的“loss of individuality”進行同義替換,選C。

　　5.[D] 主旨大意題。根據第2至4段首句的對比,對于文章最好的概括為選項D“制服的優缺點”。

　　A friend of mine, in response to a conversation we were having about the injustices of life,asked me the question, “Who said life was going to be fair, or that it was even meant to befair?” Her question was agood one. It reminded me of something I was taught as a youngster:life isn’t fair. It’s a disappointment, but it’s absolutely true. One of the mistakes many of usmake is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be fair, or thatsomeday it will be. It’s not and it won’t be.

　　One of the nice things about surrendering to the fact that life isn’t fair is that it keeps us fromfeeling sorry for ourselves by encouraging us to do the very best we can with what we have.We know it’s not “life’s job”to make everything perfect: it’s our own challenge. Surrendering tothis fact also keeps us from feeling sorry for others because we are reminded that everyone isdealt a different hand; everyone has unique strengths and problems in the process of growingup, facing the reality and making decisions; and everyone has those times that they feel unfairlytreated.

　　The fact that life isn’t fair doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything in our power to improve ourown lives or the world as a whole. To the contrary, it suggests that we should. When we don’trecognize or admit that life isn’t fair, we tend to feel pity for others and for ourselves. Pity, ofcourse, is a self-defeating emotion that does nothing for anyone, except to make everyone feelworse than they already do. When we do recognize that life isn’t fair, however, we feelcompassion for others and for ourselves. And compassion is a heartfelt emotion thatdelivers loving-kindness to everyone it touches. The next time you find yourself thinking aboutthe injustices of the world, try reminding yourself of this very basic fact. Youmay be surprisedthat it can make you out of self-pity and into helpful action.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1.The author thought of his friend's question as a good one, because _______.

　　A. he also wanted to know who held such an opinion

　　B. it made him recall something during his childhood

　　C. like his friend, he also thought life was unfair

　　D. he learned something from the question as a youngster

　　2.Surrendering to the fact that life isn't fair will ________.

　　A. keep us from making everything perfect

　　B. keep us from doing everything in our power

　　C. make us face challenges in the life bravely

　　D. make us know it's our duty to perfect things

　　3.The second paragraph of the passage mainly discusses _______.

　　A. it's nice to accept the injustice of life

　　B. it's nice to surrender to the life

　　C. we should not surrender to the life

　　D. we should not feel sorry for ourselves

　　4.In the last paragraph, “this very basic fact” refers to the fact that ________.

　　A. you should not pity for others

　　B. life isn't and won't be fair

　　C. sympathy is a heartfelt emotion

　　D. pity is a self-defeating emotion

　　5.From the passage, we can learn that the author's attitude to life is ________.

　　A. positive B. negative C. Self-pity D. indifferent

　　1.[C] 推理判斷題。本題考查隱含的因果關系。第1段破折號后面的內容為隱含的原因，由此可見C為本題正確選項A沒有原文依據，選項B與結論并無合理的因果關系，選項D對原文有曲解，原文是說這個問題使作者想起了年輕時候的往事，而并不是選項D中說的leam from the question。

　　2.[D] 事實細節題。本題考查復合句的理解。第2段首句中 do the very best we can 與第2句Weknow…it’s our challenge表明選項D為本題正確答案。本題最具干擾性的是選項C，其中的challenge在第2句明確提到，但是此處的challenge不是指挑戰生活，而是指本句第一個分句中提到的“讓所有事情完美”。

　　3.[A] 主旨大意題。本段第1句是主題句,理解這個同位語從句是關鍵,只有選項A表達了這一句的意思。要注意其中surrender的賓語是the fact that life isn’t fair,而不是life,這樣就可以否定最具干擾性的B選項了。

　　4.[B] 詞義推斷題。本題考查this所指的理解。最后一段倒數第2句中,this very basic fact指的是本句的從句中的the injustices of the world,另外，短語the fact that life isn’t fair在文中反復出現，是本文的主題，因此結合上下文可以推出答案。其余三項雖然在文中均有提及,但只是個別細節,并非作者反復強調的中心話題。

　　5.[A] 觀點態度題。作者批評了自憐的情緒,提出對他人要有同情心,強調承認生活不公平并不是向生活妥協,而是將我們從自我憐憫中擺脫出來，采取一些有積極意義的行動，由此可見，作者對生活的態度是積極的，即選項A。