Proponents of the "nurture" theory, or, as they are often called. behaviorists. claim that ourenvironmentis more important than our biologically based instincts in determining how we willact. Behaviorists see humans as being whose behavior is almost completely shaped by theirsurroundings. Their view of the human being is quite mechanistic; they maintain that likemachines. humans respond to environmental stimuli as the basis of their behavior.

　　The social and political implications or these two theories are profound. In the United Stares,for example, blacks often score below whites on standardized intelligent test. This leads some"nature" proponents to conclude that blacks are genetically interior to whites. Behaviorists, incontrast. say that the differences in scores are due to the fact that blacks are often deprived ofmany of the educational and other environmental advantages that white enjoy. and that. as aresult. they do not develop the same responses thatwhites do.

　　Neither of these theories can yet fully explain human behavior. In fact, it is quite likely that thekey to our behavior lies somewhere between these two extremes. That the controversy willcontinue for a long time is certain.

　　[1]人們長期以來一直想弄清楚，他們的性格和行為是怎樣形成的。為什么一個人聰明而另一個人卻不聰明，或者為什么一個人有協(xié)作精神而另一個人卻有競爭意識，要解釋這些可不容易。

　　社會科學(xué)家當然對這類問題特別感興趣。[1]他們希望解釋為什么我們具有某些性格并顯現(xiàn)某些行為。對此，迄今還沒有明確的答案，但已經(jīng)產(chǎn)生了兩個截然不同的思想流派。正如人們所料，兩派觀點存在巨大差異，[2]各自理論的支持者之間存在著巨大的爭議。分歧通常被稱為“天性論”對“教養(yǎng)論”。

　　[3]爭議雙方中支持“天性論”的那些人認為，我們的性格和行為模式大部分取決于生物和遺傳因素。 這一理論的核心是，我們的環(huán)境跟我們的能力、性格和行為即使有什么關(guān)系的話，也是很少的。[3]說得極端一點，這一理論堅持認為，我們的行為在很大程度上由先天決定，以致我們幾乎完全是受本能控制的。

　　[2]那些支持“教養(yǎng)論”的人，即通常所謂的行為主義者聲稱，在決定我們的行為上，環(huán)境比以生理為孤本能更重要。行為主義者認為，作為生物的人類，其行為幾乎完全由環(huán)境塑。[4]他們的觀點幾乎完全是機械的;他們堅持認為人類就像機器一樣，對環(huán)境的刺激所做出的反應(yīng)就是人類行為的基礎(chǔ)。

　　[5]這兩種理論有著深刻的社會涵義和政治涵義。例如在美國，在標準智力測試中黑人得分常常低于白人。由此導(dǎo)致一些“天性論”支持者得出結(jié)論，認為黑人在遺傳上劣于白人。相反，行為主義者認為成績的差異是由于黑人往往被剝奪了白人在教育和其他環(huán)境方面所享有的許多有利條件，由此產(chǎn)生的結(jié)果是，他們做出的反應(yīng)和白人不一樣。

　　[1]這兩種理論無論哪一種都仍未能充分解釋人類的行為。事實上，很可能我們行為的關(guān)鍵因素存在于這兩個極端之間。但分歧會持續(xù)很長時間——這一點卻是肯定的。

　　1. The author is mainly concerned about solving the problem__________________.

　　A) why one's behaviors differ from others'

　　B) what makes different stages of intelligence

　　C) how social scientists form different theories

　　D) what causes the "nature/nurture" controversy

　　2. The word "proponents" can best be replaced by _____.

　　A) approaches

　　B) advocates

　　C) principles

　　D) characters

　　3. Which of the following statements may be supported by the "nature" school?

　　A) We are born will certain personalities and behaviors.

　　B) Environment has nothing to do with our personalities.

　　C) Abilities and characteristics are revealed by behaviors.

　　D) Only extreme behaviors are determined by instinct.

　　4. What can we learn about the behaviorists?

　　A) They believe human beings are mechanical.

　　B) They compare our behaviors to the machines.

　　C) They suggest that we react to the environment as the machines do.

　　D) They uphold that the mechanistic theory can be applied on us as well.

　　5. The "nature” theorists believe that the blacks' low scores____________.

　　A) are the result of the educational disadvantages

　　B) are a manifestation of the blacks' poor intelligence

　　C) have nothing to do with their true intelligence

　　D) have nothing to do will factors other than heredity