But while children have instinctive desire to imitate, they do not possess an instinct fordetermining whether a behavior ought to be imitated. They will imitate anything, includingbehavior that most adults regard as destructive and antisocial2. It may give pause forthought, then, to learn that infants as young as fourteen months demonstrably observe andincorporate behavior seen on television.

　　The average American preschooler watches more than twenty-seven hours of television perweek. This might not be bad if these young children understood what they were watching. Butthey don’t. Up through ages three and four, most children are unable to distinguish fact fromfantasy3 on TV, and remain unable to do so despite adult coaching. In the minds of youngchildren, television is a source of entirely factual information regarding how the world works4 .There are no limits to their credulity. 5 To cite one example, an Indiana school board had toissue an advisory to young children that, no, there is no such thing as Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtles6. Children had been crawling down storm drains looking for them.

　　Naturally, as children get older, they come to know better, but their earliest and deepestimpressions are laid down at an age when they still see television as a factual source ofinformation about the outside world. In that world, it seems, violence is common and thecommission7 of violence is generally powerful, exciting, charismatic, and effective. In laterlife, serious violence is most likely to erupt at moments of severe stress — and it is preciselyat such moments that adolescents and adults are most likely to revert to8 their earliest, mostvisceral sense of the role of violence in society and in personal behavior. Much of this sense willhave come from television.

　　閱讀自測

　　Ⅰ. Fill in each blank with the proper form of the words given in the brackets :

　　1. She has an________ ( instinct) sympathy with the poor people.

　　2. These conclusions are ________ ( demonstrate ) wrong.

　　3. There is a slight________ ( face ) resemblance between the two men.

　　4. This man has coaxed millions of pounds from a________ ( credulity) public .

　　Ⅱ. Are these statements True o r False according to the article :

　　1. Babies know they have facial features just after they come to the world.

　　2. Children can imitate everything because imitation is their instinct.

　　3. Television is a source of entirely factual information regarding how the world works.

　　4. Television plays an important role in giving rise to social violence .

　　參考譯文

　　電視與暴力犯罪

　　孩子生下來就會模仿成年人的行為。出生幾個小時的嬰兒就能夠模仿成年人的一些 面部表情, 那時他們太小, 還不知道自己長有一副容貌。模仿是孩子最有用的本能, 因為正在發(fā)育的孩子必須在短期內(nèi)學習并掌握大量的行為技能。

　　盡管小孩子天生具有模仿別人的欲望, 但他們卻不具備判斷一種行為是否應該模仿的本能。孩子們會模仿一切行為, 其中包括被多數(shù)成年人視為破壞性和違背社會公德的行為。因此, 當我們認識到只有14 個月大的嬰兒就能觀察并模仿電視里的行為的時候, 我們是否應該靜下心來, 好好反思一下。

　　普通美國學齡前兒童每周看電視的時間超過27 小時。如果孩子們知道他們在看什么的話, 這也許并不是件壞事; 而問題是孩子們并不理解電視內(nèi)容。大多數(shù)三四歲左右大小的孩子還不能很好地辨別電視里的現(xiàn)實世界與虛幻世界, 即使大人進行教育引導, 他們還是 辨別不清。在小孩子看來, 電視是世界如何運行的最真實信息的來源。他們對電視里的東西篤信不疑。舉例說, 印第安納州一所學校的董事會曾被迫發(fā)布公告, 告訴學校里的孩 子: 世界上沒有忍者神龜。學校之所以這樣做是因為有許多孩子為了尋找忍者神龜而爬入 下水道。

　　當然, 隨著孩子慢慢長大, 他們對這個世界會有更深入的了解, 但在他們?nèi)詫㈦娨曇暈橛?關(guān)外面世界真實信息的來源的時候, 電視給他們留下了最早、最深刻的印象。在電視中的世 界里, 暴力似乎平常無奇, 實施暴力通常是一種強有力的行為, 而且令人激動, 充滿魅力, 頗為 有效。孩子們長大成人后, 當他們處于巨大壓力下的時候, 很有可能會爆發(fā)嚴重的暴力事件。 就是在這些時候, 青少年和成年人的心中很有可能又泛起他們最早對暴力在社會以及在個人行為中所起的作用的真實感覺, 而這種感受主要來自于電視。

　　閱讀導評

　　電視已發(fā)展成為一個有蠻橫性格的巨人。電視中的暴力經(jīng)常被美化, 被描繪成有魅力、解決爭端所必須的手段, 并且不受法律的約束。因此, 社會要對此給予足夠的重視, 家長也要正確引導孩子, 而成長中的孩子更要訓練自己的判斷能力, 學會識別一條優(yōu)秀的獵犬和惡狗之間的差異。

　　閱讀導釋

　　1. repertoire n. ( 某個人的) 全部技能, 全部本領, 如: The comedian’s repertoire of jokesbecoming stale. ( 喜劇演員那些插科打諢的招兒變得陳腐乏味起來。) 本文中是指“ 嬰兒 要模仿的所有行為技能”。was

　　2. antisocial adj. 反社會的, 如: These homosexuals are termed antisocial. ( 這些同性戀者被稱為 違背社會公德。) anti-是前綴, 意為“ 反對, 抵抗”, 如: anti-abortion ( 反對墮胎的) ; antiscience ( 反科學) 。

　　3. distinguish . . .from . . . 把⋯⋯和⋯⋯區(qū)別開, 這里是指“ 將現(xiàn)實與虛幻區(qū)別開”。fantasy n. 空想, 幻想。

　　4. 電視是有關(guān)世界如何運轉(zhuǎn)的最真實信息的來源。regarding prep. 關(guān)于, 至于。意思與其相 近的短語有with regard to, as regards ( 注意: to 為介詞, 不是不定式符號; as regards 中的s 不可省) , 如:Withregard to studying English, you should read extensively and speak more. ( 至于學英語, 你應該多說多讀。) The new sofa is correctly placed as regards size and color. ( 考慮到大小和顏色, 新沙發(fā)被放在了一個適當?shù)奈恢谩?

　　5. 他們對電視里的東西篤信不疑。There are no limits to = without limit 無限制地。credulity n. 輕信, 易信, 其形容詞形式是credulous ( 輕信的) 。

　　6. 忍者神龜( 連環(huán)漫畫, 誕生于1984 年, 四個憨態(tài)可掬的忍者龜廣受青少年的喜愛, 現(xiàn)已被 多次拍成電影, 做成游戲) 。teenage a. 十幾歲的; mutant a. 變異的; ninja n. ( 受過偷竊技 術(shù)專門訓練被雇作間諜或刺客的) 日本武士, 忍者; turtle n. 龜。

　　7. commission n. 實施, 犯罪。其動詞形式是commit, 如: commit a crime ( 犯罪) 。

　　8. 恢復( 原先的做法或習慣) , 如: He reverted to smoking when under stress. ( 因受到壓力, 他 又開始吸煙。

　　英語六級閱讀理解精練：受壓迫的女性

　　No one who has studied history, even superficially, will for a moment dispute the statementthat there has brooded very steadily over1 the female half of the human family an air ofrepression, of limitation, of hindrance , of disability, of gloom, of servitude. If there havebeen epochs during which women have been regarded equal to men, they have been brief andabnormal.

　　Among the Hindus2, woman was the slave of man , forbidden to speak the language of hermaster, and compelled to use the patois3 of the slaves. The Hebrews pronounced her anafterthought4 of the Deity, and the mother of all evils. The Greek law regarded her as a child,and held her in life -long tutelage. The Greek philosophers proclaimed her a “monster”,“ anaccidental production”. Medieval councils declared her unfit for instruction. The earlyChristian fathers denounced her as a“ noxious animal”, a“painted temptress”, a“ necessaryevil”,“a desirable calamity”, and a“ domestic peril”.

　　In marriage she has been a serf; as a mother she has been robbed of her children; in publicinstruction she has been ignored; in labor she has been a menial, and then inadequatelycompensated; civilly she has been a minor, and politically she has had no existence. She hasbeen the equal of man only when punishment and the payment of taxes were in question5 .

　　閱讀自測

　?、? Fill in the blanks with proper prepositions and do not refer to the pass age until you finish theexercise :

　　1. There has brooded very steadily________ the female half of the human family an air ofrepression.

　　2. Women have never been regarded ________equal man .

　　3. As a mother she has been robbed ________her children.

　　4. She has been the equal of man only when punishment and the payment of taxes were________question.

　?、? Fill in the blanks with proper words :

　　In marriage she has been a ______( 奴隸) ; as a mother she has been_____( 使失去) of herchildren; in public instruction she has been ______( 忽視) ; in labor she has been a ______( 仆人) , and then inadequately ______( 補償) ; civilly she has been a minor, and politically shehas had no ______( 存在) .

　　參考答案 Ⅰ. 1. over 2 . to 3 . of 4 . in Ⅱ. serf / robbed / ignored /menial / compensated / existence

　　參考譯文

　　受壓迫的女性

　　學過歷史的人, 即使只是淺嘗輒止, 學了一點皮毛知識, 也不會立刻對下面這句話持有異議: 在人類家庭中占半壁江山的女性身上一直籠罩著壓抑的、受限制的、被阻礙的、無能為力的、憂郁的和被奴役的氣氛。如果歷史上存在女人與男人一視同仁的時期的話, 那么 這段時期一定非常短暫而又有悖常理。

　　在印度人眼里, 女人是男人的奴隸, 她們被禁止使用主人的語言, 而只能使用奴隸的語言; 希伯來人宣稱女人是上帝在造出亞當之后才造出來的, 還認為她是萬惡之源; 希臘法律將女人視為孩子, 對她進行終身監(jiān)護。希臘哲學家則將女人稱為“ 怪物”, 還說女人是“ 附 屬品”; 中世紀的地方議會稱女人不適合接受教育; 早期的基督教教父們公開指責女人是 “ 有害動物”、“ 虛偽的妖婦”、“ 不可避免的罪惡”、“ 誘人的災難”和“ 家中的危險人物”。

　　在婚姻中, 女人像奴隸一樣受到男人壓制; 作為母親, 她的孩子被搶走; 在普及大眾教 育的時候, 女人被人遺忘; 生產(chǎn)勞動時, 她又成為卑微的仆人, 事后得不到應有的補償; 從公 民權(quán)利角度說, 她微不足道; 在政治領域, 她也沒有生存空間。只有在實施懲罰和交納稅款 的時候, 她才獲得同男人平等的地位。

　　閱讀導評

　　在男性統(tǒng)治的世界里, 女性不可避免地淪為被壓迫、被歧視、被損毀的對象。即使在今 天, 法律上已經(jīng)賦予了女性完全等同于男性的地位, 但看不見的歧視依然存在。真正實現(xiàn) 男女平等, 任重而道遠。

　　閱讀導釋

　　1. brood over v. 籠罩, 如: A cloud is brooding over the hills. ( 一片烏云籠罩著山崗。) 后面的 air 指的是“籠罩在女性身上的氣氛”。

　　2. Hindus n. 印度人, 印度教教徒。文章后面還出現(xiàn)了Hebrew ( n. 希伯來人) , 主要是用來 稱呼從猶太人的始祖亞伯拉罕到率領猶太人逃脫埃及的摩西這段時期的古猶太人。希 伯來人最初居住在阿拉伯半島東南部, 后經(jīng)兩河流域遷到巴勒斯坦。

　　3. patois n. 方言, 土語。本文中是指“( 奴隸的) 語言”。意義與其相似的單詞還有dialect, vernacular等。

　　4. afterthought n. 后來添加的東西, 事后產(chǎn)生的想法。這里是指“ 上帝在造出亞當以后, 為 了怕他寂寞而造出女人夏娃”。

　　5. 正被考慮的, 正在談論的, 如: The woman in question is sitting over there. ( 提到的那個女人就在那里坐著呢)