考研英语阅读理解真题解析第一篇“天才非天生”

2007 TEXT 1

①If 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 late months. ②If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would find this strange phenomenon to be ever more pronounced.

如果你打算在2006年世界杯锦标赛上调查所有足球运动员的出生证明，那么你很有可能发现一个引人注目的巧合：优秀足球运动员更可能出生于每年的前几个月而不是后几个月。如果你接着调查世界杯和职业比赛的欧洲国家青年队的话，那么你会发现这一奇怪的现象甚至更明显。 certificate n.证书

【巧】certif (y证明) +ic（形容词后缀）+ate（作名词后缀表“物”）＝具证明性质的东西→证书。 【例】a leaving certificate 毕业（肄业, 离职）证书; academic certificate

学历证书;I must discard riches, the certificate of slavery.我必须抛弃财富这张奴隶证书。

quirk [ kw?:k ] n. 怪癖；急转；借口

elite n.精英（中频词）来自elect选举，选出来的

【巧】谐音：“爱理他”→“精英人士”每个人都爱理他。

1、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.

【译文】 如果你查看一下参加2006年世界杯赛的所有足球运动员的出生证，你极有可能会发现一个引人注意的怪事：优秀的足球运动员大多是在年头出生，而不是在年尾出生。

【析句】 这是一个典型的虚拟条件句，但是主句的宾语后面跟着一个同位语从句。此句并不难理解。 【讲词】birth certificate意为\出生证\。certificate的意思是\证书；证明书；凭证\。对于学生来说，certificate是指\结业证\，即完成了某门课程或一段时间学习的证明。相近的单词有diploma（文凭；毕业证书；证明权力、特权、荣誉等的证书或奖状）。大学毕业取得的学位，英语是用degree来表示，degree主要有三个：学士(bachelor)学位、硕士(master)学位和博士(doctor或PhD)学位。 noteworthy表示\值得注意，引人注意的\。

quirk 意为\怪癖;怪事，巧合\，在句中表示\奇怪的现象\。 elite 意为\精英，菁华；杰出人士\。

2、If you then examine the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would find this strange phenomenon to be even more pronounced.

【译文】如果你再查看一下为世界杯和职业联赛输送人才的欧洲各国的国家青年队，你会发现这种奇怪的现象更加明显。

【析句】主句you would find...，this strange phenomenon是宾语，to be even more pronounced是宾语补足语。

【讲词】feed的基本意思是\喂；饲养\，但在本句中则表示\输送\。

pronounce通常表示\发音；宣布\，而pronounced显然是过去分词作形容词，表示\讲出来的；显着的，断然的，明确的\。分析句子，可知表示\显然的，明显的\。

rank 可以表示\等级；行列；阶级\，professional ranks表示\职业队伍\，即各级职业联赛的队伍。

③What 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.

什么可以解释这一奇怪的现象呢？下面是一些猜测：a）某种占星术征兆使人具备更高的足球技能；b）冬季出生的婴儿往往具有更高的供氧能力，这增加了踢足球的持久力；c）热爱足球的父母更可能在春季（每年足球狂热的鼎盛时期）怀孕；d）以上各项都不是。 astrological adj.占星的, 占星术的 stamina n.毅力, 持久力, 精力 【例】exhibit enough stamina to master English. 表现出掌握英语的充足的毅力;That young man lacks stamina.那个年青人缺乏毅力。

conceive v.怀孕, 考虑, 设想

【例】conceive prejudices抱偏见；conceive a child 怀孕；Scientists first conceived the idea of atomic bomb in the 1930s. 20

世纪30年代科学家们初次设想原子弹的计划。 annual adj.每年的（中频词）

【例】annual report / income / production年度报告 / 收入 / 产量 peak n.顶点, (记录的)最高峰 mania n.癖好, 狂热

【例】She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。

3、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.

【译文】 怎样解释这一奇怪的现象？有几个猜想：1. 某些星相赋予超强的足球技能。2. 冬天的婴儿大多摄氧量更高，可以增加足球体能。3. 狂爱足球的父母更有可能在春天怀孕，这一段时间是足球狂热的高峰。4. 以上选项都不正确。

【析句】 冒号之后是四个选项，其中包括三个简单句和一个名词短语结构。

【讲词】account for主要表示\解释，说明\，即是explain的意思。例如：Bad weather accounted for the long delay of the flight.（航班长期的延缓是因为坏天气。）The suspect couldn’t account for his time that night.（嫌犯不能说明那天晚上他的时间安排。） astrological sign 指星座或星相（zodiac，黄道），共有12个：水瓶座（Aquarius)，双鱼座（Pisces），白羊座（Aries)，金牛座（Taurus），双子座（Gemini），巨蟹座（Cancer)，狮子座（Leo），处女座（Virgo），天秤座（Libra)，天蝎座（Scorpio)，人马座（Sagittarius)，摩羯座（Capricorn）。

confer 意为\赠予；授予；给予\，其同义词包括：give,bestow,invest等。也可表示\协商，交换意见\，其同义词包括advise,consult,parley等。

stamina意为\毅力，持久力，精力\，即physical or moral strength。 conceive 基本上有两个意思，即\构思\或\怀孕\。

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.”

58岁的安德斯?埃里克森是佛罗里达州立大学的一名心理学教授，他说，他坚信“以上各项都不是”这一猜测。在瑞典长大的埃里克森，一直研究核工程，直到他认识到，如果他转向心理学领域，他将会有更多机会从事自己的研究。他的首次试验是在大约30年以前进行的，与记忆相关：训练一个人先听一组任意挑选的数字，然后复述这些数字。“在经过大约20小时的训练之后，第一个试验对象（复述）的数字跨度从7个上升到20个，” 埃里克森回忆说。“该试验对象不断进步，在接受大约200个小时的训练后，他复述的数字已经达到80多个。” ④This 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 setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome. 这一成功，连同后来证明的记忆本身不是遗传决定的研究，使得埃里克森得出结论，即记忆过程是一种认知练习，而不是一种本能练习。换句话说，无论两个人在记忆力能力上可能存在怎样的天生差异，这些差异都会被每个人如何恰当地“解读”所记的信息所掩盖。埃里克森确信，了解如何有目的地解读信息的最佳方法就是一个为人所知的有意练习过程。有意练习需要的不仅仅是简单地重复一个任务。相反，它包括确定明确的目标、获得即时的反馈以及技术与结果的浓缩。 coupled with 加上， 外加 intuitive adj.直觉的

cognitive adj.认知的, 认识的, 有感知的

【例】a child's cognitive development小孩认识能力的发展 swamp v. 使陷入困境

【例】be swamped by heavy debts 债台高筑；The horse was swamped in the mud. 马陷入泥潭。 A big wave swamped the boat. 一个大浪淹没了小船。 I am swamped with work. 我工作忙得不可开交。

deliberate adj.深思熟虑的, 故意的, 预有准备的 【例】a deliberate decision 慎重的决定 pursuit ? n.追求；职业

【习】hell-for-leather pursuit 全力追击, 拼命追赶；in pursuit of 追踪, 追求；in hot

4、This success,coupled with later research showing that memory itself as not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.

【译文】 这一成功，以及后来显示记忆本身并非由基因所决定的研究，让埃里克森得到这样的结论，即记忆行为是一种认识练习，而不是一种直觉练习。

【析句】 句子虽长，却是一个简单句，主语是This success，谓语是led，后面接两个宾语，一是Ericsson，一是不定式to conclude。不定式本身接that引导的宾语从句。

【讲词】couple 作名词表示\一)对，(一)双；夫妇\，作动词表示\连接；结合；结婚\。to be coupled with意为to be together with。例如：She coupled her refusal with an explanation.（她解释了拒绝的原因。） genetically determined意为\（是）由基因决定的\。genetically的名词是gene（基因），形容词是genetic，它们与generate,general,generation等来自同一词根。

cognitive 意为\认知的\，其名词是cognition（认知，认知力）。

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 [ l?'b?r?t?ri ] experiments with high achievers. ⑤Their 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.

因此，埃里克森和他的同事开始研究包括足球领域在内的广泛领域中专业执行者。他们收集了能够收集的所有资料，不只是表现方面的统计数据和传记详细资料，还包括他们自己对取得很高成就的人员进行的实验室实验结果。他们的研究得出了一个非常令人惊奇的结论——我们通常称为天分的特征被高估了。或者，换句话说，专业执行者――无论是在记忆还是手术方面，在芭蕾还是计算机编程领域――几乎总是培养的，而不是天生的。 pursuit 穷追

【例】daily pursuits 日常事务；in one's pursuit of happiness 追求幸福 statistics n.统计学, 统计表(中频词) assertion n.主张, 断言, 声明

【例】stand to one's assertion 坚持已见

5、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.

【译文】 他们的工作得出了一个惊人的观点：我们通常称之为天才的特性被高估了。换句话说，在记忆、外科、芭蕾或计算机程序方面的专业人士，他们几乎都是后天努力的结果，并非天生如此。

【析句】 第一句是简单句，冒号后的成分是宾语assertion的同位语，而同位语中又包含一个定语从句修饰the trait。在第二句中，or和put another way是插入语，句子的主干是expert... are... made, not born。whether in... programming作定语。

【讲词】startling 意为\惊人的，令人吃惊的\，其同义词有surprising、astonishing、stunning、astounding等。

assertion 表示\主张；断言；声明\。

talent 意为\天才；才干；才能\，注意中文的\人才市场\，英语应用job market来表示。 overrate \高估\，其反义词是underrate（低估）。

expert 句中的意思是\专家的，专业的\，expert performers 表示\专业人士\。 made 句中意为\通过后天努力而成就的（人）\。 born 指\天生的\，如：She is a born star.

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

[A] stress the importance of professional training. [B] spotlight the soccer superstars at the World Cup. [C] introduce the topic of what makes expert performance. [D] explain why some soccer teams play better than others.

21.[C]例证题。请问提及着名运动员的生日的目的是什么?第一段是一个引子，作用就是为了引出主题，不是为了说明这个例子的。因此首先就能排除选项[B]和选项[D]，因为都出现了soccer，而选项[A]中的“professional training”是文中未提及的信息。很明显和主题相关的就是[C]“引出文章的主题”。该类题型也是近两年每年必考的题型，考生只要注意答案只和主题相关。

22. The word “mania” (Line 4, Paragraph 2) most probably means

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