2008年大学英语四级巅峰阅读培训(第三十五讲)

社会：生活百态285词
　　建议作题时间：7分钟
　　Each for its own reason, the study of residential mobility has been a concern of three disciplines: sociology, economics, and geography. For the economist, residential shifts provide a means for studying the housing and land markets. Geographers study mobility to understand the spatial distributions of population types. For the sociologist, interest in residential mobility has two sources: one stemming from the study of human ecology and the other, from a concern with the peculiar qualities of urban life. Of course, there are clearly overlapping concerns and it is often difficult to discern the disciplinary origins of a researcher by only examining the kinds of questions he or she raises about mobility although it is usually easier to identify a researcher’s discipline by noting the methods used and the concepts employed.
　　Urban mobility first appears in the sociological literature as term expressing rather generalized qualities of urban, as opposed to non-urban life. Some sociologists refer to the mobility of the city as the considerable sum of countless and continual sources of stimulation impinging upon the urban dweller, a sort of sensory overload which produces sophistication, indifference, and a lowered level of affect in urban dwellers. There is simply so much to experience that the urban dweller’s capacity is reduced to react in a “spontaneous” and “natural” way to urban existence . It is mobility in this sense that produces some of the special qualities of urban life, which appeal to migrants as an escape from the dullness and oppression of rural existence with its lack of change and stimulation, and, on the other hand, produces anomie and alienation in a society where men see each other primarily as means to ends rather than as ends in themselves.
　　答案：ABDDC
　　解题思路：
　　1.原文第一段第三句话说，地理学家们研究这种流动性是为了了解不同类型的人口在地域上的分布。选A与原文一致。
　　2.详见第一段最后一句。原文说我们仅通过检查他或她提出的关于迁移问题却很难了解该研究者所属学科的起源。题干内容是“仅通过检查他或她提出的关于迁移的问题……”，由于原文中 “it is often difficult”和选项B中 “not an ideal way‘属对应表达所以选B。
　　3. 原文第二段第二句说，“这种感官超载使人们变得世故冷漠，人与人之间的情感变得淡薄”这些城市居民不好的特点都是由sensory overland造成的。
　　4. 根据文章最后一句中可以判断，选项C“利用别人来达到自己的目标”正确。
　　5.根据出现spontaneous和natural的上下文可知，都市生活充满了刺激变化，结果造成都市人的能力降低，只能以一种“本能的”方式来对生活作出反应，说的是城市生活不好的方面
　　翻译题答案与分析　　
　　1.
　　当然，他们所关注的明显有重合的地方，仅通过检查他或她提出的关于迁移的问题，我们常常很难了解该研究者的科学源源，尽管通过注意研究者所采用的理论和概念可以较容易看出他或她所属的学科。
　　复合句。and连接两个分句，第一个分句是一个there be句型，第二个分句中it为形式主语，真正的主语是不定式to discern，其中by作为方式状语，其中questions后面有定语从句修饰，although引导让步状语从句。
　　由于有太多需要体验的东西，城市居住者的能力降低了，他们只能以一种“本能的”“自然的”方式来对生活做出反应。
　　复合句。句子主干是There is much to experience，其中包含一个so…that..结构，that引导结果状语从句，其中主句主干为capacity is reduced to。。。
　　全文翻译　　
　　社会学、经济学和地理学三个科学都将住所迁移作为他们关注的一个问题，有他们各自的原因。对经济学家来说，住所迁移给他们提供了研究房屋和土地市场的一种手段。地理学家研究住所迁移是为了了解不同类型的人口的地域分布情况。而对社会学家来说，兴趣源自两个方面：对人类生态学的研究，以及对城市生活特性的关注。当然，他们所关注的明显有重合的地方，仅通过检查他或她提出的关于迁移的问题，我们常常很难了解该研究者的科学源源，尽管通过注意研究者所采用的理论和概念可以较容易看出他或她所属的学科。
　　住所迁移这个术语最早出现在社会学文献中，描述的是相对于非城市生活而言的城市生活所具有的相当一般化的特性。一些社会学家认为，城市中的住所迁移是许多持续而且无限的刺激的源头，这种刺激不断地冲击着城市居住者，这种感官超载是人们变得世故、冷漠，人们之间的情感变得淡薄。由于有太多需要体验的东西，城市居住者的能力降低了，他们只能以一种“本能的”“自然的”方式来对生活做出反应。从这个意义上来说，正是折中迁移性形成了城市生活的一些特有性质，这对于想要移居城市的人来说具有很大的吸引力，因为乡村生活缺少变化和刺激，会给人一种枯燥和压抑的感觉，而城市生活则是一种很好的解脱。另一方面，这种迁移性也造成了社会中道德沦丧和情感疏远，在这样的社会中，人把其他人当作达到目的的手段，而不是目的本身。
　　1. Geographers who study mobility are most likely to be interested in _______.
　　A. the fact that people of different racial groups reside in different places
　　B. what types of people move frequently and why they keep changing their places.
　　C. why people of one type prefer to isolate themselves from those of another type
　　D. peculiar characteristics of people from different countries in choosing living places
　　2. Examining the kinds of questions a researcher raised about mobility is _______.
　　A. the only way to discern the discipline he or she applies
　　B. not an ideal way to identify his or her disciplinary origins
　　C. easier than noting the methods used and the concepts employed
　　D. too difficult to be used in finding out his or her disciplinary origins
　　3. Some sociologists believe that “sensory overload” __________.
　　A. cannot be relieved from urban dwellers
　　B. produces attraction to rural dwellers
　　C. produces the dullness and oppression of rural existence
　　D. is responsible for some evil characters of urban dwellers 　　
　　4. According to the passage, in a society where there is anomie and alienation, people ____________.
　　A. hold hostile views to others
　　B. are willing to help each other
　　C. tend to pick up others’ shortcomings but ignore their own
　　D. take advantage of others to fulfill their own goals 　　
　　5. The words “spontaneous” and “natural” (para2) indicate that ________.
　　A. urban life is stimulating and rewarding
　　B. urban people are cleverer than rural people
　　C. urban people lack creativity and originality
　　D. urban existence is full of change and stimulation 　　
　　难句突破：
　　请翻译以下两句：（认真回答奖励50HY）
　　1.Of course, there are clearly overlapping concerns and it is often difficult to discern the disciplinary origins of a researcher by only examining the kinds of questions he or she raises about mobility although it is usually easier to identify a researcher’s discipline by noting the methods used and the concepts employed. 　　
　　2.There is simply so much to experience that the urban dweller’s capacity is reduced to react in a “spontaneous” and “natural” way to urban existence .