在經(jīng)過半年多時間的痛苦創(chuàng)作之后，我也可以長長的松一口氣，如期向我的學生們兌現(xiàn)6月份來我博客免費下載《2009考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇（高分版）》的承諾了。本書共分為25個單元，每個單元有4篇文章，難度偏高。主要適合的考研人群為業(yè)已通過四級考試并希望能在考研英語考試中考取70分以上成績的考生。希望考研的XDJM們再接再厲，每個人都能取得好成績。
TEXT TEN
A boy or a girl? That is usually the first question asked when a woman gives birth. Remarkably, the answer varies with where the mother lives. In rich countries the chances of its being a boy are about 5% higher than in poor ones. Equally remarkably, that figure has been falling recently. Several theories have been put forward to explain these observations. Some argue that smoking plays a role, others that diet may be important. Neither of these ideas has been supported by evidence from large studies. But new research points to a different factor: stress.
Strange as it might seem, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 shed light on the enigma. Studies noting the sex of babies conceived in New York during the week of the attacks found a drop in the ratio of males to females. That is consistent with earlier studies, which revealed a similar shift in women who became pregnant during floods and earthquakes and in time of war. Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys.
Taken together, these results suggest that acute stress to a woman at the time of conception shifts the sex ratio towards girls. However, Carsten Obel, a researcher at Aarhus who was not involved in the earlier study, wondered if the same might be true of chronic stress too. In a paper just published in Human Development, he shows that it is.
Dr Obel used a set of data collected between 1989 and 1992. During that period 8,719 expectant mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires that inquired, among other things, about their level of stress. Dr Obel found that the more stressed a mother had been, the less chance she had of having given birth to a boy. Only 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males. That compared with 52% for women in the bottom quartile. Dr Obel suspects the immediate cause is that male pregnancies are more likely to miscarry in response to stress than female pregnancies are, especially during the first three months. However, that is difficult to prove. More intriguing, though, is the ultimate cause, for he thinks it might be adaptive, rather than pathological.
That is because the chances are that a daughter who reaches adulthood will find a mate and thus produce grandchildren. A son is a different matter. Healthy, strapping sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren, by several women-or would have done in the hunter-gatherer societies in which most human evolution took place. Weak ones would be marginalised and maybe even killed in the cut and thrust of male competition. If a mother’s stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense.
That, in turn, would explain why women in rich countries, who are less likely to suffer from hunger and disease, are more likely to give birth to sons. That this likelihood is, nevertheless, falling suggests that rich women’s lives may be more stressful than they used to be.
1. The author begins the passage by_____.
[A] presenting an argumentation
[B] explaining a phenomenon
[C] raising a question
[D] making a comparison
2. The ratio of giving birth to a boy is falling in rich countries because_____.
[A] the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 exerted huge negative impact
[B] women are facing greater pressure than past
[C] women are under new pressure now which they seldom faced in the past
[D] male pregnancies are more easily to miscarry
3. Which of the following can explain Dr Obel’s opinion that the ultimat cause is adaptive rather than pathological?
[A] 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males while 52% in the bottom quartile.
[B] Women in rich countries are more likely to give birth to boys
[C] Women selectively abort boys rather than waste time and resources on bringing them to term for fear of male competition.
[D] Women who suffer from calamity in conception are more likely to give birth to girls.
4. Women in the hunter-gatherer societies are more likely to give birth to daughters because_____.
[A] they agree that giving birth to daughters is beneficial in the evolutionary sense
[B] sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren with several women
[C] they think it is a better practice for a daughter to produce grandchildren with only one mate
[D] they think bringing sons to term is wasting time and resources.
5.From this passage, we may draw a conclusion that_____.
[A] acute stress is more likely to cause women to choose aborting boys than chronic stress.
[B] stress to a woman at the time of conception, whether acute or chronic, will shift the sex ratio towards girls.
[C] more girls will be born in the future because today’s women, in both rich and poor countries, suffer from increasing pressure.
[D] chronic stress is more decisive in influencing the women’s pregnancies.
文章剖析：
這篇文章是介紹影響嬰兒出生性別原因的一個新的研究成果－－壓力。文章第一段提出以往人們對該問題的看法，然后引出新的研究結(jié)果；第二段用一些事例來證明突發(fā)壓力對于嬰兒性別的影響；第三段、第四段講述Obel博士調(diào)查研究表明慢性壓力在這方面的影響；第五段對Obel博士的研究結(jié)果作了一些論證；第六段是對第一段提到的現(xiàn)象用得出的結(jié)論做解釋。
詞匯注釋：
enigma n. 謎
chronic adj. 長期的，持續(xù)的
conception n. 受精
fetus n. 胎兒
questionnarie n. 調(diào)查表
quartile n. 四分位值
miscarry v. 流產(chǎn)
pathological adj. 病理的
strapping adj. 偉岸的，魁梧的
難句突破：
(1) Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys.
[主體句式] A study revealed that...
[結(jié)構(gòu)分析]這是一個復(fù)合句，主語后面是一個過去分詞短語做定語；revealed后面的賓語從句比較復(fù)雜，從句的主體句式為women or spouse were likely to ...，狀語中that 引導(dǎo)的定語從句用來修飾time, 第一個主語women后有一個以who引導(dǎo)的定語從句。
[句子譯文] 。而且，八年前奧爾胡斯大學研究者們做的一項研究也表明經(jīng)過了第一個孩子死亡的婦女或在懷孕期間經(jīng)歷過一些災(zāi)難性疾病的夫婦更有可能生女孩。
(2) If a mother’s stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense.
[主體句式] If... then selectively aborting boys...would make sense.
[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 這是一個帶有條件狀語從句的復(fù)合句，主語由現(xiàn)在分詞短語構(gòu)成。
[句子譯文]如果母親的壓力對胎兒的發(fā)展起了相反的影響，選擇性地將男孩流產(chǎn)，而不是浪費時間和資源將他們養(yǎng)足月，那么就能說明進化的問題了。
題目分析:考試大論壇
1. The author begins the passage by_____.1. 作者展開這篇文章一開始_____。
[A] presenting an argumentation[A] 提出一個論點
[B] explaining a phenomenon[B] 解釋一個現(xiàn)象
[C] raising a question[C] 提出一個問題
[D] making a comparison[D] 做了一個比較
[答案]A
[難度系數(shù)] ☆
[分析]推理題。作者在文章一開始就指出在富裕國家中婦女生男孩的比率比貧窮國家高出5%，但目前這個比率在下降，有許多人給出自己的解釋，但都不能被大型的研究所證明，而現(xiàn)在又有新的論點，就是壓力的作用。接下來的幾段就是對這個論點的證實。可見，作者是以提出一個論點的形式來開始這篇文章的。
TEXT TEN
A boy or a girl? That is usually the first question asked when a woman gives birth. Remarkably, the answer varies with where the mother lives. In rich countries the chances of its being a boy are about 5% higher than in poor ones. Equally remarkably, that figure has been falling recently. Several theories have been put forward to explain these observations. Some argue that smoking plays a role, others that diet may be important. Neither of these ideas has been supported by evidence from large studies. But new research points to a different factor: stress.
Strange as it might seem, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 shed light on the enigma. Studies noting the sex of babies conceived in New York during the week of the attacks found a drop in the ratio of males to females. That is consistent with earlier studies, which revealed a similar shift in women who became pregnant during floods and earthquakes and in time of war. Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys.
Taken together, these results suggest that acute stress to a woman at the time of conception shifts the sex ratio towards girls. However, Carsten Obel, a researcher at Aarhus who was not involved in the earlier study, wondered if the same might be true of chronic stress too. In a paper just published in Human Development, he shows that it is.
Dr Obel used a set of data collected between 1989 and 1992. During that period 8,719 expectant mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires that inquired, among other things, about their level of stress. Dr Obel found that the more stressed a mother had been, the less chance she had of having given birth to a boy. Only 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males. That compared with 52% for women in the bottom quartile. Dr Obel suspects the immediate cause is that male pregnancies are more likely to miscarry in response to stress than female pregnancies are, especially during the first three months. However, that is difficult to prove. More intriguing, though, is the ultimate cause, for he thinks it might be adaptive, rather than pathological.
That is because the chances are that a daughter who reaches adulthood will find a mate and thus produce grandchildren. A son is a different matter. Healthy, strapping sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren, by several women-or would have done in the hunter-gatherer societies in which most human evolution took place. Weak ones would be marginalised and maybe even killed in the cut and thrust of male competition. If a mother’s stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense.
That, in turn, would explain why women in rich countries, who are less likely to suffer from hunger and disease, are more likely to give birth to sons. That this likelihood is, nevertheless, falling suggests that rich women’s lives may be more stressful than they used to be.
1. The author begins the passage by_____.
[A] presenting an argumentation
[B] explaining a phenomenon
[C] raising a question
[D] making a comparison
2. The ratio of giving birth to a boy is falling in rich countries because_____.
[A] the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 exerted huge negative impact
[B] women are facing greater pressure than past
[C] women are under new pressure now which they seldom faced in the past
[D] male pregnancies are more easily to miscarry
3. Which of the following can explain Dr Obel’s opinion that the ultimat cause is adaptive rather than pathological?
[A] 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males while 52% in the bottom quartile.
[B] Women in rich countries are more likely to give birth to boys
[C] Women selectively abort boys rather than waste time and resources on bringing them to term for fear of male competition.
[D] Women who suffer from calamity in conception are more likely to give birth to girls.
4. Women in the hunter-gatherer societies are more likely to give birth to daughters because_____.
[A] they agree that giving birth to daughters is beneficial in the evolutionary sense
[B] sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren with several women
[C] they think it is a better practice for a daughter to produce grandchildren with only one mate
[D] they think bringing sons to term is wasting time and resources.
5.From this passage, we may draw a conclusion that_____.
[A] acute stress is more likely to cause women to choose aborting boys than chronic stress.
[B] stress to a woman at the time of conception, whether acute or chronic, will shift the sex ratio towards girls.
[C] more girls will be born in the future because today’s women, in both rich and poor countries, suffer from increasing pressure.
[D] chronic stress is more decisive in influencing the women’s pregnancies.
文章剖析：
這篇文章是介紹影響嬰兒出生性別原因的一個新的研究成果－－壓力。文章第一段提出以往人們對該問題的看法，然后引出新的研究結(jié)果；第二段用一些事例來證明突發(fā)壓力對于嬰兒性別的影響；第三段、第四段講述Obel博士調(diào)查研究表明慢性壓力在這方面的影響；第五段對Obel博士的研究結(jié)果作了一些論證；第六段是對第一段提到的現(xiàn)象用得出的結(jié)論做解釋。
詞匯注釋：
enigma n. 謎
chronic adj. 長期的，持續(xù)的
conception n. 受精
fetus n. 胎兒
questionnarie n. 調(diào)查表
quartile n. 四分位值
miscarry v. 流產(chǎn)
pathological adj. 病理的
strapping adj. 偉岸的，魁梧的
難句突破：
(1) Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys.
[主體句式] A study revealed that...
[結(jié)構(gòu)分析]這是一個復(fù)合句，主語后面是一個過去分詞短語做定語；revealed后面的賓語從句比較復(fù)雜，從句的主體句式為women or spouse were likely to ...，狀語中that 引導(dǎo)的定語從句用來修飾time, 第一個主語women后有一個以who引導(dǎo)的定語從句。
[句子譯文] 。而且，八年前奧爾胡斯大學研究者們做的一項研究也表明經(jīng)過了第一個孩子死亡的婦女或在懷孕期間經(jīng)歷過一些災(zāi)難性疾病的夫婦更有可能生女孩。
(2) If a mother’s stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense.
[主體句式] If... then selectively aborting boys...would make sense.
[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 這是一個帶有條件狀語從句的復(fù)合句，主語由現(xiàn)在分詞短語構(gòu)成。
[句子譯文]如果母親的壓力對胎兒的發(fā)展起了相反的影響，選擇性地將男孩流產(chǎn)，而不是浪費時間和資源將他們養(yǎng)足月，那么就能說明進化的問題了。
題目分析:考試大論壇
1. The author begins the passage by_____.1. 作者展開這篇文章一開始_____。
[A] presenting an argumentation[A] 提出一個論點
[B] explaining a phenomenon[B] 解釋一個現(xiàn)象
[C] raising a question[C] 提出一個問題
[D] making a comparison[D] 做了一個比較
[答案]A
[難度系數(shù)] ☆
[分析]推理題。作者在文章一開始就指出在富裕國家中婦女生男孩的比率比貧窮國家高出5%，但目前這個比率在下降，有許多人給出自己的解釋，但都不能被大型的研究所證明，而現(xiàn)在又有新的論點，就是壓力的作用。接下來的幾段就是對這個論點的證實。可見，作者是以提出一個論點的形式來開始這篇文章的。