Question

Research has shown that two-thirds of human conversation is taken up not with discussion of the cultural or political problems of the day, not heated debates about films we've just watched or books we've just finished reading, but plain and simple ____.

Language is our greatest treasure as a species, and what do we ____ do with it? We gossip. About others' behaviour and private lives, such as who's doing what with whom, who's in and who's out-and why; how to deal with difficult ____ situations involving children, lovers, and colleagues.

So why are we keen on gossiping? Are we just natural ____, of both time and words? Or do we talk a lot about nothing in particular simply to avoid facing up to the really important issues of life? It's not the case according to Professor Robin Dunbar. In fact, in his latest book, Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language, the psychologist says gossip is one of these really____issues.

Dunbar ____ the traditional view that language was developed by the men at the early stage of social development in order to organize their manly hunting activities more effectively, or even to promote the exchange of poetic stories about their origins and the supernatural. Instead he suggests that language evolved among women. We don't spend two-thirds of our time gossiping just because we can talk, argues Dunbar—____, he goes on to say, language evolved specifically to allow us to gossip.

Dunbar arrived at his cheery theory by studying the ____ of the higher primates（灵长类动物）like monkeys. By means of grooming--cleaning the fur by brushing it, monkeys form groups with other individuals on whom they can rely for support in the event of some kind of conflict within the group or____ from outside it.

As we human beings evolve from a particular branch of the primate family, Dunbar ____ that at one time in our history we did much the same. Grouping together made sense because the bigger the group, the greater the ____ it provided; on the other hand, the bigger the group, the greater the stresses of living close to others. Grooming helped to ____ the pressure and calm everybody down.

But as the groups got bigger and bigger, the amount of time spent in grooming activities also had to be ____ to maintain its effectiveness. Clearly, a more ____ kind of grooming was needed, and thus language evolved as a kind of vocal（有声的）grooming which allowed humans to develop relationship with ever-larger groups by exchanging information over a wider network of individuals than would be possible by one-to-one ____ contact.

1.A. claim          B. description        C. gossip            D. language

2.A. occasionally  B. habitually         C. independently     D. originally

3.A. social        B. political          C. historical        D. cultural

4.A. admirers      B. masters           C. users            D. wasters

5.A. vital           B. sensitive         C. ideal            D. difficult

6.A. confirms      B. rejects           C. outlines         D. broadens

7.A. for instance    B. in addition      C. on the contrary     D. as a result

8.A. motivation      B. appearance        C. emotion        D. behaviour

9.A. attack          B. contact           C. inspection        D. assistance

10.A. recalls         B. denies            C. concludes       D. confesses

11.A. prospect        B. responsibility    C. leadership       D. protection

12.A. measure       B. show           C. maintain         D. ease

13.A. saved         B. extended          C. consumed        D. gained

14.A. common       B. efficient         C. scientific        D. Thoughtful

15.A. indirect        B. daily             C. physical         D. secret

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.D

5.A

6.B

7.C

8.D

9.A

10.C

11.D

12.D

13.B

14.B

15.C

【解析】

试题分析：研究表明人们的语言大多数不是重大的话题讨论和研究，而很多是闲言碎语，这些闲言碎语是不是浪费时间呢，Robin Dunbar教授不是这样认为的，他认为闲言碎语是非常重要的，是人类发展过程中非常重要的交流形式。

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考点：考查科普类短文