Question

    Research has shown that two-thirds of human conversation is taken up not with discussion ofthe cultural or political problems of the day, not heated debates about filmswe'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 wekeen 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 reallyimportant issues of life? It's not the case according to Professor RobinDunbar. 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 moreeffectively, 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 likemonkeys. By means of grooming——cleaning the fur by brushing it,monkeys form groups with other individuals on whom they can rely for support inthe event of some kind of conflict within the group or_______ from outside it.

As we humanbeings 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 theother hand, the bigger the group, the greater the stresses of living close toothers. Grooming helped to __________ the pressure and calm everybody down.

But as thegroups 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 grooming which allowed humans to develop relationship with ever-larger groups by exchanging information over a wider network of individuals than would bepossible 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.behavior

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】

本文是一篇议论文。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。

1.考查名词辨析。句意：研究表明，人类交流的三分之二不是关于当下文化或政治问题的讨论，也不是关于我们刚看的电影或刚读完的书的激烈辩论，而是那些简单明了的八卦。A. claim宣称；B. description描述；C. gossip闲话；D. language 语言。根据上文的句子：可知我们人类的大多数对话不是文化的，政治的问题，也不是关于电影和树的讨论，而就是简单的闲言碎语，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下文多次出现gossip这个词，所以选C。

2.考查副词辨析。句意：语言是我们作为一个物种最宝贵的财富，而我们习惯用它做什么呢？A. occasionally偶然地；B. habitually习惯地；C. independently独立地；D. originally 最初地。根据下文About others' behaviour and private lives, such as who's doing whatwith whom, who's in and who's out——and why可知，此处是指我们习惯怎么使用它？所以选B。

3.考查形容词辨析。句意：如何处理涉及到孩子、爱人和同事的困难的社交情况。A. social社交的；B. political政治的；C. historical历史的；D. cultural 文化的。根据下文的：involving children, lovers, and colleagues.包括孩子，爱人和同事这些都是社会形式，所以选A。

4.考查名词辨析。句意：我们只是自然的浪费时间和语言吗？A. admirers爱慕者；B. masters主人；C. users使用者；D. wasters浪费者。根据上文So why are we keen on gossiping?我们为什么喜欢说些闲言碎语，因为我们是时间和语言的浪费者吗？所以选D。

5.考查形容词辨析。句意：事实上，这位心理学家在他的新书《打扮、八卦和语言的进化》中指出，八卦是其中一个至关重要的问题。A. vital重要的；B. sensitive敏感的；C. ideal理想的；D. difficult困难的。根据下文的介绍It's not the case according to Professor Robin Dunbar.可知，Robin Dunbar教授不认为我们是浪费时间，而认为闲言碎语是最重要的事情，所以选A。

6.考查动词辨析。句意：邓巴反对传统的观点语言是由男性发展的在社会发展的早期阶段为了更有效地组织他们的男性狩猎活动，或者甚至促进关于他们的起源和超自然的诗歌故事的交流。A. confirms证实；B. rejects反对；C. outlines概述；D. broadens 拓宽。根据下文可知Robin Dunbar教授是反对传统的关于语言是在人类社会发展初期在组织打猎的时候发展起来的这个观点，所以选B。

7.考查词组辨析。句意：我们不会把三分之二的时间花在八卦上，仅仅因为我们会说话，邓巴认为恰恰相反，他接着说，语言的进化是专门为我们闲谈的。A. for instance例如；B. in addition此外；C. on the contrary相反的；D. as a result 因此。根据上文的句子：Instead he suggests that language evolved among women. We don't spend two-thirds of our time gossiping just because we can talk,可知：正相反的是，语言进化是是让我们说些闲言碎语的，所以选C。

8.考查名词辨析。句意：邓巴是通过研究像猴子这样的高级灵长类动物的行为得出他的快乐理论的。A. motivation动机；B. appearance外表；C. emotion情感；D. behavior行为。根据下文的描述By means of grooming可知教授是通过研究灵长类动物的行为得出这个令人高兴的理论的，所以选D。

9.考查名词辨析。句意：通过梳理通过刷毛的方式，猴子与其他个体形成群体，当群体内发生某种冲突或外部攻击时，它们可以依靠这些个体获得支持。A. attack进攻；B. contact联系；C. inspection视察；D. assistance 帮助。根据上文的conflict可知猴子和其他的个体形成群体来获得在内部冲突事件中或来自外界的进攻时的支持，所以选A。

10.考查动词辨析。句意：教授下结论说，我们在历史上做过相似的事情。A. recalls回想；B. denies否认；C. concludes下结论，结束；D. confesses 承认。根据上文语境可知，此处是教授的结论。所以选C。

11.考查名词辨析。句意：分组是有意义的，因为组越大，它提供的保护就越大。A. prospect前景，期望；B. responsibility责任；C. leadership 领导；D. protection 保护。根据下文的：on the other hand, the bigger the group, the greater the stresses of living close to others.可知因为群体越大，获得的保护就越大。所以选D。

12.考查动词辨析。句意：打扮有助于缓解压力，让每个人冷静下来。A. measure衡量；B. show展示；C. maintain保持；D. ease缓解。根据上文：on the other hand, the bigger the group, the greater the stresses of living close to others.群体越大，生活在一起的压力就越大，梳理毛发可以缓解压力，让每个人都冷静下来，所以选D。

13.考查动词辨析。句意：但随着群体规模越来越大，花在梳妆打扮上的时间也不得不延长，以维持其有效性。A. saved拯救；B. extended延伸；C. consumed消费，消耗；D. gained 获得。根据句意和语境可知，此处是指延长打扮时间。所以选B。

14.考查形容词辨析。句意：显然，需要一种更有效的梳理方式。A. common常见的，普遍的；B. efficient有效的；C. scientific科学的；D. thoughtful 考虑周到的。根据上文的effectiveness可知这里是需要一个更加有效的梳理毛发。所以选B。

15.考查形容词辨析。句意：因此，语言作为一种声音修饰进化而来，使人类能够通过一个更广泛的个人网络来交换信息，而不是通过一对一的身体接触来发展与更大的群体的关系。A. indirect间接的；B. daily日常的；C. physical物理的，身体的；D. secret 秘密的。根据上文语境可知，此处是指身体的接触。所以选C。