Question

    The famous American inventor Thomas Alva Edison once claimed that genius was one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration(汗水). Now, it seems, there is scientific evidence to _______ his claim. The idea that geniuses such as Shakespeare, Mozart, and Picasso possessed certain inborn talents is a false belief, according to a study by a British psychologist and his colleagues.

After examining outstanding performance in the arts and sports, these researchers concluded that _______ is determined by opportunity, encouragement, training, motivation, self-confidence, and — most important of all —_______ Even people who were not thought to be _______ with any special talent could, after having received training, reach levels _______  considered attainable (可获得的) only by gifted individuals. Talent is a false belief, and it is time that people got rid of it, they said.

This theory — a dramatic _______ with traditional beliefs — has been _______ by academics worldwide. In fact, studies of accomplished artists and mathematicians, and top tennis players and swimmers, have reported few early signs of _______ in these people before any parental encouragement. No case has been found of anyone reaching the highest levels of achievement without _______ himself or herself to thousands of hours of serious training. Even those who are believed to be exceptionally talented — whether in music, mathematics, chess, or sports — have needed lengthy periods of instruction and practice to achieve their highest level of success. The persistent false belief that some people reach high levels of performance without spending numerous hours practicing __________ much to the fact that their practice is usually outside the casual observer’s view, stated one scientist.

The importance of practice has been noticed in athletics. For instance, differences in the composition of certain muscles were once thought to be __________ predictors of athletic performance. However, the differences in the proportion of certain muscle fibers(组织) that are __________ for success in long-distance running are largely the result of extended practice in running.

“What makes a genius then?” one may ask. __________ , there is no clear answer. What is known, however, is that nurture is at least as important as nature? __________, a supportive environment will do far more for a child’s prospects of success than any inborn gifts. This is a message that most of us will find __________ — even if we haven’t won the gene lottery, our fate is still in our own hands.

1.A.make B.challenge C.support D.dismiss

2.A.excellence B.harmony C.negotiation D.response

3.A.education B.practice C.fortune D.character

4.A.satisfied B.concerned C.decorated D.gifted

5.A.preciously B.practically C.previously D.primarily

6.A.break B.association C.partnership D.relief

7.A.doubted B.concluded C.mentioned D.applauded

8.A.accomplishment B.treasure C.diligence D.inspiration

9.A.adapting B.attaching C.linking D.devoting

10.A.carries B.leaves C.owes D.connects

11.A.creative B.reliable C.natural D.active

12.A.essential B.suitable C.possible D.feasible

13.A.Unlikely B.Similarly C.Hopefully D.Unfortunately

14.A.To sum up B.In other words C.For example D.In addition

15.A.misleading B.puzzling C.comforting D.amusing

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.D

5.C

6.A

7.D

8.A

9.D

10.C

11.B

12.A

13.D

14.B

15.C

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。文章讲述了研究的新发现：天赋不是成功的唯一因素，通过不断的强化练习也可以成功。

1.

考查动词词义辨析。句意：现在，似乎有科学证据支持他的说法。A. make使得，制造；B. challenge挑战C. support支持；D. dismiss解散，解雇。分析上下文，下文提到“莎士比亚、莫扎特和毕加索等天才具有天生才能的观点是错误”。同时后文提到了通过“练习”可以实现某些成就。因此此处表示科学证据来 “支持”他的说法。故选C项。

2.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：在考察了在艺术和体育方面的杰出表现后，这些研究人员得出结论，优秀是由机会、鼓励、训练和动机决定的。A. excellence优秀；B. harmony和谐；C. negotiation谈判；D. response响应。分析上下文，划线前提到是对艺术和体育方面的“杰出”表现进行考查。故此处得出的结论也应是“优秀”由很多因素决定。故选A项。

3.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：卓越取决于机会、鼓励、训练、动力、自信，以及——最重要的——实践。A. education教育；B. practice实践；C. fortune运气，财富；D. character性质，品质。分析上下文，前文提及“卓越取决于机会、鼓励、训练、动力、自信”可知，此处的“实践”也是排除“天赋”成为优秀的条件之一。同时此处也和倒数第二段倒数第一行的practice构成呼应。故选B项。

4.

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：即使是那些被认为没有任何特殊天赋的人，在经过训练之后，也能达到以前认为只有天才才能达到的水平。A. satisfied感到满意的；B. concerned有关的；C. decorated装饰的；D. gifted有天赋的。be gifted with“有……的天赋”，是固定短语。故选D项。

5.

考查副词词义辨析。句意：在经过训练之后，也能达到以前认为只有天才才能达到的水平。A. preciously珍贵地；B. practically实际地C. previously以前，先前；D. primarily首先，主要地。分析上下文，此处强调的是经过训练后，被认为没有任何天赋的人也能获得一些之前认为的只有那些天才才能获得的成就。故选C项。

6.

考查名词。句意：这一理论——对传统信仰的戏剧性突破——得到了全世界学术界的赞誉。A. break突破；B. association协会，联盟；C. partnership合伙；D. relief减轻，接触。分析上下文可知，研究者的这一观点是对传统的看法的突破。故选A项。

7.

考查动词词义辨析。句意：这一理论——对传统信仰的戏剧性突破——得到了全世界学术界的赞誉。A. doubted怀疑；B. concluded结论；C. mentioned提及；D. applauded赞同。分析上下文，根据后文的对艺术家，数学家，运动员的举例可知，就是为了说明这一理论得到了很多人包括全世界学术界的认可。故选D项。

8.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：事实上，对有成就的艺术家、数学家、顶级网球运动员和游泳运动员的研究表明，在父母的鼓励之前，这些人几乎没有取得成就的早期迹象。A. accomplishment成就；B. treasure财富；C. diligence勤奋；D. inspiration灵感，启发。分析上下文，划线前提到“有成就的艺术家、数学家、顶级网球运动员和游泳运动员”，所以此处是把后来的成就和早期进行对比。认为在父母鼓励之前，他们没有取得成就的早期现象。故选A项。

9.

考查动词词义辨析。句意：没有发现任何人在不投入数千小时的认真训练的情况下就能达到最高成就的案例。A. adapting改编，适应；B. attaching附上，依恋；C. linking联系，相关联；D. devoting致力于。Devote…to“投身于，致力于”，是固定短语。分析上下文，此处强调的是必须将自己投身于训练中才有可能成功。后句通过举例在音乐、数学、国际象棋或体育方面极具天赋的人的例子来佐证这个观点。故选D项。

10.

考查动词词义辨析。句意：一名科学家说，人们一直错误地认为，有些人不需要花费大量的时间练习就能达到高水平的表现，这很大程度上是因为他们的练习通常不在一般观察者的视野之内。A. carries携带；B. leaves离开；C. owes把……归功于；D. connects连接，联合。owe…to“将……归咎于”，是固定短语。分析句意，此处表达的是，可以将很多人的误解归咎于天才们的练习一般观察者的视野之内。故选C项。

11.

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：例如，某些肌肉组成的差异曾被认为是运动表现的可靠预测因素。A. creative有创意的；B. reliable可靠的；C. natural自然的；D. active活跃的。分析上下文，句中的“某些肌肉组成的差异”指的就是所谓的“天赋”。前文提到“天赋”是成功的关键因素。故此处认为某些肌肉组成的差异是运动表现的可靠因素。故选B项。

12.

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：然而，某些对长跑成功至关重要的肌肉纤维所占比例的差异，很大程度上是长期跑步练习的结果。A. essential重要的；B. suitable适合的；C. possible可能的；D. feasible可行的，可能的。分析上下文，该段第一句话提到“在田径运动中，练习的重要性已经得到了重视”。此处呼应上文，此处表示长期跑步练习是成功的关键。故选A项。

13.

考查副词词义辨析。句意：“那么是什么造就了天才呢？”有人可能会问。不幸的是，没有明确的答案。A. Unlikely未必；B. Similarly类似地；C. Hopefully有希望地D. Unfortunately不幸地。分析上下文，前面提出一个问题，后面却表示没有明确的答案，由此可知，此处应表示“不幸地”。故选D项。

14.

考查介词短语辨析。句意：换句话说，对一个孩子的成功前景来说，一个支持性的环境比任何天生的天赋都更有帮助。A. To sum up总之；B. In other words换言之；C. For example例如；D. In addition另外，此外。分析上下文，前句提到“然而，我们所知道的是，教养至少和天性同等重要”，而空后的内容和前句表达同一个意思，是对前句进行解读。故选B项。

15.

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：这是一个让我们大多数人感到欣慰的消息——即使我们没有赢得基因彩票，我们的命运仍然掌握在我们自己的手中。A. misleading误导的；B. puzzling令人费解的；C. comforting令人欣慰的；D. amusing有趣的。分析上下文，根据破折号后的内容，尽管我们决定不了基因但是我们的命运还是在我们手中，所以这是令人欣慰的消息。故选C项。