Question

    It is a sad truth that any health crisis (危机) will lead to a large outbreak of misinformation.

In the 80s, 90s, and 2000s we saw the spread of dangerous lies about AIDS - from the belief that the HIV virus was created by a government laboratory to the idea that it could be treated with goat’s milk. These claims increased risky behaviour and worsened the crisis.

Now, we are surrounded with unreal news - this time around Covid-19 (新冠肺炎). The Economist in March 2020 found 13% of Americans believed Covid-19 was a trick while 49% believed the virus might be man-made. While you might hope that greater brainpower or education would help us to tell facts from lies, it is easy to find examples of many educated people falling for false information. Kelly Brogan, who has a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has refused clear evidence of the virus’s danger in countries like China and Italy and even questioned the health officials.

Part of the problem arises from the nature of the messages themselves. As BBC Future has described in the past, suppliers of false news can make their message feel “truthy” through a few simple tricks, which discourages us from using our critical thinking skills.

For example, a simple image alongside a statement increases our trust in its accuracy (准确)---even if it is only partly related to the statement. Moreover, even the simple repetition of a statement can increase the “truthiness” by increasing feelings of familiarity.

These tricks have long been known by peddlers (传播者) of misinformation, but today’s social media make the spread more easily. Recent evidence shows that many people share information on the Internet without even thinking about its truthfulness and ignoring the obvious question: is it true?

1.How does the author support his ideas in the text?

A.By giving examples. B.By making comparisons.

C.By doing scientific research. D.By explaining statistical data.

2.The author mentions Kelly Brogan in paragraph 3 to prove that ________.

A.Covid-19 is not real but may be man-made

B.plenty of false news crowds into people’s daily life

C.even well-educated people may not tell facts from lies

D.countries like China and Italy have suffered greatly these days

3.People are most likely to believe the false news when ________.

A.it’s unfamiliar to them B.it’s attached with clear evidences

C.it carries several messages at a time D.it includes pictures and repeated statements

4.What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A.Many people share false information to attract more followers.

B.Fake news peddlers have long tricked people into ignoring truth.

C.Some tricks prevent people from applying critical thinking skills.

D.It’s today’s social media that speed up the spread of misinformation.

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.D

4.D

【解析】

本文是议论文。文章讨论了健康危机会引发假消息横飞，这是由谣言传播者的一些小伎俩和社交媒体的普及导致的。

1.

推理判断题。纵观全文，作者通过艾滋病和新冠肺炎的例子论证“健康危机引发假消息的爆发”；通过经济时报和Kelly的例子论证“新冠肺炎引发的假消息”；倒数第二段又通过具体的例子佐证谣言是如何变得可信。所以全文是通过举例子来论证作者观点。故选A。

2.

推理判断题。根据第三段的While you might hope that greater brainpower or education would help us to tell facts from lies, it is easy to find examples of many educated people falling for false information.( 虽然你可能希望更强的脑力和教育能帮助我们从谎言中辨别事实，但很容易找到许多受过教育的人喜欢虚假信息的例子) 可知，Kelly的例子是为了佐证受教育的人也很容易不能分辨真假信息。故选C。

3.

推理判断题。根据倒数第二段的a simple image alongside a statement increases our trust in its accuracy (准确)---even if it is only partly related to the statement. Moreover, even the simple repetition of a statement can increase the “truthiness” by increasing feelings of familiarity.( 一个简单的图像与一个语句一起增加了我们对它的准确性的信任——即使它只与语句部分相关。此外，即使是简单的重复陈述也可以通过增加熟悉感来增加“真实性”)可知，重复的句子和图片会增加人们对新闻的信任，所以D最正确。故选D。

4.

主旨大意题。最后一段的中心句是第一句These tricks have long been known by peddlers (传播者) of misinformation, but today’s social media make the spread more easily.( 这些伎俩早就被误导的小贩所知道，但今天的社交媒体使传播更加容易)，后面几句是支撑句。首句由but连接，but后是重点。因此推断此段主要讨论社交媒体对虚假信息传播的影响。故选D。