Question

To err is human. To blame the other guy is even more human.

Common sense is not all that common.

Why tell the truth when you can come up with a good excuse?

These three popular misquotes(戲謔的引語)are meant to be jokes, and yet they tell us a lot about human nature .To err, or to make mistakes, is indeed a part of being human, but it seems that most people don’t want to accept the responsibility for the problem. Perhaps it is the natural thing to do .The original quote about human nature went like this:” To err is human, to forgive, divine(神圣的).”This saying mirrors an deal people should be forgiving of others’ mistakes. Instead, we tend to do the opposite –find someone else to pass the blame on to. However, taking responsibility for something that went wrong is a making of great maturity.

Common sense is what we call clear thought. Having common sense means having a good general plan that will make things work well, and it also means staying with the plan. Commonsense tells you that you take an umbrella out into a rainstorm, but you leave the umbrella home when you hear a weather forecast for sunshine．Common sense does not seem to be common for large organizations, because there are so many things going on that one person cannot be in charge of everything. People say that in a large company,”the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.”

And what is wrong with a society that thinks that making up a good excuse is like creating a work of art? One of the common problems with making excuses is that people, especially young people. get the idea that it’s okay not to be totally honest all the time. There is a corollary(直接推論)to that: if good excuse is “good”even if it isn’t honest, then where is the place of the truth?

1. According to tile passage, which of following seems the most human?

A. To search for truth．                    B. To achieve one’s ideal

C. To make fun of others’mistakes．          D. To criticize others for one’s own error.

2．According to the author, what is a sign of a man’s maturity?

A．Doing things his own way.

B．Bearing responsibility for his mistakes.

C．Making as few mistakes as possible．

D．Thinking seriously about his wrongdoing.

3．Which of the following is N0T based on common sense?

A．A man tries to take charge of everything in a large company.

B．A student goes out with an umbrella in stormy weather.

C．A company’s next move follows a good plan．

D．A lawyer acts on fine judgments．

4. What is the author’s opinion about a good excuse?

A. Making a good excuse is sometimes a better policy.

B. Inventing a good excuse needs creative ideas.

C. A good excuse is as rewarding as honesty.

D. Bitter truth is better than a good excuse.

5. What would be the best title for his passage?

A. A Mirror of Human Nature            B. To Blame or to Forgive

C. A Mark of Maturity                  D. Truth or Excuse

Answer 1

【小題1】D

【小題2】B

【小題3】A

【小題4】D

【小題5】A

解析:

【語篇解讀】本篇文章為記敘文。主要講述“我”對父親的情感變化過程的故事：孩提時我愛父親；上學后我怕他；年青的時候更怕他；結婚成家后我發現了父親溫柔和友好的一面，為此我感到高興。

【小題1】細節理解題。根據第一段第一句和第二句“To err is human. To blame the other guy is even more human”可知，批評他人是更人性化的，故選D項。

【小題2】細節理解題。根據第二段最后一句“However, taking responsibility for something that went wrong is a mark of great maturity.”可知為某件錯誤的事情承擔責任是成熟的跡象，故選B項。

【小題3】細節理解題。根據第三段內容可知，common sense指的是清晰的思維，如有一個良好的總體計劃使事情做得好，指的是下雨時帶著傘，到那時不適一個人能夠管理所有的事情，可判斷選A項。

【小題4】作者態度題。根據最后一段“And what is wrong with a society that thinks that making up a good excuse is like creating a work of art …then where is the place of the truth”可知，作者在反思一種錯誤思想，編造好的借口就如創造藝術，盡管不誠實大家感到很正常，但是真理放在那哪一個地方，說明作者反對編造好的借口，由此判斷選D項。

【小題5】標題概括題。文章由一段引語拋出本文主題：人性，并在第二段論述這個引語反映了一個理想狀態，人們應該原諒他人的錯誤，然后實際上我們做的恰好相反。第三和第四段則論述了不同做法折射出的人性，所以選擇A，能夠概括全文主題。