passage1

注解：標題為紅色，翻譯為藍色，分析為綠色。

????????If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006’s World Cup tournament(錦標賽), you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk((偶然發(fā)生的)怪事，奇事): elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the late months. If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would find this strange phenomenon to be ever more pronounced.

????????What might account for this strange phenomenon? Here are a few guesses: a) certain astrological(占星的；占星學的，占星術(shù)的，星座的(本文取這個意思)) signs confer superior soccer skills; b) winter-born babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which increases soccer stamina(耐力，持久力); c) soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime, at the annual peak of soccer mania(狂熱，熱衷); d) none of the above.

????????Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University, says he believes strongly in “none of the above.” Ericsson grew up in Sweden, and studied nuclear engineering until he realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology. His first experiment, nearly 30 years ago, involved memory: training a person to hear and then repeat a random series of numbers. “With the first subject, after about 20 hours of training, his digit span had risen from 7 to 20,” Ericsson recalls. “He kept improving, and after about 200 hours of training he had risen to over 80 numbers.”

????????This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive(認知的) exercise than an intuitive(直覺的) one. In other words, whatever inborn(先天性的)?differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to memorize, those differences are swamped(淹沒，浸沒)?by how well each person “encodes” the information. And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined, was a process known as deliberate practice. Deliberate practice entails(使必要，需要)?more than simply repeating a task. Rather, it involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome.

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1.之前文章還出現(xiàn)一個淹沒，浸沒saturate，swamp也是淹沒，浸沒，還可以表示沼澤地

2.entail使必要，需要。?詞根詞綴記憶：en使+tail尾巴=使成為自己的尾巴=使成為自己的一部分=它對自己是必要的，所以要使成為自己的一部分

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????????Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of pursuits, including soccer. They gather all the data they can, not just performance statistics and biographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiments with high achievers. Their work makes a rather startling(令人吃驚的)?assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or, put another way, expert performers—whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming—are nearly always made, not born.

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1.startling 令人吃驚的 記憶：start開始ling布靈布靈=開始布靈布靈=開始閃閃發(fā)光=令人吃驚的

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一、文章結(jié)構(gòu)分析

這是一篇說明議論文。

文章第一、二段通過一個現(xiàn)象引出討論的話題——什么造化人的杰出才能。

第三、四和五段講述了一些科學家對這個問題的最新研究情況，發(fā)現(xiàn)了人所受的先天影響被高估，出色的才華是造就的，而非天生的。

21. The birthday phenomenon found among soccer players is mentioned to

[A] stress the importance of professional training.

[B] spotlight the soccer superstars at the World Cup.

[C] introduce the topic of what makes expert performance.

[D] explain why some soccer teams play better than others.

21．提到足球運動員出生時間的巧合現(xiàn)象是為了 。

[A] 強調(diào)專業(yè)訓練的重要性

[B] 突出世界杯比賽中的足球明星

[C] 引出話題：出色表現(xiàn)是如何形成的

[D] 解釋為什么有些足球隊比其他隊踢得好

22. The word “mania” (Line 4, Paragraph 2) most probably means

[A] fun.

[B] craze.

[C] hysteria.

[D] excitement.

22．“mania”(第二段，第四行)一詞最有可能的含義是 。

[A] 樂趣

[B] 狂熱

[C] 歇斯底里

[D] 興奮

23. According to Ericsson, good memory

[A] depends on meaningful processing of information.

[B] results from intuitive rather than cognitive exercises.

[C] is determined by genetic rather than psychological factors.

[D] requires immediate feedback and a high degree of concentration.

23．根據(jù)埃里克森所說，好的記憶力 。

[A] 取決于對信息進行有意義的處理

[B] 來源于直覺而不是認知活動

[C] 由遺傳因素而不是心理因素決定

[D] 需要及時的反饋和注意力高度集中

24. Ericsson and his colleagues believe that

[A] talent is a dominating factor for professional success.

[B] biographical data provide the key to excellent performance.

[C] the role of talent tends to be overlooked.

[D] high achievers owe their success mostly to nurture.

24．埃里克森和他的同事們相信 。

[A] 天賦是職業(yè)成功的關(guān)鍵因素

[B] 成長資料里含有決定出色表現(xiàn)的關(guān)鍵因素

[C] 天賦的作用往往被忽略

[D] 事業(yè)的巨大成功主要來自后天的培養(yǎng)

25. Which of the following proverbs is closest to the message the text tries to convey?

[A] “Faith will move mountains.”

[B] “One reaps what one sows.”

[C] “Practice makes perfect.”

[D] “Like father, like son.”

25．以下哪一句諺語與該文章試圖傳達的信息最接近？

[A]“精誠所至，金石為開”

[B]“一份耕耘，一份收獲”

[C]“熟能生巧”

[D]“有其父，必有其子”

二、核心詞匯與超綱詞匯

1. certificate n. 證書

2. astrological adj. 占星的，占星術(shù)的

3. stamina n. 毅力，持久力，精力

4. conceive v. 懷孕，考慮，設(shè)想

5. annual adj. 每年的

6. peak n. 頂點，(記錄的)最高峰

7. mania n. 癖好，狂熱

8. couple A with B 將 A 與 B 聯(lián)系在一起

9. cognitive adj. 認知的，認識的，有感知的

10. swamp v. 使陷入困境；淹沒

11. deliberate adj. 深思熟慮的，故意的

12. pursuit n. 追求；職業(yè)

13. assertion n. 主張，斷言，聲明

三、閱讀答案： C B A D C

四、全文翻譯：?

????????如果檢查一下 2006 年世界杯足球錦標賽所有參賽運動員的出生證明，你很可能會發(fā)現(xiàn)一個值得注意的怪現(xiàn)象：出色的足球運動員往往在一年中的頭幾個月出生。如果再關(guān)注一下為世界杯和職業(yè)球隊輸送人才的歐洲國家青年隊，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)這一現(xiàn)象更加明顯。

????????對這一奇怪現(xiàn)象該做何解釋呢？以下是幾種猜想：(a) 某些星座的人更具有足球天賦。(b) 冬季出生的孩子往往具有較大的氧容量，這增強了他們在足球運動中的耐力。(c) 對足球狂熱的父母容易在春天懷孕，因為那是一年中足球狂熱的高峰期。(d) 以上猜想都不對。

????????58 歲的安德斯?埃里克森是佛羅里達州立大學的心理學教授，他堅信以上推測均不成立。埃里克森成長于瑞典，開始時學習核工程，后來他意識到如果轉(zhuǎn)學心理學，會獲得更多進行專業(yè)研究的機會。大約 30 年前他進行了第一次試驗，與記憶力相關(guān)：訓練一個人聽一系列任意選擇的數(shù)字然后讓他進行重復。埃里克森回憶說，“第一個被測試對象在經(jīng)過了約 20 個小時的訓練以后，他所記住的數(shù)字從 7 個增至 20 個。他不斷地進步，經(jīng)過約 200 個小時的訓練以后，他能記住 80 多個數(shù)字?！?/span>

????????這次實驗的成功以及后來的研究都表明，記憶力本身并不是由遺傳決定的。埃里克森由此得出這樣的結(jié)論：記憶行為與其說是一種直覺活動，不如說是一種認知活動。換句話說，不論兩個人在記憶能力方面表現(xiàn)出什么先天性的差異，這些差異與個人“編碼”信息的能力相比都顯得無足輕重。埃里克森認為，學習按照意義編碼信息的最佳方法是經(jīng)歷一個被稱為“刻意練習”的過程。“刻意練習”不僅僅是簡單地重復一項任務，它涉及到制定具體的目標、獲得及時的反饋、方法和結(jié)果并重。

????????埃里克森和他的同事由此開始對眾多領(lǐng)域(包括足球領(lǐng)域)中的佼佼者進行研究。他們竭盡所能收集到的數(shù)據(jù)中，不僅包括工作績效統(tǒng)計數(shù)字、成長細節(jié)、而且還包括他們的實驗對象中表現(xiàn)優(yōu)秀者的測試結(jié)果。他們的研究結(jié)論令人驚訝：我們對通常稱之為“天賦”的遺傳特征過分看重了。換句話說，不管是在記憶力、外科領(lǐng)域、芭蕾舞，還是在計算機編程方面表現(xiàn)出色的人幾乎是后天培養(yǎng)的，而不是天生造就的。