Human relations have commanded people~ attention from early times. The ways of people have been recorded in innumerable myths, folk tales, novels, poems, plays and philosophical essays. Although the full significance of a human relationship may not be directly evident, the complexity of feelings and ac- tions that can be understood at a glance is surprisingly great. For this reason psychology holds a unique position among the sciences.
"Intuitive" knowledge may be remarkably penetrating and can significantly help us understand hu-man behavior, whereas in the physical sciences such commonsense knowledge is relatively primitive. If we erased all knowledge of scientific physics from our modem world, not only would we not have cars and television sets, we might even find that the ordinary person was unable to cope with the fundamentally mechanical problems of pulleys and levers. On the other hand, if we removed all knowledge of scientific psychology from our world, problems in interpersonal relation might easily be coped with and solved much as before. We would still "know" how to avoid doing something asked of us and how to get someone to a-gree with us; we would still "know" when someone was angry and when someone was pleased. One could even offer sensible explanations for
the "whys" of much of the selfs behavior and feelings. In other words, the ordinary person has a great and profound understanding of the self and of other people which,though not formulated or only vaguely conceived, enables one to interact with others in more or less adaptive ways. Kohler, in referring to the lack of great discoveries in psychology as compared with physics,accounts for this by saying that "people were acquainted with practically all territories of mental life a long time before the founding of scientific psychology."
Paradoxically, with all this natural, intuitive, commonsense capacity to grasp human relations, the science of human relations has been one of the last to develop. Different explanations of this paradox have been suggested. One is that science would destroy the vain and pleasing illusions people have about them-selves, but we might ask why people have always loved to read pessimistic, critical writings, from Eccle-siastics to Freud. It has also been proposed that just because we know so much about people intuitively,there has been less incentive for studying them scientifically: why should one develop a theory, carry out systematic observations, or make predictions about the obvious? In any case, the field of human rela-tions, with its vast literary documentation but meager scientific treatment, is in great contrast to the field of physics in which there are relatively few nonscientific books.
1. Which of the following claims supports the author~ statement that psychology holds a unique position a-mong the sciences?
[ A ] The full significance of a human relationship is evidently clear.
[ B ] Human feelings and actions are so complex that hey are not readily coped with and solved.
[ C ] Psychology deals with human relations which can be understood by commonsense knowledge.
[ D ] Psychology has much in common with physical sciences with which we are all acquainted.
2. According to this passage, people~ commonsense knowledge of human relations
[ A] is relatively primitive and is derived much from physical sciences
[ B ] was considerably more sophisticated than before the founding of scientific psychology
[ C ] is somewhat limited since it is not formulated or vaguely conceived
[ D] is so well developed as to understand one~ own and others behavior and feelings
3. Which of the following conclusions can we NOT draw from the passage?
[ A ] Commonsense knowledge of human relations is equally well developed among people withina giv-en society.
[ B ] Intuitive knowledge plays an important part in understanding human relations.
[ C ] People tend to ignore scientific explanations of human relations.
[ D ] The knowledge of scientific psychology is not as important to people as the knowledge of physics.
4. The word "meager"(last sentence, last Para. ) most probably means
[ A ] poor [ B ] dense [ C ] modest [ D ] proper
[参考答案与详解]
1．下面哪项说法支持作者有关“在所有科学中，心理学的地位独特”的陈述?
[A]人际关系的全部含义非常清晰。
[B]入的感情和行为太复杂，不容易应付和解决。
[C]引心理学涉及的是利用常识就可理解的人际关系。
[D]心理学和物理学有许多共同点，我们都了解这些共同点；，
答案为C。这是一道细节题。题干中的信号词是“psychology holds 9 unique position arnongthe sciences”，出自文章第一段最后一句话“For this reason psychology holds a unique position among thesciences．”中。文章第一段指出：人际关系很早就引起了人们的注意；人际关系的全部含义直接说来可能还不清晰，但令人惊讶的是，感情和一瞥就可明白的行为交织在一起却十分复杂；因此，在所有科学中，心理学的地位特别；文章第二段指出：如果我们从现代社会中删除所有的心理学知识，那么人际交往中的问题可能像以前——样很容易应付、很容易处理。由此可知：作者之所以说心理学的地位特别，是因为他认为人际关系很好理解。C项中说“心理学涉及的是利用常识就可理解的人际关系”，这与作者的观点相同；A项之意明显与文章的意思相反；B项之意不符合文章的意思；D项之意与文章最后一段最后一句话的意思不符。
2．根据本文，人们有关人际关系的常识——。
[A)相对简单，大都源自于自然科学
[D)比心理学创立前复杂得多
[引有点受限制，因为它不系统，或者说是模糊的想象
[D]发展的程度很高，人们能理解自己和他人的行为和感情
答案为D。这是一道细节题。题干中的信号词是“commonsense knowledge”，出自文章第二段第
—句话“…，whereas in the physical sciences suchcommonsense knowledge is relatively primitive.”中。文章第二段指出：在自然科学中，这样的常识相对来说比较简单；如果我们从现代社会中删除所有的心理学知识，那么人际交往中的问题可能像以前一样很容易应付、很容易处理；人们甚至能对个体行为和感情的大多数原因作出合理的解释；普通人对他自己和其他人有非常全面、深刻的了解，这种了解虽然不怎么系统，或者只是模糊的想象，但却能使一个人或多或少地以恰当的方式同他人交往。由此可知：有关人际关系的常识非常全面、深刻，人们了解个体行为和感情的大串数原因。D项中说“发展的程度很高，人们能理解自己和他人的行为和感情”，这与文章的意思相符；文中只是说“这样的常识相对来说比较简单”，并没有说“大都源于自然科学”，所以A项之意不对；文章第二段最后一句话只是说“有人认为，早在心理学创立之前，人们就了解精神生活的所有范畴?，但并不意味着有关人际关系的常识复杂得多，所以B项之意也不对；文中只是说“这种了解虽然不怎么系统，或者只是模糊的想象”，并没有说“有点受限制”，所以C项之意也不对。
暂无
2006-3-27 14:33:24
初窥门径
MBA入学英语阅读精粹2
驾轻就熟
