Passage 9

Crying is hardly an activity encouraged by society.Tears，be they of sorrow，anger，or joy，typically make Americans feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.The shedder of tears is likely to apologize，even when a devastating（毀滅性的）tragedy was the provocation.The observer of tears is likely to do everything possible to put an end to the emotional outpouring.But judging from recent studies of crying behavior，links between illness and crying and the chemical composition of tears，both those responses to tears are often inappropriate and may even be counterproductive.

Humans are the only animals definitely known to shed emotional tears.Since evolution has given rise to few，if any，purposeless physiological response，it is logical to assume that crying has one or more functions that enhance survival.

Although some observers have suggested that crying is a way to elicit assistance from others（as a crying baby might from its mother），the shedding of tears is hardly necessary to get help.Vocal cries would have been quite enough，more likely than tears to gain attention.So，it appears，there must be something special about tears themselves.

Indeed，the new studies suggest that emotional tears may play a direct role in alleviating stress.University of Minnesota researchers who are studying the chemical composition of tears have recently isolated two important chemicals from emotional tears.Both chemicals are found only in tears that are shed in response to emotion.Tears shed because of exposure to a cut onion would contain no such substance.

Researchers at several other institutions are investigating the usefulness of tears as a means of diagnosing human ills and monitoring drugs.

At Tulane University’s Tear Analysis Laboratory Dr.Peter Kastl and his colleagues report that they can use tears to detect drug abuse and exposure to medication（藥物），to determine whether a contact lens fits properly or why it may be uncomfortable，to study the causes of“dry eye”syndrome and the effects of eye surgery，and perhaps even to measure exposure to environmental pollutants.

At Columbia University Dr.Liasy Faris and colleagues are studying tears for clues to the diagnosis of diseases away from the eyes.Tears can be obtained painlessly without invading the body and only tiny amounts are needed to perform highly refined analyses.

1.It is known from the first paragraph that______.

A.shedding tears gives unpleasant feelings to Americans

B.crying may often irritate people or even result in tragedy

C.crying usually wins sympathy from other people

D.one who sheds tears in public will be blamed

2.What does“both those responses to tears”（Line 6，Para，1）refer to？

A.Crying out of sorrow and shedding tears for happiness.

B.The embarrassment and unpleasant sensation of the observers.

C.The tear shedder’s apology and the observer’s effort to stop the crying.

D.Linking illness with crying and finding the chemical composition of tears.

3.“Counterproductive”（Lines 6-7，Para，1）very probably means“______”.

A.having no effect at all

B.leading to tension

C.producing disastrous impact

D.harmful to health

4.What does the author say about crying？

A.It is a pointless physiological response to the environment.

B.It must have a role to play in man’s survival.

C.It is meant to get attention and assistance.

D.It usually produces the desired effect.

5.What can be inferred from the new studies of tears？

A.Emotional tears have the function of reducing stress.

B.Exposure to excessive medication may increase emotional tears.

C.Emotional tears can give rise to“dry eye”syndrome in some cases.

D.Environmental pollutants can induce the shedding of emotional tears.

參考譯文

哭泣并不是被社會所鼓勵的行為。眼淚，無論是出于悲傷、憤怒還是高興，總是讓美國人感到不舒服和尷尬。流淚者很可能會道歉，即便是發(fā)生了毀滅性災(zāi)難的時候?？吹絼e人掉淚的人則有可能盡一切力量來阻止這種感情的發(fā)泄。但是從最近對哭泣行為、哭泣與疾病的聯(lián)系和眼淚的化學(xué)成分所進行的研究來看，以上兩種對眼淚的反應(yīng)經(jīng)常是不恰當(dāng)?shù)模踔量赡苡泻Α?/p>

毫無疑問，人類是唯一會因感情而流淚的動物。進化幾乎不會產(chǎn)生無目的的生理反應(yīng)，所以認為哭泣對人的生存有一定作用是合理的。

盡管一些觀察者認為哭泣是獲得別人幫助的一種方法（就像嬰兒的哭泣可以獲得母親的幫助一樣），但是流淚對于獲取幫助很難說是必需的。發(fā)出聲音的哭泣本已經(jīng)足夠了，它們比眼淚本身更有可能獲得關(guān)注。所以看起來，眼淚本身一定有其特殊的地方。

確實，新的研究表明因情感而落淚可以直接減輕壓力，明尼蘇達大學(xué)正在研究眼淚化學(xué)構(gòu)成的研究者們最近從情感淚水中分離出兩種重要的化學(xué)物質(zhì)。這兩種物質(zhì)都只存在于情感淚水中，因切洋蔥而流出的眼淚不包含這樣的成分。

其他研究院的研究者們正在研究將眼淚用于診斷人類疾病和監(jiān)督藥物。

在Tulane大學(xué)的眼淚分析實驗室，Peter Kastl博士和他的同事們報告說，他們能用眼淚來檢測藥物濫用和藥物接觸，能得出隱形眼鏡是否合適或不舒服的原因，能研究“眼睛干燥綜合征”的原因和眼科手術(shù)的影響，甚至可能測量對于環(huán)境污染物的接觸。

在哥倫比亞大學(xué)，Liasy Faris和他的同事們正在研究眼淚，以求獲取診斷眼部以外疾病的線索。眼淚能夠被毫無痛苦地獲得，無須深入體內(nèi)，而且高度精練的分析只需要極少量眼淚。

解題之路

1.選A。細節(jié)題。第一段的第二句：眼淚，無論是出于悲傷、生氣還是高興，總是讓美國人感到不舒服和尷尬。

2.選C。推理題。根據(jù)上下文，對眼淚的那兩個反映：當(dāng)毀滅性的悲劇發(fā)生時，一方面流淚者可能要表示歉意；另一方面看到人流淚者會盡一切可能來阻止此情感的宣泄。

3.選D。counterproductive產(chǎn)生相反結(jié)果的。根據(jù)上下文，對眼淚的那兩個反映時常是不恰當(dāng)?shù)?。人們常常說哭多了會傷身體，實情未必如此。

4.選B。細節(jié)題。第二段的第二句。既然進化很少會導(dǎo)致無目的的生理反應(yīng)，我們可以邏輯性地認為：哭泣有一到多個功能——增強生存性。Few…purposeless很少……無目的的，雙重否定表示肯定。

5.選A。第四段的第一句：確實，新的研究表明，情緒激動流下的眼淚對減輕壓力起著直接的作用。

詞匯精解

sorrow n.悲痛，悲哀，悲傷

typically adv.代表性地，有特色地，通常地

uncomfortable adj.不舒服的，不安的，不合意的

embarrassed adj.困窘的，難為情的，尷尬的

shedder n.流淚者

tragedy n.慘案，災(zāi)難，悲劇

provocation n.激怒，刺激，挑釁，誘因

emotional adj.情緒的，情感的

outpouring n.傾瀉，流出，宣泄

chemical adj.化學(xué)的

composition n.寫作，作文，合成物，成分

survival n.幸存，殘存，生存

observer n.觀測者，遵守者，觀察者

assistance n.協(xié)助，援助，幫助

onion n.洋蔥

contain vt.容納，牽制，包含

substance n.實質(zhì)，主旨，物質(zhì)

detect vt.察覺，發(fā)覺，偵察，檢測

medication n.藥物治療，藥物處理，藥物

determine vt.確定，測定，決定

syndrome n.綜合征

alleviate vt.減輕（痛苦）

inappropriate adj.不適當(dāng)?shù)?，不相稱的，不適合的

counterproductive adj.起反作用的

evolution n.進展，發(fā)展，演變，進化

response n.回答，響應(yīng)，反應(yīng)

purposeless adj.無目的的，毫無意義的

physiological adj.生理學(xué)的，生理的

logical adj.合乎邏輯的，合理的

enhance vt.提高，增強，促進

stress n.重壓，逼迫，緊張，壓力

surgery n.外科，外科學(xué)，手術(shù)

environmental adj.周圍的，環(huán)境的

pollutant n.污染物

colleague n.同僚，同事

clue n.線索

diagnosis n.診斷

難句解析

1.Tears，be they of sorrow，anger，or joy，typically make Americans feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.

【參考譯文】眼淚，無論是出于悲傷、憤怒還是高興，總是讓美國人感到不舒服和尷尬。

【結(jié)構(gòu)分析】這是一個主從復(fù)合句，主句的主語是Tears，謂語是make，賓語是Americans，feel…embarrassed是賓語補足語；be…joy是讓步狀語從句，使用了倒裝結(jié)構(gòu)，正常語序是：whether theymay be of sorrow，anger，or joy，這種句式變化在閱讀中很普遍。

【知識鏈接】make sb.do使某人……

2.But judging from recent studies of crying behavior，links between illness and crying and the chemical composition of tears，both those responses to tears are often inappropriate and may even be counterproductive.

【參考譯文】但是從最近對哭泣行為、哭泣與疾病的聯(lián)系和眼淚的化學(xué)成分所進行的研究來看，以上兩種對眼淚的反應(yīng)經(jīng)常是不恰當(dāng)?shù)?，甚至可能有害?/p>

【結(jié)構(gòu)分析】逗號之后的both…are often inappropriate and may even be counterproductive是主干，to tears是responses的后定語；逗號之前的judging…composition of tears是獨立主格結(jié)構(gòu)，from…composition of tears是范圍狀語，between…composition of tears是links的后定語。

【知識鏈接】judging from從……判斷；links between…and……和……之間的聯(lián)系

3.Since evolution has given rise to few，if any，purposeless physiological response，it is logical to assume that crying has one or more functions that enhance survival.

【參考譯文】進化幾乎不會產(chǎn)生無目的的生理反應(yīng)，所以認為哭泣對人的生存有一定作用是合理的。

【結(jié)構(gòu)分析】這是一個主從復(fù)合句，可以切分為：（Since evolution has given rise to few，//if any//，purposeless physiological response），（it is logical to assume//that crying has one or more functions//that enhance survival//）。第一部分是Since引導(dǎo)的原因狀語從句，主語是evolution，謂語是has given rise to，賓語是few…purposeless physiological response，中間插入了一個if any條件狀語從句；第二部分是主句，即形式主語句，主語it指代后面的that crying…survival，最后的that引導(dǎo)的從句是functions的定語。

【知識鏈接】evolution（n.）進化；give rise to sth.導(dǎo)致……；if any如果確實有的話；it is logical to assume that很有理由認為……

4.Although some observers have suggested that crying is a way to elicit assistance from others（as a crying baby might from its mother），the shedding of tears is hardly necessary to get help.

【參考譯文】盡管一些觀察者認為哭泣是獲得別人幫助的一種方法（就像嬰兒的哭泣可以獲得母親的幫助一樣），但是流淚對于獲取幫助很難說是必需的。

【結(jié)構(gòu)分析】這個句子的主干比較簡單，即主系表結(jié)構(gòu)：the shedding of tears is hardly necessary，不定式to get help是目的狀語；Although引導(dǎo)的讓步狀語從句中that…others是suggested的賓語從句，不定式to elicit assistance是way的后定語，括號內(nèi)是as引導(dǎo)的方式狀語從句，might之后承前省略了elicit assistance。

【知識鏈接】elicit sth.from…從……獲取……；shedding of tears流淚

5.Tears shed because of exposure to a cut onion would contain no such substance.

【參考譯文】因切洋蔥而流出的眼淚不包含這樣的成分。

【結(jié)構(gòu)分析】這個句子的主干是Tears…would contain no such substance，過去分詞shed是Tears的后定語，介詞短語to a cut onion是exposure的后定語。

【知識鏈接】because of因為；exposure to sth.接觸……

6.At Tulane University’s Tear Analysis Laboratory Dr.Peter Kastl and his colleagues report that they can use tears to detect drug abuse and exposure to medication，to determine whether a contact lens fits properly or why it may be uncomfortable，to study the causes of“dry eye”syndrome and the effects of eye surgery，and perhaps even to measure exposure to environmental pollutants.

【參考譯文】在Tulane大學(xué)的眼淚分析實驗室，Peter Kastl博士和他的同事們報告說，他們能用眼淚來檢測藥物濫用和藥物接觸，能得出隱形眼鏡是否合適或不舒服的原因，能研究“眼睛干燥綜合征”的原因和眼科手術(shù)的影響，甚至可能測量對于環(huán)境污染物的接觸。

【結(jié)構(gòu)分析】這個句子的主語是Dr.Peter Kastl and his colleagues，謂語是report，之后的全部內(nèi)容是that引導(dǎo)的賓語從句，該從句的主干是they can use tears，they指代前面的Dr.Peter Kastl and his colleagues，之后的四個并列不定式to detect…medication，to determine…uncomfortable，to study…surgery，and perhaps even to measure…pollutants是目的狀語；其中第一個不定式中的介詞短語to medication是exposure的后定語；第二個不定式中的it指代前面的contact lens；最后一個不定式中的介詞短語to environmental pollutants是exposure的后定語。

【知識鏈接】drug abuse濫用藥物；environmental pollutant環(huán)境污染物；contact lens隱形眼鏡

7.At Columbia University Dr.Liasy Faris and colleagues are studying tears for clues to the diagnosis of diseases away from the eyes.

【參考譯文】在哥倫比亞大學(xué)，Liasy Faris和他的同事們正在研究眼淚，以求獲取診斷眼部以外疾病的線索。

【結(jié)構(gòu)分析】這個句子的主干是Dr.Liasy Faris and colleagues are studying tears，介詞短語for clues…eyes是目的狀語，to…diseases是clues的后定語，away from the eyes是diseases的后定語。

【知識鏈接】Columbia University哥倫比亞大學(xué)；away from遠離……