英语一二通用阅读2004-1 Text 2-USB迷|专注于互联网分享

2024年4月7日发(作者：泉朝)

2004-1Text2

1-Overthepastcentury,allkindsofunfairnessanddiscriminationhavebeencondemnedormadeillegal.

Butoneinsidiousformcontinuestothrive:alphabetism.

This,forthoseasyetunawareofsuchadisadvantage,referstodiscriminationagainstthosewhose

surnamesbeginwithaletterinthelowerhalfofthealphabet.

2-IthaslongbeenknownthatataxifirmcalledAAAAcarshasabigadvantageoverZodiaccarswhen

customersthumbthroughtheirphonedirectories.

LesswellknownistheadvantagethatAdamAbbotthasinlifeoverZoëZysman.

Englishnamesarefairlyevenlyspreadbetweenthehalvesofthealphabet.

YetasuspiciouslylargenumberoftoppeoplehavesurnamesbeginningwithlettersbetweenAandK.

3-ThustheAmericanpresidentandvice-presidenthavesurnamesstartingwithBandCrespectively;and

26ofGeorgeBush’spredecessors(includinghisfather)hadsurnamesinthefirsthalfofthealphabet

againstjust16inthesecondhalf.

Evenmorestriking,sixofthesevenheadsofgovernmentoftheG7richcountriesarealphabetically

advantaged(Berlusconi,Blair,Bush,Chirac,ChrétienandKoizumi).

Theworld’sthreetopcentralbankers(Greenspan,DuisenbergandHayami)areallclosetothetopofthe

alphabet,evenifoneofthemreallyusesJapanesecharacters.

Asaretheworld’sfiverichestmen(Gates,Buffett,Allen,EllisonandAlbrecht).

4-Canthismerelybecoincidence?

Onetheory,dreamtupinallthesparetimeenjoyedbythealphabeticallydisadvantaged,isthattherotsets

inearly.

Atthestartofthefirstyearininfantschool,teachersseatpupilsalphabeticallyfromthefront,tomakeit

easiertoremembertheirnames.

Soshort-sightedZysmanjuniorgetsstuckinthebackrow,andisrarelyaskedtheimprovingquestions

posedbythoseinsensitiveteachers.

Atthetimethealphabeticallydisadvantagedmaythinktheyhavehadaluckyescape.

Yettheresultmaybeworsequalifications,becausetheygetlessindividualattention,aswellasless

confidenceinspeakingpublicly.

5-Thehumiliationcontinues.

Atuniversitygraduationceremonies,theABCsproudlygettheirawardsfirst;bythetimetheyreachthe

ZysmansmostpeopleareliterallyhavingaZZZ.

Shortlistsforjobinterviews,electionballotpapers,listsofconferencespeakersandattendees:alltendtobe

drawnupalphabetically,andtheirrecipientsloseinterestastheyploughthroughthem.

estheauthorintendtoillustratewithAAAAcarsandZodiaccars?

[A]Akindofoverlookedinequality.

[B]Atypeofconspicuousbias.

[C]Atypeofpersonalprejudice.

[D]Akindofbranddiscrimination.

nweinferfromthefirstthreeparagraphs?

[A]InbothEastandWest,namesareessentialtosuccess.

[B]ThealphabetistoblameforthefailureofZoëZysman.

[C]Customersoftenpayalotofattentiontocompanies’names.

[D]Someformofdiscriminationistoosubtletorecognize.

4thparagraphsuggeststhat________.

[A]questionsareoftenputtothemoreintelligentstudents

[B]alphabeticallydisadvantagedstudentsoftenescapefromclass

[C]teachersshouldpayattentiontoalloftheirstudents

[D]studentsshouldbeseatedaccordingtotheireyesight

estheauthormeanby“mostpeopleareliterallyhavingaZZZ”(Lines2-3,Paragraph

5)?

[A]Theyaregettingimpatient.

[B]Theyarenoisilydozingoff.

[C]Theyarefeelinghumiliated.

[D]Theyarebusywithwordpuzzles.

fthefollowingistrueaccordingtothetext?

[A]PeoplewithsurnamesbeginningwithNtoZareoftenill-treated.

[B]VIPsintheWesternworldgainagreatdealfromalphabetism.

[C]Thecampaigntoeliminatealphabetismstillhasalongwaytogo.

[D]Puttingthingsalphabeticallymayleadtounintentionalbias.