Now let's analyze the errors students may commit in the test.
Question 1 tests the ability to understand implications. To get the correct answer, first and foremost, we have to find out in the passage the author's description of the popular understanding of "environment", which says: "It seems simple enough to..." Then comes the sentence "But in actual practice this system breaks down..." Here the implication is that the popular understanding...is oversimplified. Certainly D) is the correct answer to the question.
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Studying for the coming CET test out in the plain air. |
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Question 2 is a specific question that tests the ability to understand details. The answer lies in the last sentence of the 1st paragraph. Most students can easily find the correct answer C).
Though Question 3 also tests the ability to understand details, it is more difficult than Question 2 because you are asked to recognize one of the important details of the passage. What's more, the answer can be found in the longest sentence, the 2nd sentence of Paragraph 2, in which "the organism?is used as a substitute for "man." All this will make students run into difficulties in discovering the correct answer C).
Question 4 is also a detail question. Words relating to culture appear several times in Paragraph 2, "as a bearer of culture? "class as cultural? "human culture? "it (Paragraph 2)," and "the necessity of viewing culture." If students do not get exactly what the author says about culture in their first reading and have to go back to find the word "culture?when they come to Question 4, they are most likely to overlook "it." Consequently they will miss the essential sentence "it, in turn, is modified by the environmental factors of climate and geography." That's why they could not possibly find the correct answer B). This tells us that considerable accuracy is required even in understanding details.
Question 5 tests the ability to make generalizations or get the main idea. The first sentence in a paragraph is usually the key sentence that tells what is said in the paragraph. The key sentence of Paragraph 1 says: "The concept of 'environment?is certainly difficult..." And the key sentence of Paragraph 2 says: "In the case of man, the difficulties with the environmental concept are even more complicated..." Thus we can see that the two paragraphs are closely related and the 2nd one is nothing but an elaboration. If we take any of the key sentences as the main idea of the whole passage, we can surely find the correct answer A). However, statistics show that only 32 per cent of students found the correct answer. The trouble for other students may come from by their poor command of vocabulary. In Choice A) of Question 5, "interpretation?means "an opinion about..." or, to make it simple, "interpretation?means "explanation."
What makes this passage difficult for students is the language-typical written language. The sentences are so long that the longest one covers four or five lines. The sentence structure is complicated. One oversight may lead to a failure. This type of writing requires more care.
Coming up: A reading sample for CET-6 and its explanation.
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The author is a professor from the English Department of PekingUniversity.
THE following is a passage from the CET-4 test for January, 1996. Read it carefully and try to get the correct answer to the multiple-choice questions:
The concept of "environment?is certainly difficult and may even be misunderstood; but we have no handy substitute. It seems simple enough to distinguish between the organism and the surrounding environment and to separate forces acting on an organism into those that are internal and biological and those that are external and environmental. But in actual practice this system breaks down in many ways, because the organism and the environment are constantly interacting so that the environment is modified by the organism and vice versa (反之亦然).
In the case of man, the difficulties with the environmental concept are even more complicated because we have to deal with man as an animal and with man as a bearer (持有者) of culture. If we look at man as an animal and try to analyze the environmental forces that are acting on the organism, we find that we have to deal with things like climate, soil, plants, and such-like factors common to all biological situations; but we also find, always, very important environmental influences that we can only class as "cultural? which modify the physical and biological factors. But man, as we know him, is always a bearer of culture; and, if we study human culture, we find that it, in turn, is modified by the environmental factors of climate and geography. We thus easily get into great difficulties from the necessity of viewing culture, at one moment, as a part of the man and, at another moment, as a part of the environment. |
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1. |
Which of the following words can best describe the popular understanding of "environment?as the author sees it?
A) Elaborate.
B) Prejudiced.
C) Faultless.
D) Oversimplified. |
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2.
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According to the author the concept of "environment?is difficult to explain because ________ .
A) it doesn't distinguish between the organism and the environment
B) it involves both internal and external forces
C) the organism and the environment influence each other
D) the relationship between the organism and the environment is unclear |
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3. |
In analyzing the environmental forces acting on man the author suggests that ________ .
A) biological factors are less important to the organism than cultural factors to man
B) man and other animals are modified equally by the environmental forces
C) man is modified by the cultural environment as well as by the natural environment
D) physical and biological factors exert more influence on other organisms than on man |
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4. |
As for culture, the author points out that ________ .
A) it develops side by side with environmental factors
B) it is also affected by environmental factors
C) it is generally accepted to be part of the environment
D) it is a product of man's biological instincts |
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5. |
In this passage, the author is primarily concerned with _______ .
A) the interpretation of the term "environment?
B) the discussion on organisms and biological environment
C) the comparison between internal and external factors influencing man
D) the evaluation of man's influence on culture
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