Comprehension 理解
Answer these questions:
1 What do you understand by this statement: ‘No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes.’? (1.18)
2 How has the study of man differed from the study of less controversial subjects?
3 What criterion must the anthropologist accept before he can undertake the study of man objectively?
Vocabulary 词汇
Refer to the text to see how the following words have been used, then write sentences of your own using these words: moment (1.1); aberrant (1.5); predominant role (1.6); manifest (1.7); probings (1.9); vernacular (1.13); autonomously (1.14); incumbent (1.21); intelligent (1.22); unintelligible (1.23); preferential weighting (1.26); controversial (1.27); held sway (1.33).
Summary 摘要
Drawing your information from lines 1-21 (‘Custom has not … achieve the thousandth part.’), describe how our attitude to life is shaped by custom. Do not write more than 100 words. Use your own words as far as possible. Your answer should be in one paragraph.
Composition 作文
Write a composition of about 600 words on one of the following subjects:
1 Tradition and the individual.
2 How can the study of cultures different from our own lead to a better understanding of man's nature?
3 ‘There can be no absolute standards of right and wrong since our moral attitudes are conditioned by the society in which we live.’ Discuss.
Key structures 关键句型
Rewrite the sentences given below using the opening words and phrases provided. Do not refer to the passage until you have finished the exercise:
1 We have not commonly regarded custom as a subject of any great moment.
Custom ________ (1.1)
2 We feel that the inner working of our own brains are uniquely worthy of investigation.
The inner workings of our own brains we feel to_____ (11.1-2)
3 What he sees is edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking.
He sees ________(1.8)
4 From the moment of his birth his experience and behaviour are shaped by the customs into which he is born.
From the moment of his birth the customs_____ (1.17)
5 We had to arrive first at that degree of sophistication where we no longer set our own belief against our neighbour's superstition.
It was necessary ______ (11.33-35)
Special difficulties 难点
A Study the following pairs of words and then write sentences of your own to bring out the difference.
1 custom (1.1) ---- habit
Sending birthday cards is not a very old custom.
Overeating can easily become a bad habit.
2 aspect (1.5) ---- view
Why don't we consider the wider aspects of the problem?
There's an excellent view from my window.
3 proportion (1.12) ---- percentage
The amount of work to be done seems to expand in proportion to the amount of time available to do it.
The percentage of income taken in tax has stayed the same now for four years.
4 unintelligible (1.23) ---- unintelligent
The nurses found what he said unintelligible, but his wife could understand him well enough.
People with gross physical disabilities are not necessarily unintelligent as well.
5 controversial (1.27) ---- argumentative
Euthanasia, even voluntary euthanasia, must always be a controversial subject.
It's hard to teach someone who is habitually argumentative, because they are thinking of how to disgrace instead of paying attention.
B Write sentences using the following words differently from the way in which they have been used in the passage:
accommodation (1.16); creature (1.18); globe (1.21); intelligent (1.22).
Multiple choice questions 多项选择题
Choose the correct answers to the following questions.
Comprehension 理解
1 Our view of life and the world is largely the product of ______ .
a．the society we are born into
b．the inner workings of our own brains
c．individual development and preference
d．a mass of detail
2 According to the writer, the thoughts and ideas of an individual _____.
a．are minimal compared with the power of tradition
b．will often dominate the patterns and standards handed down in the community
c．shape his own beliefs and behaviour
d．are often completely unintelligible
3 According to the writer, it is unlikely that a child born into one culture _____.
a．will acquire the customs and traditions of another
b．will ever learn anything about a different culture
c．will be intelligible to a child of another culture
d．will ever travel to the opposite side of the globe
4 Anthropologists can only study human societies objectively if they _______.
a．regard all cultures as having equal value
b．distinguish between themselves and barbarians
c．believe in the supernatural
d．have a good understanding of Western civilization
Structure 句型
5 We feel the inner workings of our brain to be worth ___. (11.1-2)
a．to investigate
b．investigating
c．of investigation
d．for investigating
6 ______ is of first-rate importance is the predominant role of custom. (11.5-6)
a．That
b．What
c．Which
d．The thing
7 ______ we are intelligent about its laws, human life will become intelligible. (11.22-23)
a．Until
b．When
c．As if
d．Unless
8 ____we have learned all we know about the laws of astronomy. (1.29)
a．That's when
b．That's how
c．That's so
d．That's as if
Vocabulary词汇
9 He sees it ______ by a definite set of customs.(1.8)
a．examined
b．cut down
c．excluded
d．modified
10 The life-history of an individual is ___ an accommodation…(11.15-16)
a．in the first place
b．only
c．above all
d．exclusively
11 The study of custom can be profitable only after certain _____propositions have been accepted. (11.24-25)
a．required
b．initial
c．advanced
d．exceptional
12 Scientific study requires that there be no _____ towards one side. (11.25-26)
a．bias
b．attitude
c．belief
d．indication