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问题详情：

    In a recent series of experiments at the University of California, researchers studied toddlers’ thinking about winners and losers, bullies (欺凌) and victims.

In the first experiment, toddlers (学步儿童) watched a scene in which two puppets (木偶) had conflicting goals: One was crossing a stage from right to left, and the other from left to right. The puppets met in the middle and stopped. Eventually one puppet bowed down and moved aside, letting the other one pass by. Then researchers asked the toddlers which puppet they liked. The result: 20 out of 23 toddlers picked the higher-status puppet — the one that did not bow or move aside. It seems that individuals can gain status for being dominant (占优势的) and toddlers like winners better than losers.

But then researchers had another question: Do toddlers like winners no matter how they win? So, researchers did another experiment very similar to the one described above. But this time, the conflict ended because one puppet knocked the other down and out of the way. Now when the toddlers were asked who they liked, the results were different: Only 4 out of 23 children liked the winner.

These data suggest that children already love a winner by the age of 21-31 months. This does not necessarily mean that the preference is inborn: 21 months is enough time to learn a lot of things. But if a preference for winners is something we learn, we appear to learn it quite early.

Even more interesting, the preference for winners is not absolute. Children in our study did not like a winner who knocked a competitor down. This suggests that already by the age of 21-31 months, children’s liking for winners is balanced with other social concerns, including perhaps a general preference for nice or helpful people over aggressive ones.

In a time when the news is full of stories of public figures who celebrate winning at all costs, these results give us much confidence. Humans understand dominance, but we also expect strong individuals to guide, protect and help others. This feels like good news.

245．One of the purposes of the experiments is to ________.

A．teach toddlers how to gain higher status

B．offer toddlers a chance to watch a scene

C．observe the process of toddlers’ solving a conflict

D．find out toddlers’ attitude toward winners and losers

246．The toddlers regarded bowing and moving aside as a sign of ________.

A．obeying rules

B．gaining status

C．giving in to the other

D．showing good manners

247．What does the second experiment tell us about toddlers?

A．They are excellent learners.

B．They are always changeable.

C．They show mercy to the loser.

D．They value kindness over winning.

248．What does the author think of the results of the series of experiments?

A．Disappointing.                                           B．Encouraging.

C．Unexpected.                                              D．Controversial.

【回答】

245．D

246．C

247．D

248．B

【分析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了研究人员进行了一系列的试验研究幼儿对赢家和输家、欺凌者和受害者的态度。

245．细节理解题。根据第一段中的“researchers studied toddlers’ thinking about winners and losers, bullies (欺凌) and victims.”可知，研究人员研究了幼儿对赢家和输家、欺凌者和受害者的看法，由此可知，试验的其中一个目的是查明幼儿对赢家和输家的态度，故D项正确。

246．细节理解题。根据第二段中的“The result: 20 out of 23 toddlers picked the higher-status puppet — the one that did not bow or move aside. It seems that individuals can gain status for being dominant (占优势的) and toddlers like winners better than losers.”可知，23名幼儿中有20名选择了地位较高的玩偶，即不鞠躬也不让开的玩偶，似乎每个人都可以通过占优势而获得地位，幼儿更喜欢赢家而不是输家，由此可知，幼儿把鞠躬和让开看作是向对方屈服的标志，故C项正确。

247．细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中的“Children in our study did not like a winner who knocked a competitor down. This suggests that already by the age of 21-31 months, children’s liking for winners is balanced with other social concerns, including perhaps a general preference for nice or helpful people over aggressive ones.”可知，第二个试验中孩子不喜欢击倒对方的赢家，这表明到21-31个月大时，孩子们对赢家的喜爱已经与其他社会问题相平衡，其中包括对友善或乐于助人的人的普遍偏爱，而不是好斗的人，由此可知，第二个试验表明21-31个月大的孩子看重友善胜过获胜，故D项正确。

248．推理判断题。根据最后一段中的“these results give us much confidence.”（这些结果给了我们很大的自信）及“This feels like good news.”（这听起来是个好消息）可知，作者认为试验结果是令人鼓舞的，故B项正确。

【点睛】

涉及到观点态度的推理判断题难度较大，文章一般不会直接标明作者的态度，需要我们根据措辞的褒贬来揣摩作者的态度，例如本篇第4题，根据最后一段中的“these results give us much confidence.”可知，这些结果给了我们很大的自信，再根据“This feels like good news.”可知，这听起来是个好消息，“confidence”和“good”表明了作者认为试验结果是令人鼓舞的。

知识点：人际交往

题型：阅读理解