What if it isn’t a dog-eat-dog world? What if caring for a dog or for a mom with Alzheimer’s (老年痴呆症) makes you stronger and allows you to live longer?
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley are challenging our long-held belief that humans are born to be selfish.
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was misunderstood by his male followers, the researchers say. Rather than “every man for himself”, Darwin believed that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our educational, selfless and sympathetic characteristics.
Why has it taken so long for Darwin’s central revelation(揭示) to be properly understood? “We’ve had too many men in social science,” Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner told me in an interview. “Female scientists acknowledge that caring for people is part of human nature according to the research, which shows the human ability to care exists in our brains and nerve systems.”
In my book Passages in Caregiving , I urge women who take the whole responsibility for taking care of an elderly parent or a sick relative to build a “Circle of Care”. Reach out to your brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and community volunteers to help you care, because no one can perform this overwhelming role alone. You will be as shocked as I to learn how the most selfless caregivers are rewarded with longer life.
Sympathy is not a woman’s word. In fact it makes all of us stronger under stress and more highly respected by our peers. For so long we have repeated the false saying “Nice guys finish last”. But the 40 richest Americans committed to doing good by donating half their fortunes are no spring chickens. So here is my new explanation：Nice guys die last.
小题1:The first paragraph serves to .
A．give the background of the topic
B．blame the world for selfishness
C．urge people to care for a dog
D．bring out the topic of the passage小题2:In Passages in Caregiving, women are advised to .
A．share the responsibility of caring with others
B．take good care of themselves
C．learn how to live a longer life
D．help as many people as possible小题3:The underlined words “no spring chickens” in the last paragraph refer to .
A．rich people
B．poor people
C．young people
D．aged people小题4:Why does the author mention the 40 richest Americans’ commitment in this passage?
A．To argue against offering sympathy.
B．To use it as an example to support his opinion.
C．To show their generosity to society.
D．To call on people to learn from them.小题5:Which of the following might be the BEST title of the passage?
A．Selflessness could be the secret to longer life
B．Darwin’s theory of evolution is out of date now
C．Measures must be taken to improve the world
D．Males and females have different opinions about selflessness
小题1:D
小题2:A
小题3:D
小题4:B
小题5:A
题目分析：这篇文章主要讲述的是无私使人类更坚强，更长寿。
小题1:细节题。这篇文章通过第一段提出整个文章的主题思想。故选D
小题2:细节题。在作者的书《看护》的文章中，作者建议女性要和其他人一起分担照顾他人的责任。故选A
小题3:推断题。根据文章中But the 40 richest Americans committed to doing good by donating half their fortunes are no spring chickens.但是这40个最富有的捐献了自己一半的财富的美国人都已经不再年轻了。可知，no spring chickens的意思是年龄大的人。故选D
小题4:推断题。 根据文章最后一段But the 40 richest Americans committed to doing good by donating half their fortunes are no spring chickens. So here is my new explanation：Nice guys die last.可知，作者最后使用一个例子来支持的他的观点：好人活的最长。故选B
小题5:主旨题。这篇文章讲述的是无私的人总是更坚强，寿命也更长。故选A
点评：文章重在理解作者的感情基调，从全文来看，作者主要表达了无私使人类更坚强，更长寿的观点，由此可见对于议论文的文章重在把握作者的感情色彩，答题时不断提醒自己作者在讲什么，作者的是在褒义还是在贬斥，这一点非常重要。