Question

Money is the root of all evil (邪恶) and new study claims there may be some truth behind the saying. Scientists at the University of California Berkeley, US, announced on February 27 that rich people are more likely to do immoral things, such as lie or cheat, than poorer people. The scientists did a series of eight experiments. They published their findings online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNA《美国国家科学院院刊》).

    They carried out the first two experiments from the sidewalk near Berkeley. They noted that drivers of newer and more expensive cars were more likely to cut off other cars and pedestrians at crosswalks. Nearly 45 percent of people driving expensive cars ignored a pedestrian compared with only 30 percent of people driving more modest cars.

    In another experiment, a group of college students was asked if they would do immoral things in various everyday situations. Examples included taking printer paper from work and not telling a salesperson when he or she gave back more change. Students from higher-class families were more likely to act dishonestly.

    According to the scientists, rich people often think money can get them out of trouble. This makes them less afraid to take risks. It also means they care less about other people's feelings.

    Finally, it just makes them greedier. "Higher wealth status seems to make you want even more, and that increased want leads you to bend the rules or break the rules to serve your self-interest," said Paul Piff, lead scientist of the study.

    Piff pointed out that the findings don't mean that all rich people are untrustworthy or all poor people honest. He said the experiments were to show how people living in different social situations express their instincts (本能) and values in different ways.

1.By saying "money is the root of all evil", the author wants to ________.

A. link wealth with bad behavior

B. draw readers' attention to the research

C. show how the saying proves the findings

D. defend rich people who do immoral things

2.According to the scientists, which is NOT the factor that makes rich people immoral?

A. They welcome risks.

B. They have more desires.

C. They believe money talks.

D. They become more selfish.

3.Why did the scientists do the experiments?

A. To show how social status affects people's morality.

B. To show people's instincts and values in different ways.

C. To test whether the saying "money is the root of all evil" is true.

D. To show the difference between higher-class people and lower-class people.

4.What does the passage really want to show us?

A. The poor are respectable.

B. Money is the root of all evil.

C. All rich people are untrustworthy.

D. The rich are more likely to act badly.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.A

4.D

【解析】金钱是万恶之源吗？加利福尼亚伯克利大学的实验证明：有钱人比穷人更加有可能做不道德的事，更不值得信任。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段new study claims there may be some truth behind the saying…that rich people are more likely to do immoral things, such as lie or cheat, than poorer people.可知，用这个俗语“金钱是万恶之源”来引出本文的话题——富人们是否比穷人们更加有可能做不道德的事情，通过一些实验来证实，让读者们看到这一研究，目的是吸引读者对这个研究的注意，故答案为B。

2.推理判断题。根据倒数第三段According to the scientists, rich people often think money can get them out of trouble. This makes them less afraid to take risks. It also means they care less about other people's feelings.（按照科学家的研究，富人们通常认为钱可以解决一切麻烦，所以他们更不害怕冒险，也意味着他们更少在乎其他人的感受）可知，他们喜欢冒险并不是让他们不道德的因素，而且从常识来说，并不是所有喜欢冒险的人就是富人，而且喜欢冒险也不代表不道德，故答案为A。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段He said the experiments were to show how people living in different social situations express their instincts(本能) and values in different ways.可知，实验的目的是展示生活在不同的社会状况下的人们如何以不同的方式来表达他们的本能和价值观。故选A项。B项“以不同的方式来展示人们的本能和价值观”并不是实验的目的；C项“去检验‘金钱是万恶之源’的说法是否属实”也不是实验的目的，文章只是引用这句话来激发读者的兴趣；D项“展示上层人和下层人的区别”也不是实验的目的。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段Piff pointed out that the findings don't mean that all rich people are untrustworthy or all poor people honest.可知，并不是所有的富人都是不值得信任的，也并不是所有的穷人都是诚实的，故A，C都错误；B项“金钱是万恶之源”这只是一个引子，并不是文章要告诉我们的；根据文章第一段科学家发表的声明可知，富人们更加有可能不道德，也就是行为上更糟糕，恶劣。故D项是对的。

【名师点睛】

推理判断题的一些小技巧：

1.通过辨认细节的技巧，找到相关的事实或证据，对这些事实或证据进行分析和评价，在此基础上再作决定。切记：推断是以文章提供的事实为依据，而不是凭空想象，更不是读者自己的意愿。

2.借助常识。在推理判断题中，我们平时积累的一些常识通常会派上用场。一篇关于通信发展史的阅读最为典型。

3.务必要用排除法。排除法在此类题型中发挥着不可磨灭的作用。根据在文章中找到的事实依据和常识排除错误信息，再排除和文章中一词不差的信息(文章里的原句不会是推理判断出来的结果，但通过同义词或句型转换过的选项有可能是正确答案)，最后再排除无关或偏离信息，正确答案就不言而喻了。

比如，第四题，我们就需要结合文章中的一些细节描述，也可再结合常识，最后用排除法得出最佳答案。首先，根据最后一段Piff pointed out that the findings don't mean that all rich people are untrustworthy or all poor people honest.可知，并不是所有的富人都是不值得信任的，也并不是所有的穷人都是诚实的，故A，C都错误，其实利用常识也可做出判断，生活中这两种说法都太绝对化，错误。B项“金钱是万恶之源”这只是一个引子，第一题就是一个很好的说明，并不是文章要告诉我们的，排除。根据文章第一段科学家发表的声明可知，富人们更加有可能不道德，也就是行为上更糟糕，恶劣，而且整篇文章都是围绕这一点并且结合一些实验来说明的，故D项才是作者的真正目的。