47. What do we learn from the passage about today's snobs?
- A. They try hard to dig into a person's past.
- B. They draw a rigid conclusion about people.
- C. They judge a person by their occupation.
- D. They tend to place people in a social context.
答案：C
答案句：A snob is anyone who takes a relatively small part of us and uses it to come to a rigid conclusion about how much of their attention we deserve. In the past, that might be your ancestry and royal connections. Nowadays, the snob cares about one thing only: what you do for a living.
参考译文：势利者是指那些只取我们身上相对微小的一部分，并据此对我们应得到他们多少关注做出僵硬结论的人。在过去，那可能是你的血统和王室关系。如今，势利者只关心一件事：你以什么为生。
定位线索：题干“What do we learn from the passage about today's snobs”→答案句取自第3段“Nowadays, the snob cares about one thing only: what you do for a living”；文中“what you do for a living”对应选项C“They judge a person by their occupation”中的“occupation”。
解析：题干问关于当今的势利者我们能了解到什么。答案句明确指出“Nowadays, the snob cares about one thing only: what you do for a living”，即势利者只根据职业判断人。选项C“They judge a person by their occupation”中的“occupation”与“what you do for a living”直接对应，“judge”与“cares about”对应，是正确选项。选项A“They try hard to dig into a person's past”与原文“In the past”（过去）矛盾，原文说过去看重血统，现在只看职业；选项B“They draw a rigid conclusion about people”是势利者的普遍定义，但题干问“today's snobs”，且“rigid conclusion”在第3段首句，但该句未限定“today”，而选项C更具体地对应“Nowadays”；选项D“They tend to place people in a social context”与原文“any new social context”（第4段）相关，但这是社交场合的提问，而非势利者的判断标准，属于偷换概念。
48. What does the author say about people's interest in material goods?
- A. It is the cause for condemnation of their greed.
- B. It has a lot to do with the comforts they provide.
- C. It arouses pity rather than respect from the wealthy.
- D. It arises from their craving for social recognition.
答案：D
答案句：A lot of our interest in fancy cars, jobs and houses has nothing to do with materialism. It has to do with a hunger for the respect and esteem that is only available in our societies through the acquisition of material goods. It isn't the goods themselves we seek, it is the love we stand to gain through our possession of them.
参考译文：我们对豪车、工作和豪宅的很多兴趣与物质主义无关。它与对尊重和敬意的渴望有关，而这种尊重和敬意在我们社会中只有通过获得物质商品才能得到。我们寻求的不是商品本身，而是通过拥有它们而获得的关爱。
定位线索：题干“What does the author say about people's interest in material goods”→答案句取自第6段“It has to do with a hunger for the respect and esteem”和“it is the love we stand to gain”；文中“hunger for the respect and esteem”对应选项D“It arises from their craving for social recognition”中的“craving for social recognition”。
解析：题干问作者对人们物质兴趣的看法。答案句明确指出这种兴趣“has to do with a hunger for the respect and esteem”，即渴望尊重和敬意，而“respect and esteem”就是“social recognition”（社会认可）。选项D“It arises from their craving for social recognition”中的“craving”对应“hunger”，“social recognition”对应“respect and esteem”，是正确选项。选项A“It is the cause for condemnation of their greed”与原文“we shouldn't condemn them for their greed”（第6段）矛盾，原文明确说不应谴责；选项B“It has a lot to do with the comforts they provide”在原文中无提及，属于无中生有；选项C“It arouses pity rather than respect from the wealthy”中“from the wealthy”范围错误，原文说“we should pity them”（我们应怜悯他们），而非“from the wealthy”。
50. What does the author imply we should do to avoid being snobbish?
- A. Be aware there has never been such a thing as a better or worse person.
- B. Be kind to and curious about those who we happen to meet in our lives.
- C. Realize that better or worse keeps changing in unexpected ways.
- D. Judge people on the basis of their distinctive character traits.
答案：B
答案句：The true answer to snobbery is not to say that there is no such thing as a better or worse person, but to insist that better or worse exist in constantly unexpected places and carry none of the outward signs of distinction. And because we are such poor judges of the worth of others, our ultimate duty remains to be kind, good, curious and imaginative about pretty much everyone who ever crosses our path.
参考译文：对势利行为的真正回应不是说没有更好或更坏的人，而是要坚持认为更好或更坏存在于不断出乎意料的地方，并且不带有任何外在的显著标志。而且，因为我们对他人价值的判断力如此之差，我们最终的责任仍然是善待、友好、好奇并富有想象力地对待每一个与我们相遇的人。
定位线索：题干“What does the author imply we should do to avoid being snobbish”→答案句取自末段“our ultimate duty remains to be kind, good, curious and imaginative about pretty much everyone who ever crosses our path”；文中“be kind, good, curious and imaginative”对应选项B“Be kind to and curious about those who we happen to meet in our lives”中的“be kind to and curious about”。
解析：题干问作者暗示我们应如何避免势利。答案句明确指出“our ultimate duty remains to be kind, good, curious and imaginative about pretty much everyone who ever crosses our path”，即对遇到的每个人友善、好奇。选项B“Be kind to and curious about those who we happen to meet in our lives”中的“be kind to and curious about”直接对应原文“be kind, good, curious and imaginative”，“those who we happen to meet”对应“everyone who ever crosses our path”，是正确选项。选项A“Be aware there has never been such a thing as a better or worse person”与原文“not to say that there is no such thing as a better or worse person”矛盾，原文明确否定这种说法；选项C“Realize that better or worse keeps changing in unexpected ways”中“keeps changing”偷换概念，原文说“exist in constantly unexpected places”（存在于意想不到的地方），而非“changing”（变化）；选项D“Judge people on the basis of their distinctive character traits”与原文“carry none of the outward signs of distinction”矛盾，原文说更好或更坏不带有外在标志，因此不能据此判断。