51. What error do experts often make when describing people from other places?
- A. They tend to overly rely on nationality.
- B. They often exaggerate their differences.
- C. They often misunderstand their cultures.
- D. They tend to dwell on national averages.
答案：B
答案句：Statistics specialists, when they speak of national averages, often make the same mistake. … Newly published research shows how erroneous such overviews are. Three researchers analyzed decades of values-based surveys and found that only between 16% and 21% of the variation in cultural values could be explained by differences between countries. In other words, the vast majority of what makes us culturally distinct from one another has nothing to do with our homeland.
参考译文：统计专家在谈论国家平均值时，常常犯同样的错误。… 新发表的研究表明这种概括是多么错误。三位研究人员分析了数十年的价值观调查，发现文化价值观的差异中只有16%到21%可以用国家之间的差异来解释。换句话说，使我们彼此文化不同的绝大部分因素与我们的祖国无关。
定位线索：题干“experts”→答案句“Statistics specialists”；题干“describing people from other places”→答案句“national averages”；文中“only between 16% and 21%”对应选项B“exaggerate their differences”（夸大差异）。
解析：题干问专家描述他国人时常犯的错误。答案句指出统计专家常犯“same mistake”，即用国家平均值概括，而研究显示国家差异只能解释16%-21%的文化差异，说明专家夸大了国家间差异。选项B“exaggerate their differences”是对此的同义转述。选项A“overly rely on nationality”虽提及国籍，但未体现“夸大”这一核心错误；选项C“misunderstand”无中生有；选项D“dwell on national averages”是表面现象，非错误本质。
55. What does the author suggest at the end of the passage?
- A. There is sufficient reason to generalize about a country's population.
- B. The majority of people are still constrained by their national identity.
- C. It is arguable that the country should be regarded as the unit of authority.
- D. Nationality is less useful than socio-economic status as an indicator of one's values.
答案：D
答案句：The country, as the unit of authority, is often a convenient way of generalizing about a population. However, our focus on countries can mask broad variations within them. In the majority of cases we would be better off identifying people by the factors that constrain their lives, like income, rather than by the lines surrounding them on a map.
参考译文：国家作为权威单位，通常是概括人口的便捷方式。然而，我们对国家的关注可能掩盖其内部的广泛差异。在大多数情况下，我们最好通过限制他们生活的因素（如收入）来识别人们，而不是通过地图上围绕他们的界线。
定位线索：题干“at the end of the passage”→答案句取自末段；文中“better off identifying people by the factors that constrain their lives, like income”对应选项D“Nationality is less useful than socio-economic status”；文中“rather than by the lines surrounding them”对应选项D“as an indicator of one's values”。
解析：题干问作者在文末的建议。末段指出“we would be better off identifying people by the factors that constrain their lives, like income, rather than by the lines surrounding them”，即用收入等社会经济因素而非国籍来识别人的价值观，对应选项D“Nationality is less useful than socio-economic status as an indicator of one's values”。选项A“sufficient reason to generalize”与原文“can mask broad variations”矛盾；选项B“constrained by national identity”曲解“constrain”，原文指生活限制因素；选项C“arguable”语气过弱，原文是明确建议。