26. What is most wives’ main expectation of their husbands?
- A. Talking to them.
- B. Trusting them.
- C. Supporting their careers.
- D. Sharing housework.
答案：A
答案句：Instead, they focused on communication: “He doesn't listen to me.” “He doesn't talk to me.” I found, as Hacker observed years before, that most wives want their husbands to be, first and foremost, conversational partners, but few husbands share this expectation of their wives.
参考译文：相反，她们关注的是交流：“他不听我说话。”“他不跟我说话。”我发现，正如哈克多年前观察到的那样，大多数妻子希望丈夫首先并且最重要的是成为交谈伙伴，但很少有丈夫对妻子抱有这种期望。
定位线索：题干“most wives’ main expectation”对应答案句中“most wives want their husbands to be, first and foremost, conversational partners”；文中“conversational partners”对应选项A“Talking to them”。
解析：题干问大多数妻子对丈夫的主要期望是什么。答案句明确指出“most wives want their husbands to be, first and foremost, conversational partners”，即妻子希望丈夫成为交谈伙伴，这与选项A“Talking to them”直接对应。选项B“Trusting them”和C“Supporting their careers”在文中未提及，属于无中生有；选项D“Sharing housework”虽在文中提到，但那是妻子抱怨的次要方面，并非主要期望，属于偷换概念。
27. Judging from the context, the phrase “wreaking havoc” (Line 3, Para. 2) most probably means.
- A. generating motivation
- B. exerting influence
- C. causing damage
- D. creating pressure
答案：C
答案句：This episode crystallizes the irony that although American men tend to talk more than women in public situations, they often talk less at home. And this pattern is wreaking havoc with marriage.
参考译文：这一事件集中体现了这样一种讽刺：尽管美国男性在公共场合往往比女性说得更多，但他们在家里却说得更少。而这种模式正在对婚姻造成严重破坏。
定位线索：题干“wreaking havoc”对应答案句中“wreaking havoc with marriage”；上文“they often talk less at home”说明这种模式对婚姻有负面影响，对应选项C“causing damage”。
解析：题干要求猜测“wreaking havoc”的含义。答案句前文提到“they often talk less at home”，即男性在家说话少，这种模式对婚姻产生负面影响，因此“wreaking havoc”意为“造成破坏”，对应选项C“causing damage”。选项A“generating motivation”和D“creating pressure”与上下文负面语境不符；选项B“exerting influence”虽有一定关联，但程度过轻，未能体现“破坏”的严重性。
28. All of the following are true EXCEPT.
- A. men tend to talk more in public than women
- B. nearly 50 percent of recent divorces are caused by failed conversation
- C. women attach much importance to communication between couples
- D. a female tends to be more talkative at home than her spouse
答案：B
答案句：Sociologist Catherine Kohler Riessman reports in her new book Divorce Talk that most of the women she interviewed – but only a few of the men – gave lack of communication as the reason for their divorces. Given the current divorce rate of nearly 50 percent, that amounts to millions of cases in the United States every year – a virtual epidemic of failed conversation.
参考译文：社会学家凯瑟琳·科勒·里斯曼在她的新书《离婚谈话》中报告说，她采访的大多数女性——但只有少数男性——将缺乏沟通作为离婚的原因。鉴于目前近50%的离婚率，这相当于美国每年有数百万起案例——一场名副其实的失败对话的流行病。
定位线索：题干“nearly 50 percent of recent divorces are caused by failed conversation”对应答案句中“Given the current divorce rate of nearly 50 percent, that amounts to millions of cases”；文中“that amounts to millions of cases”指代“lack of communication”导致的离婚，但并非所有离婚都由沟通失败引起，选项B“nearly 50 percent of recent divorces are caused by failed conversation”偷换概念。
解析：题干问哪项陈述不正确。选项B声称“近50%的离婚是由失败的对话引起的”，但答案句只说“鉴于目前近50%的离婚率”，这指的是总离婚率，而非由沟通失败导致的离婚比例，属于偷换概念。选项A对应第一段“American men tend to talk more than women in public situations”；选项C对应第三段“most of the women she interviewed gave lack of communication as the reason”；选项D对应第一段“She’s the talker in our family”，均正确。
29. Which of the following can best summarize the main idea of this text?
- A. The moral decaying deserves more research by sociologists.
- B. Marriage break-up stems from sex inequalities.
- C. Husband and wife have different expectations from their marriage.
- D. Conversational patterns between man and wife are different.
答案：D
答案句：This episode crystallizes the irony that although American men tend to talk more than women in public situations, they often talk less at home. And this pattern is wreaking havoc with marriage. … In short, the image that best represents the current crisis is the stereotypical cartoon scene of a man sitting at the breakfast table with a newspaper held up in front of his face, while a woman glares at the back of it, wanting to talk.
参考译文：这一事件集中体现了这样一种讽刺：尽管美国男性在公共场合往往比女性说得更多，但他们在家里却说得更少。而这种模式正在对婚姻造成严重破坏。……简而言之，最能代表当前危机的形象是这样一个刻板印象的卡通场景：一个男人坐在早餐桌前，面前举着报纸，而一个女人盯着报纸背面，想要说话。
定位线索：题干“main idea”对应答案句中“American men tend to talk more than women in public situations, they often talk less at home”和“a man sitting at the breakfast table with a newspaper held up in front of his face, while a woman glares at the back of it, wanting to talk”；文中“talk more than women in public”和“talk less at home”对应选项D“Conversational patterns between man and wife are different”。
解析：题干要求概括文章主旨。答案句首段指出“美国男性在公共场合比女性说得多，但在家说得少”，末段用卡通场景形象地描绘了夫妻间沟通模式的差异，全文围绕男女在家庭和公共场合的谈话模式差异展开，对应选项D“Conversational patterns between man and wife are different”。选项A“道德败坏”在文中未提及；选项B“婚姻破裂源于性别不平等”与文中“缺乏沟通”不符；选项C“夫妻对婚姻有不同期望”虽在第三段提到，但并非全文主旨，属于以偏概全。
30. In the following part immediately after this text, the author will most probably focus on.
- A. a vivid account of the new book Divorce Talk
- B. a detailed description of the stereotypical cartoon
- C. other possible reasons for a high divorce rate in the U.S.
- D. a brief introduction to the political scientist Andrew Hacker
答案：B
答案句：In short, the image that best represents the current crisis is the stereotypical cartoon scene of a man sitting at the breakfast table with a newspaper held up in front of his face, while a woman glares at the back of it, wanting to talk.
参考译文：简而言之，最能代表当前危机的形象是这样一个刻板印象的卡通场景：一个男人坐在早餐桌前，面前举着报纸，而一个女人盯着报纸背面，想要说话。
定位线索：题干“following part immediately after this text”对应答案句中“the stereotypical cartoon scene”；文中“the stereotypical cartoon scene”对应选项B“a detailed description of the stereotypical cartoon”。
解析：题干问文章紧接着的部分最可能讨论什么。答案句是末段，提到“the stereotypical cartoon scene”，并说它“best represents the current crisis”，因此作者接下来很可能详细描述这个卡通场景，对应选项B。选项A“新书《离婚谈话》”在第三段已提及，且并非末段焦点；选项C“其他离婚原因”与末段无关；选项D“政治学家安德鲁·哈克”在第三段已介绍，且末段未提及，均不符合。