1995年Passage 4

　　Personality is to a large extent inherent--A-type parents usually bring about A-type offspring. But the environment must also have a profound effect, since if competition is important to the parents, it is likely to become a major factor in the lives of their children.

　　One place where children soak up A-characteristics is school, which is, by its very nature, a highly competitive institution. Too many schools adopt the ‘win at all costs' moral standard and measure their success by sporting achievements. The current passion for making children compete against their classmates or against the clock produces a two-layer system , in which competitive A-types seem in some way better than their B-type fellows. Being too keen to win can have dangerous consequences: remember that Pheidippides, the first marathon runner, dropped dead seconds after saying: "Rejoice, we conquer!"

　　By far the worst form of competition in schools is the disproportionate emphasis on examinations. It is a rare school that allows pupils to concentrate on those things they do well. The merits of competition by examination are somewhat questionable, but competition in the certain knowledge of failure is positively harmful.

　　Obviously, it is neither practical nor desirable that all A-youngsters change into B's. The world needs A types, and schools have an important duty to try to fit a child's personality to his possible future employment. It is top management.

　　If the preoccupation of schools with academic work was lessened, more time might be spent teaching children surer values. Perhaps selection for the caring professions, especially medicine, could be made less by good grades in chemistry and more by such considerations as sensitivity and sympathy. It is surely a mistake to choose our doctors exclusively from A-type stock. B's are important and should be encouraged.

66. From the passage we can draw the conclusion that__.
[A] the personality of a child is well established at birth
[B] family influence dominates the shaping of one` s characteristics .
[C] the development of one` s personality is due to multiple factors
[D] B-type characteristics can find no place in competitive society

[答案] C

[解題思路]

　　文章第一段的兩句"Personality is to a large extent inherent--A-type parents usually bring about A-type offspring. But the environment must also have a profound effect, since if competition is important to the parents, it is likely to become a major factor in the lives of their children"（性格在很大程度上是與生俱來的--A型的父母通常會有A型性格的后代。但是環境也有著深遠的影響，因為如果競爭對于父母來說很重要的話，那么競爭也有可能成為孩子生活中的一個重要因素）從兩個方面指出了性格的成因，即天生和后天環境的影響。A、B選項都只涉及其中一個方面，應首先排除。C選項很好地概括了原文的要點，是正確答案。而D選項則并不是本文討論的重點。

[題目譯文]

從最后一段我們可以得出以下結論           。
[A] 兒童的性格在出生的時候就已經形成了
[B] 家庭的影響對于一個人性格的形成起到了主要的作用
[C] 一個人性格的發展取決于很多因素
[D] B型性格的人在現在競爭社會中將無法找到立足之地