Statuses are marvelous human inventions that enable us to get along with one another and to determine where we "fit" in society. As we go about our everyday lives, we mentally attempt to place people in terms of their statuses. For example, we must judge whether the person in the library is a reader or a librarian, whether the telephone caller is a friend or a salesman, whether the unfamiliar person on our property is a thief or a meter reader, and so on.

　　The statuses we assume often vary with the people we encounted, and change throughout life. Most of us can, at very high speed,assume the statuses that various situations require. Much of social interaction consists of identifying and selecting among appropriate statuses and allowing other people to assume their statuses in relation to us. This means that we fit our actions to those of other people based on a constant mental process of appraisal and interpretation. Although some of us find the task more difficult than others,most of us perform it rather effortlessly.

　　A status has been compared to ready-made clothes. Within certain limits, the buyer can choose style and fabric. But an American is not free to choose the costume(服裝)of a Chinese peasant or that of a Hindu prince. We must choose from among the clothing presented by our society. Furthermore,our choice is limited to a size that will fit, as well as by our pocket book(錢包). Having made a choice within these limits we can have certain alterations made, but apart from minor adjustments,we tend to be limited to what the stores have on their racks. Statuses too come ready made, and the range of choice among them is limited.

　　1.In the first paragraph, the writer tells us that statuses can help us ________.

　　A. behave appropriately in relation to other people

　　B. determine whether a person is fit for a certain job

　　C. protect ourselves in unfamiliar situations

　　D. make friends with other people

　　Best Answer:A

　　詳解：答案A。第一段第一句指出，身份使人與人之間能夠彼此相處，并且使每個人都能確定自己在社會中的恰當位置。A項與第一段內容相符;B、C、D三項在文章中未提到。因此，A項為正確答案。

　　2.According to the writer, people often assume different statuses _________.

　　A. as the situation changes

　　B. as their mental processes change

　　C. in order to better identify others

　　D. in order to identify themselves with others

　　Best Answer:A

　　詳解：答案A。第二段第二句明確地說明了我們絕大多數(shù)人都能在極短的時間內根據(jù)不同情況采用不同的身份，A項與此一致，為正確答案。B、C兩項的內容與本段主題無關。D項說“為了讓自己和他人打成一片”，文章中identify意為“識別”，因此D項不對。

　　3.The word“appraisal”(Para.2) most probably means“_________”.

　　A. involvement

　　B. appreciation

　　C. assessment

　　D. presentation

　　Best Answer:B

　　詳解：答案B。第二段倒數(shù)第二句指出，我們不斷地在內心盤算我們對對方的估量和判斷是否正確，以便使我們的行為與他人和諧一致。也就是說，在社會交往中，雙方各自選擇得體的舉止行為方式是依據(jù)各自對對方情況的判斷。A項意為“卷入”，B項意為“評價，評估”，C項意為“欣賞;感激”，D項意為“介紹;贈送”。因此，B項為正確答案。

　　4.In the last sentence of the second paragraph, the pronoun “it” refers to"________”.

　　A. constant mental process

　　B. selecting one's own statuses

　　C. identification of other people's statuses

　　D. fitting our actions to those of other people appropriately

　　Best Answer:D

　　詳解：答案D。it指的是前半句中的the task,而the task是指前一句中的fit our actions to those of other people，因此，D項為正確答案。

　　5.By saying that “an American is not free to choose the costume of a Chinese peasant or that of a Hindu prince” (Para.3),the writer means _______.

　　A. different people have different styles of clothes

　　B. ready-made clothes may need alterations

　　C. our choice of statuses is limited

　　D. statuses come ready made just like clothes

　　Best Answer:C

　　詳解：答案C。第三段講到人們選擇衣服時受到各種條件的限制。文章最后一句講到身份也一樣，都是現(xiàn)成的，可供選擇的幅度是有限的。因此，C項為正確答案。