2014年同等学力申硕考试英语真题与答案（卷一文字版)

　　Passage Three

　　Last week, I read a story about a 34-year-old British woman who is extremely afraid of metal forks. She's been using plastic ones for 17 years because the sound of a fork rubbing against a plate g:ives her a panic attack.

　　Strange, right? But she's not alone. While popular phobias(恐惧症) about snakes and spiders might get all of the attention, there are a wide variety of not-so-obvious horrors that make people nervous.

　　While some phobias might seem a bit silly, they can cause serious emotional distress. My co-worker Magda is terrified of pigeons, a phobia that is taking over her life. She won't walk in certain parts of the city and runs screaming from the subway when one of these "rats with wings" finds its way onto the platform. Another friend isdisgusted with cheese. Once I saw her run away from a slice of it. So where does anirrational fear of cheese come from?

　　Are phobias something we inherit from our genes or do we acquire these unusualanxieties over time?

　　Ever since I can remember I have been unreasonably frightened of elevators. Therewas no terrible childhood experience and I am fine with confined spaces, but something about elevators makes me nervous. And so, when my boyfriend and I found ourselvestrapped in an elevator last year - because these sorts of things always happen eventually- I was anticipating the worst.

　　While he gave me a suggestive eyebrow raise and proposed we "take advantage ofthe situation," I began screaming uncontrollably. I was far from turned on by the wholefacing my worst nightmare thing.

　　However, after the fear subsided(消退)I realized that, yes, this was my greatest fear come true, and yet - it wasn't all that bad. Nervous and inconvenient maybe, butterrifying? Not so much.

　　Liberating yourself from a deep-seated phobia can be a long and difficult process,but sometimes it can be as simple as confronting it head on.

　　31. The 34-year-old British woman is extremelyafraid of metal forks because

　　A.she has never used them before

　　B.she has been injured by them before

　　C.she couldn't bear their sound on plate

　　D.she is afraid that they may hurt her

　　32. The phrase "rats with wings" (Para. 3) refers to______

　　A. strange birdsB. pigeons

　　C.devilsD. exotic rats

　　33. The author's fear of elevators is the result of_______

　　A. her phobia for no reason

　　B. her nervousness of being alone

　　C. her dislike of being in closed spaces

　　D. her terrible experience

　　34. After the fear subsided, the author realized that______

　　A. her boyfriend's help was important

　　B. she could have had a good time with her boyfriend

　　C. an elevator ride could be exciting

　　D. it was not as horrible as she had thought

　　35. The purpose for the author to share her experience is to_______

　　A. illustrate conquering a fear can be difficult

　　B. encourage people to overcome their fears

　　C. introduce what strange fears people have

　　D. explain why people have strange fears