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 thier or a meter reader, and so on.
The statuses we assume often vary with the people we encounter, 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 (服装) 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 pocketbook (钱包). 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.
这是一篇说明文，讲的是人们的Status(身份、地位)这一问题。
51. In the first paragraph, the writer tells us that statuses can help us _______.
A) determine whether a person is fit for a certain job
B) behave appropriately in relation to other people
C) protect ourselves in unfamiliar situations
D) make friends with other people
[答案及分析]：[B]事实辨认题。问在段作者告诉我们人的身份对我们有下列哪种帮助。段句说得很明白：“身份有助于我们和别人相处，决定我们在社会中所处的地位、扮演的角色”，[B]项意为“正确地与人交往”，正是上述意思。
52. According to the writer, people often assume different statuses ______.
A) in order to identify themselves with others
B) in order to better identify others
C) as their mental processes change
D) as the situation changes
[答案及分析]：[D]事实辨认题。问作者认为，在什么情况下人们经常具有不同的身份。[A]项意为“为了将自己预其他人区别开”，[B]项为“为了更好地识别他人”，[C]项为“当心理发生变化时”，[D]项意为“随着环境的变化”。[A]、[B]、[C]三项都不合文章原意，并且根据第二段、二句话可知[D]项正确。
53. The word "appraisal" (Line5, Para.2) most probably means "_______".
A) involvement B) appreciation C) assessment D) presentation
[答案及分析]：[C]词义理解题。问第二段第六行中的appraisal一词的意思是什么。根据该词所在的句子，可知该词含义和mental process(思想过程)有关，并且可能与和其并列的词interpretation(解释，说明，理解)有一定相似之处。involvement意为“陷入，卷入;牵涉，包含”，assessment意为“估计，评估;所估计之数额”，appreciation表示“感谢，感激;欣赏，评价，赏识”，presentation意为“赠送;提出;引见，介绍;出席，呈现;演出”。比较起来，[B]项符合上述两点，而且意思上说得通。appraisal的准确意思是“估计，估价，评价”，在此句中“评价”讲。
54. In the last sentence of the second paragraph, the pronoun "it" refers to "______".
A) fitting our actions to those of other people appropriately
B) identification of other people's statuses
C) selecting one's own statuses D) constant mental process
[答案及分析]：[A]事实辨认题。问第二段最后一句中“it”指代什么。根据句意及其结构可知：it指代the task，即前一句“we fit out actions to those of people based on a constant mental process of appraisal and interpretation”，不难看出[A]项正确。
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