Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Come on—Everybody’s doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no good—drinking, drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the world.
Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of examples of the social cure in action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.
The idea seems promising, and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer. Her critique of the lameness of many public-health campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits, and they demonstrate a seriously flawed understanding of psychology. “Dare to be different, please don’t smoke!” pleads one billboard campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers—teenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure.
But on the general effectiveness of the social cure, Rosenberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as it’s presented here is that it doesn’t work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed.
There’s no doubt that our peer groups exert enormous influence on our behavior. An emerging body of research shows that positive health habits—as well as negative ones—spread through networks of friends via social communication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day.
Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions. It’s like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never really works. And that’s the problem with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends.
1、21. According to the first paragraph, peer pressure often emerges as ________.
A a supplement to the social cure
B a stimulus to group dynamics
C an obstacle to social progress
D a cause of undesirable behaviors
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中the first paragraph和peer pressure可定位至原文第一段第二、三句。原文第三句中It指代peer pressure，原文明确指出同辈压力usually leads to no good（经常导致不好结果），破折号后进行进一步解释：drinking, drugs and casual sex（酗酒、吸毒和滥交），D选项中的undesirable behaviors（不良行为）是对此的概括总结，故D选项为正确答案。
错项排除：原文提到罗森伯格认为同辈压力可以作为社会疗法的positive force（正面力量），并非supplement（补充），并且这只是罗森伯格的个人观点，故A选项错误。只有在社会疗法中，group dynamics（群体动态）才能作为stimulus（刺激因素），且这同样只是罗森伯格个人观点，故B选项错误。原文虽提及通常同辈压力会导致不良行为，但并未提及会阻碍社会进步，C选项属于过度推断，故错误。
2、22. Rosenberg holds that public-health advocates should ________.
A recruit professional advertisers
B learn from advertisers’ experience
C stay away from commercial advertisers
D recognize the limitations of advertisements
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的public-health advocates可定位至原文第三段最后一句话。该句指出，罗森伯格认为公共健康倡导者应该take a page from advertisers（向广告商学习），B选项中的learn from是对原文中的take a page from的同义替换，故为正确答案。此句后半部分也说到，广告商非常擅长应用同辈压力，可知作者是认可广告商的。
错项排除：原文只是说要借鉴广告商的经验，并未提及聘用，故A选项错误。C、D选项与原文表达的“学习，借鉴”含义相反，故错误。
3、23. In the author’s view, Rosenberg’s book fails to ________.
A adequately probe social and biological factors
B effectively evade the flaws of the social cure
C illustrate the functions of state funding
D produce a long-lasting social effect
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中Rosenberg’s book fails to和选项内容可定位至原文第四段第二句。该句指出，《加入俱乐部》一书中无关细节太多，且not enough exploration of the social and biological factors（对社会和生物学因素探索不足），A选项中adequately probe是对enough exploration的同义转述，故A选项为正确答案。
错项排除：原文指出书中呈现了（as it represents here）社会疗法的缺陷，即无法长期有效，故B选项错误。国家资助只是例证中的论据，C选项属于论点论据混乱，故错误。D选项是书中所说社会疗法的缺陷，并非书本身的缺陷，故D选项错误。
长难句分析：Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful.
本句为复合句，句子主干为Join the Club is filled with…and not enough…，of the social and biological factors是介词结构作后置定语，修饰exploration，表明探索的对象，that引导的定语从句修饰the social and biological factors，使用了主谓宾宾补结构。
句意为：《加入俱乐部》一书中充斥了大量无关细节，对使同辈压力影响如此强大的社会和生物学因素的探索却明显不足。
4、24. Paragraph 5 shows that our imitation of behaviors ________.
A is harmful to our networks of friends
B will mislead behavioral studies
C occurs without our realizing it
D can produce negative health habits
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Paragraph 5和imitation of behaviors可定位至原文第五段最后一句。该句指出我们对日常看到的行为的模仿是unconsciously（无意识的），C选项中的without our realizing it是对unconsciously的同义转述，故为正确答案。
错项排除：原文虽然提到networks of friends，但只是说良好或不良的健康习惯会通过朋友圈传播，并未提及harmful，故A选项错误。B选项在全文并未提及，属于无中生有，故排除。原文提到不良健康行为会在朋友圈传播，并未表明不良健康习惯是由对行为的模仿产生的，故D选项错误。
5、25. The author suggests in the last paragraph that the effect of peer pressure is ________.
A harmful
B desirable
C profound
D questionable
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干可定位至原文最后一段，该段首句指出，专家和官员选择同伴群体并将其行为导向正确方向的做法会有多成功（how successfully）还远不能确定（far less certain），后面又用老师将捣蛋的学生和表现良好的学生座位排在一起为例，说明这种方法并不奏效（never really works），可见同伴压力的作用值得怀疑，故D选项为正确答案。
错项排除：原文虽然提到同伴压力会导致不良后果，但那是大家通常的看法，并非作者的观点，也不是最后一段的内容，故A选项错误。B、C选项与原文表达的含义相悖，故错误。
长难句分析：Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions.
本句为复合句，句子主干为Far less certain…is how…，句子使用了倒装结构，how引导的主语从句为句子的主语，正常语序为how…is far less certain。主语从句使用了and连接的并列谓语select和steer。
句意为：然而，专家和官员能在多大程度上成功选择同伴群体并将其行为导向正确的方向还远不能确定。
Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
A deal is a deal—except, apparently, when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the state’s strict nuclear regulations.
Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not: challenge the constitutionality of Vermont’s rules in the federal court, as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. It’s a stunning move.
The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont’s only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant’s license be subject to Vermont legislature’s approval. Then, too, the company went along.
Either Entergy never really intended to live by those commitments, or it simply didn’t foresee what would happen next. A string of accidents, including the partial collapse of a cooling tower in 2007 and the discovery of an underground pipe system leakage, raised serious questions about both Vermont Yankee’s safety and Entergy’s management—especially after the company made misleading statements about the pipe. Enraged by Entergy’s behavior, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 last year against allowing an extension.
Now the company is suddenly claiming that the 2002 agreement is invalid because of the 2006 legislation, and that only the federal government has regulatory power over nuclear issues. The legal issues in the case are obscure: whereas the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulatory authority over nuclear power, legal scholars say that Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend. Certainly, there are valid concerns about the patchwork regulations that could result if every state sets its own rules. But had Entergy kept its word, that debate would be beside the point.
The company seems to have concluded that its reputation in Vermont is already so damaged that it has nothing left to lose by going to war with the state. But there should be consequences. Permission to run a nuclear plant is a public trust. Entergy runs 11 other reactors in the United States, including Pilgrim Nuclear station in Plymouth. Pledging to run Pilgrim safely, the company has applied for federal permission to keep it open for another 20 years. But as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews the company’s application, it should keep in mind what promises from Entergy are worth.
6、26. The phrase “reneging on” (Line 3, Para.1) is closest in meaning to ________.
A condemning
B reaffirming
C dishonoring
D securing
答案解析：
答案精析：该段开篇表明A deal is a deal（一言为定），然后指明安特吉公司并非如此，暗示了安特吉公司的违约行为，之后详细解释：安特吉公司宣布将reneging on承诺，而这种行为provoked justified outrage（激发了正当的民愤）。全文都在讲安吉特公司未能履行承诺及其造成的影响，所以此处应该是安特吉公司违背了承诺，故C选项为正确答案。
错项排除：安特吉公司的违约行为引发民愤，应受到谴责，而非因为安特吉公司谴责承诺的行为引发民愤，故A选项错误；B选项和D选项都是遵守承诺的含义，不应该引起民愤，故错误。
长难句分析：The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the state’s strict nuclear regulations.
本句为复合句，句子主干是The company…provoked justified outrage，是主谓宾结构，a major energy supplier是The company的同位语，in New England是地点状语，表明公司所在位置。in Vermont last week是状语，表明事件发生的地点和时间。when引导时间状语从句，其中嵌套了省略that的宾语从句it was…regulations作announced的宾语，to abide by the state’s strict nuclear regulations为不定式作后置定语修饰commitment，指明其内容。
句意为：该公司是新英格兰地区的主要能源供应商，它上周宣布要违反之前的一项长期协议，不再遵守该州严苛的核能法规，这在佛蒙特州引发了正当的民愤。
7、27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended to ________.
A obtain protection from Vermont regulators
B seek favor from the federal legislature
C acquire an extension of its business license
D get permission to purchase a power plant
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中2002 agreement和顺序原则可定位至原文第三段。该段指出2002年时该公司购买了佛蒙特州的唯一一家核电站。As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale表明了2002年协定的目的，即获得州政府对此次收购的批准，D选项的get permission是对原文中receiving state approval的同义转述，故为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项中的Vermont regulators虽有提及，但原文只是说该公司在2012年后的运营将需要获得监管机构的准许，并未提及protection，且这只是协议的内容，不是签署协议的目的，故A选项错误。B选项中legislature和C选项中an extension of its business license均为2006年协议的内容，并非2002年协定的内容，故排除。
8、28. According to Paragraph 4, Entergy seems to have problems with its ________.
A managerial practices
B technical innovativeness
C financial goals
D business vision
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中Paragraph 4和have problems with可定位至原文第四段第二句，该句中serious questions表明问题所在，可知一系列的事故暴露了佛蒙特扬基核电站的安全问题和Entergy’s management（安特吉公司的管理问题），也就是说安特吉公司的管理存在问题，A选项为正确答案。
错项排除：B、C、D选项在原文中均未提及，故排除。
9、29. In the author’s view, the Vermont case will test ________.
A Entergy’s capacity to fulfill all its promises
B the nature of states’ patchwork regulations
C the federal authority over nuclear issues
D the limits of states’ power over nuclear issues
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的the Vermont case可定位至原文第五段第二句。该句中出现test，检验的内容是后面的how far those powers extend（这些权限能扩大到什么地步），those powers指代前文所说的各州在核能上的管理权限，故D选项为正确答案。
错项排除：安特吉公司已经宣布要违约，所以此次事件不会考验其履行承诺的能力，故A选项错误。B选项中的nature在文中没有体现，故错误。C选项主语张冠李戴，原文说的是states（各州）在核问题上有some regulatory authority（一些管理权威），并非the federal authority（联邦政府），故C选项错误。
长难句分析：The legal issues in the case are obscure: whereas the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulatory authority over nuclear power, legal scholars say that Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend.
本句为复合句，冒号前后为两个分句，前面的分句较为简单，是主系表结构，冒号后的句子则是whereas连接的并列句，表示前后句的转折关系。whereas后的分句中嵌套了that引导的宾语从句，说明裁定的内容，其中do have是强调。后面的分句主干是legal scholars say that…，是主谓宾结构，that引导的从句Vermont case…extend是say的宾语，其中of how far those powers extend是介词结构作后置定语，修饰test。
句意为：这一事件中的法律问题并不明朗：尽管最高法院已经裁定各州对核能也拥有某些监管权限，但这些权限究竟能扩大到什么地步，法律专家认为佛蒙特州的案件提供了可作为先例的测试。
10、30. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.
A Entergy’s business elsewhere might be affected
B the authority of the NRC will be defied
C Entergy will withdraw its Plymouth application
D Vermont’s reputation might be damaged
答案解析：
答案精析：最后一段第二句指出安特吉公司违反承诺是有后果的，随后指明该公司在全美有11座核反应堆，并且正在申请普利茅斯的核电站再运作20年，核管理委员会在审核该公司的申请时会考虑安特吉公司有违约的前科，也就是会影响安特吉公司在其他地区的业务，故A选项为正确答案。
错项排除：B选项中核管理委员会的权威受到挑战，没有原文依据，故错误。原文只是提到安特吉公司申请普利茅斯核电站延期会受影响，并未提及安特吉公司将撤回申请，C选项属于过度推断，故错误。原文提及安特吉公司在佛蒙特州的声誉受损，并非佛蒙特州的声誉受损，故D选项错误。
Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
In the idealized version of how science is done, facts about the world are waiting to be observed and collected by objective researchers who use the scientific method to carry out their work. But in the everyday practice of science, discovery frequently follows an ambiguous and complicated route. We aim to be objective, but we cannot escape the context of our unique life experience. Prior knowledge and interests influence what we experience, what we think our experiences mean, and the subsequent actions we take. Opportunities for misinterpretation, error, and self-deception abound.
Consequently, discovery claims should be thought of as protoscience. Similar to newly staked mining claims, they are full of potential. But it takes collective scrutiny and acceptance to transform a discovery claim into a mature discovery. This is the credibility process, through which the individual researcher’s me, here, now becomes the community’s anyone, anywhere, anytime. Objective knowledge is the goal, not the starting point.
Once a discovery claim becomes public, the discoverer receives intellectual credit. But, unlike with mining claims, the community takes control of what happens next. Within the complex social structure of the scientific community, researchers make discoveries; editors and reviewers act as gatekeepers by controlling the publication process; other scientists use the new finding to suit their own purposes; and finally, the public (including other scientists) receives the new discovery and possibly accompanying technology. As a discovery claim works its way through the community, the interaction and confrontation between shared and competing beliefs about the science and the technology involved transforms an individual’s discovery claim into the community’s credible discovery.
Two paradoxes exist throughout this credibility process. First, scientific work tends to focus on some aspect of prevailing knowledge that is viewed as incomplete or incorrect. Little reward accompanies duplication and confirmation of what is already known and believed. The goal is new-search, not re-search. Not surprisingly, newly published discovery claims and credible discoveries that appear to be important and convincing will always be open to challenge and potential modification or refutation by future researchers. Second, novelty itself frequently provokes disbelief. Nobel Laureate and physiologist Albert Szent-Györgyi once described discovery as “seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” But thinking what nobody else has thought and telling others what they have missed may not change their views. Sometimes years are required for truly novel discovery claims to be accepted and appreciated.
In the end, credibility “happens” to a discovery claim—a process that corresponds to what philosopher Annette Baier has described as the commons of the mind. “We reason together, challenge, revise, and complete each other’s reasoning and each other’s conceptions of reason.”
11、31. According to the first paragraph, the process of discovery is characterized by its ________.
A uncertainty and complexity
B misconception and deceptiveness
C logicality and objectivity
D systematicness and regularity
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的the first paragraph和discovery可定位至原文第一段第二句，该句指出，科学发现常常是ambiguous and complicated route（模糊而复杂的过程），A选项是对原文中这一表述的同义转述，故为正确答案。
错项排除：B选项中deceptiveness（欺骗性）是对原文中self-deception（自我欺骗）的偷换概念，且原文说误解、差错和自我欺骗无处不在只是为了强调科学发现的复杂性，这些并非科学发现本身的特点，故B选项错误。原文只是说科学发现aim to be objective（目标是做到客观），实际上生活经历会影响科学发现的客观，因而C选项错误。D选项在原文中并未提及，故排除。
12、32. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that credibility process requires ________.
A strict inspection
B shared efforts
C individual wisdom
D persistent innovation
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Paragraph 2和credibility process可定位至原文第二段第三句，其中it指代前文，即本段第二句话。综合两句可知，可信度验证需要collective scrutiny and acceptance（集体仔细调查和认可），把研究人员个人的“我、这里、现在”变成集体的“任何人、任何地方和任何时间”。从collective和community可知这一过程需要的是集体的努力，故B选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项是对原文中scrutiny的同义转述，但忽略了acceptance，且原文强调的collective在A选项中没有体现，A选项属于以偏概全。原文强调把individual转变为community，C选项与原文含义相悖。D选项在原文中，并未提及，故排除。
13、33. Paragraph 3 shows that a discovery claim becomes credible after it ________.
A [A] has attracted the attention of the general public
B [B] has been examined by the scientific community
C [C] has received recognition from editors and reviewers
D [D] has been frequently quoted by peer scientists
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中a discovery claim和credible可定位至原文第三段最后一句。该句指出，当一项科学发现声明works its way through the community（经过科学界的检验），其中涉及的对科学和技术的共同或对立的信念间的互动和冲突会将个人发现的声明转变为集体的credible discovery（可信的发现），故B选项为正确答案。
错项排除：原文提到最终大众及其他科学家receive the new discovery（接受新发现），并非只是关注，A选项是对原文的曲解。C、D选项对科学发现的声明被认可的过程中的其中一个步骤，不足以概括整个过程，属于以偏概全，故错误。
长难句分析：As a discovery claim works its way through the community, the interaction and confrontation between shared and competing beliefs about the science and the technology involved transforms an individual’s discovery claim into the community’s credible discovery.
本句属于复合句，句子主干是the interaction and confrontation transforms…into…，是主谓宾宾补结构。between shared and competing beliefs是主句主语the interaction and confrontation的后置定语，about science and technology involved是beliefs的后置定语。As引导的状语从句是主句的伴随状语。
句意为：当一项科学发现经过科学界检验的时候，对相关的科学技术的共同或对立的信念之间的互动和冲突就会把个人发现的声明转化为整个科学界认可的发现。
14、34. Albert Szent-Györgyi would most likely agree that ________.
A scientific claims will survive challenges
B discoveries today inspire future research
C efforts to make discoveries are justified
D scientific work calls for a critical mind
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Albert Szent-Györgyi可定位至原文第四段倒数第三句。该句指出，阿尔伯特·圣捷尔吉认为科学发现需要“见人人所见，思无人曾思”，也就是说要从日常生活的常见现象中做出新发现，这需要批判性思维，故D选项为正确答案。
错项排除：该段第五句指出，看似重大可信的发现总是要open to challenge and potential modification or refutation by future researchers（面对未来研究者的质疑、可能的修改甚至是驳斥），可见科学声明必须面对质疑，但未必经得起质疑，故A选项错误。B选项中的inspire在原文中没有体现，故错误。C选项在原文中并未提及，属于无中生有，故排除。
15、35. Which of the following would be the best title of the text?
A Novelty as an Engine of Scientific Development
B Collective Scrutiny in Scientific Discovery
C Evolution of Credibility in Doing Science
D Challenge to Credibility at the Gate to Science
答案解析：
答案精析：本文首段指出科学发现是模糊而复杂的过程，从而引出第二段对科学发现声明的可信度验证的概念，接着在第三段介绍可信度验证的过程；第四段指出验证过程中的悖论并加以评析，最后一段则总结了科学发现的可信度验证过程。可见，全文在围绕科学发现的可信度的演变过程展开行文，故C选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项在原文虽有提及，但并非全文的重点，不足以概括全文主旨。原文提到collective scrutiny是在科学发现验证过程中所需的，并非科学发现过程中所需，故B选项错误。原文challenge的对象是科学发现，并非可信度，故D选项错误。
Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
If the trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa were alive today, he would probably represent civil servants. When Hoffa’s Teamsters were in their prime in 1960, only one in ten American government workers belonged to a union; now 36% do. In 2009 the number of unionists in America’s public sector passed that of their fellow members in the private sector. In Britain, more than half of public-sector workers but only about 15% of private-sector ones are unionized.
There are three reasons for the public-sector unions’ thriving. First, they can shut things down without suffering much in the way of consequences. Second, they are mostly bright and well-educated. A quarter of America’s public-sector workers have a university degree. Third, they now dominate left-of-centre politics. Some of their ties go back a long way. Britain’s Labor Party, as its name implies, has long been associated with trade unionism. Its current leader, Ed Miliband, owes his position to votes from public-sector unions.
At the state level their influence can be even more fearsome. Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California points out that much of the state’s budget is patrolled by unions. The teachers’ unions keep an eye on schools, the CCPOA on prisons and a variety of labor groups on health care.
In many rich countries average wages in the state sector are higher than in the private one. But the real gains come in benefits and work practices. Politicians have repeatedly “backloaded” public-sector pay deals, keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous.
Reform has been vigorously opposed, perhaps most notoriously in education, where charter schools, academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles. Even though there is plenty of evidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable, teachers’ unions have fought against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones.
As the cost to everyone else has become clearer, politicians have begun to clamp down. In Wisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker, the hardline Republican governor. But many within the public sector suffer under the current system, too.
John Donahue at Harvard’s Kennedy School points out that the norms of culture in Western civil services suit those who want to stay put but are bad for high achievers. The only American public-sector workers who earn well above $250,000 a year are university sports coaches and the president of the United States. Bankers’ fat pay packets have attracted much criticism, but a public-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem for America.
16、36. It can be learned from the first paragraph that ________.
A Teamsters still have a large body of members
B Jimmy Hoffa used to work as a civil servant
C unions have enlarged their public-sector membership
D the government has improved its relationship with unionists
答案解析：
答案精析：原文第一段指出1960年霍法的司机协会全盛时，也只有十分之一的政府工作人员隶属工会，而现在则达到了36%。通过这一对比可知工会在公共部门的成员增加了，故C选项为正确答案。
错项排除：原文只是提到司机协会的鼎盛时期是1960年，并未提及现在的情况，故A选项错误。原文首句使用的是虚拟语气，并非真实情况，且原文使用的是represent（代表）,不能说明吉米·霍法曾是公务员，B选项错误。D选项在原文中并未提及，故错误。
17、37. Which of the following is true of Paragraph 2?
A Public-sector unions are prudent in taking actions.
B Education is required for public-sector union membership.
C Labor Party has long been fighting against public-sector unions.
D Public-sector unions seldom get in trouble for their actions.
答案解析：
答案精析：原文第二段第二句指出，公共部门的工会即使停工也不用承担太多后果，D选项中的seldom get in trouble是对原文中without suffering much的同义转述，故D选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项中prudent在原文中没有提及，故错误。原文虽然提及工会成员大多头脑灵活，well-educated（受过良好教育），但这并非入会条件，故B选项错误。C选项与原文文意相悖，原文提到工党与工会主义长期关系密切，故C选项错误。
18、38. It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that the income in the state sector is ________.
A illegally secured
B indirectly augmented
C excessively increased
D fairly adjusted
答案解析：
答案精析：从第四段第二句可知，真正的收益在于profits and work practices（福利和工作体制），结合本段最后一句，薪资增长modest（适度），而不断增加假期和原本就已经很丰厚的pensions（养老金），可见收入的增长是间接的，故B选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项illegally和C选项的excessively在原文中并未体现，故错误。D选项中fairly与原文文意相悖，原文提到养老金already generous（本来就已经很丰厚了），因而继续增加是不合理的，故D选项错误。
长难句分析：Politicians have repeatedly “backloaded” public-sector pay deals, keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous.
本句为复合句，句子主干是Politicians have repeatedly “backloaded” public-sector pay deals，是主谓宾结构，现在分词结构keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and…是伴随状语。that引导定语从句，修饰pensions。
句意为：政客们一再变相地提高公共部门的待遇——保持工资较低涨幅，但是假期不断增加，尤其是原本就已经很丰厚的养老金也在增长。
19、39. The example of the unions in Wisconsin shows that unions ________.
A often run against the current political system
B can change people’s political attitudes
C may be a barrier to public-sector reforms
D are dominant in the government
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Wisconsin可定位至原文倒数第二段第二句。该句指出，威斯康星州的工会召集了数千名支持者反对强硬的共和党州长斯科特·沃克。从第四段首句可知，改革遭到工会的强烈反对，本段首句指出，由于工会对其他人的损害变得明显，政治家开始施压，这里斯科特·沃克应该就是强硬（hardline）施压的政治家之一，工会反对他体现了工会对改革的阻碍，故C选项为正确答案。
错项排除：原文只是提到工会反对改革，现有体制下的公共部门中很多人同样日子不好过，无法得出工会经常反对现有体制，故A选项错误。B选项在原文中并未体现，故错误。原文第二段只是提到工会在中偏左政治中占主导地位，并非整个政府，故D选项错误。
20、40. John Donahue’s attitude towards the public-sector system is one of ________.
A disapproval
B appreciation
C tolerance
D indifference
答案解析：
答案精析：根据John Donahue可定位至原文最后一段。该段指出，唐纳修认为西方公共服务的准则are bad for high achievers（对成功人士不利），而本段最后一句指出美国更大的问题在于不能激励成功人士的公共部门体系，可见约翰·唐纳修的态度是不赞同的。
错项排除：B选项与原文文意相悖，故错误。C选项在原文中并无体现，故错误。唐纳修对公共服务进行了研究和评价，说明他并非不关心这一问题，故D选项错误。
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