第二章 口语答案示例（TPO 1~26）
TPO 1
1-1
介绍一本你曾经读过的对你而言有一定重要意义的书，解释为什么这本书对你重要。
response
One particular book that I always remember is Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, a geography professor at UCLA. The book is a nonfictional account of human development throughout history. It focuses on agriculture, culture, and science as the engines of civilization. It is a long book about a difficult subject, but the author writes it in a way that is interesting and fun to read. I learned about many interesting connections between geography and the rise and fall of different peoples throughout human history. It offers me a fresh and grand perspective of humanity.
1-2
有些人认为电视对社会有正面的影响，而另一些人则认为电视对社会有负面的影响。你同意哪种观点？为什么？在你的答案中给出具体的细节和例子。
response
I believe that television has had a mainly positive effect on society. Television is one of the best ways to convey information to many people. For example, news programs are easy to watch and allow people to effortlessly stay up-to-date with current events. Television news programs cover everything from local events to worldwide news, and are very convenient for people to watch before or after work. In addition, I think that television is good for family life. Families can often sit together and watch television, and in a time when teenagers rebel against their parents and seek independence, TV offers a nice way for family members to stay close to one another.
1-3
阅读材料：《森特维尔大学新闻》（Centerville College News）上刊登的一封信
大学理事会计划为校园添置一座新的雕塑。我们都应该抵制这个计划。过去这一年，由于学校糟糕的财政状况，学费和住宿费上涨了15%。很明显，现在学校已无财力来承担如此高昂的雕塑费用。而且，看看这座雕像，几块60英尺长的钢板以一种很诡异的角度杵在地上。它实在是太巨大了，几乎就要把校园中心前的这块绿地给占满了！这本应该是供学生使用的公共区域。
题目：解释对话中的女生不同意信件中所述内容的原因。
response
The school is planning to put a new sculpture in, and Paul wrote a letter against the sculpture plan. The woman is looking forward to seeing some good art on campus and disagrees with Paul’s letter for two reasons. First, While Paul argued in his letter that the sculpture would cost too much money that the university can’t afford to spend; the sculpture is being paid for mostly by this donor. Also, she knows that Paul and his friends like to kick the soccer ball around in front of the campus center, and don’t want the statue there, so they can keep playing soccer there.
1-4
阅读材料：群体思维
当一个群体的决定最终导致在某件事的解决上采用了糟糕的或者是不合理的处理方式时，就认为这件事在决策过程中受到群体思维影响。哪怕最终的结果不尽如人意，群体中的个体成员也会倾向于去迎合多数人的观点。群体思维这种现象是由多种原因引起的，包括希望被大家喜欢的渴望，对失去工作的担忧，甚至是不想成为那个在通过一个不可避免的决定时拖大家后腿的雇员的念头等。这些潜在的从众压力会使群体中的成员们最终做出一个他们在独立思考时不会做出的选择。
题目：用这个电脑公司的例子来解释群体思维及其影响。
response
Groupthink is a process through which a group of people makes a worse decision than each of the members would not make by him or herself. Under groupthink, members of a group attempt to please other members by changing their ideas so as to better match the ideas of the other members. In the computer company, the man and his coworker had the idea to change the appearance of their computers, but senior management did not agree. While the other group members initially agreed with the man and his coworker, after senior management expressed the disapproval, many of them changed their minds, even the man himself. So they voted not to change the design. However, their competitors redesigned the appearance, and the man’s company lost a lot of money.
1-5
对话中，两人针对这个女生的问题讨论了两种可行的解决方案。简要总结她所遇到的问题，阐述你支持的方案并说明理由。
response
Mary’s problem concerns the transportation for her after-school students. She is supposed to take the children to the zoo tomorrow; however, she waited too long to contact the rental agency to rent a van to bring the students to the zoo, and so the agency has no more vans available for rent. Mary can either ask for help from a classmate or take the children on a bus to the zoo. I would suggest that she ask a friend to help her with the cars. If she took the children on the bus, the children could easily get out of hand and bother the other passengers. By taking the cars with her friend, she has someone to help her take care of the children too.
1-6
用教授描述的研究内容来解释科学家对婴儿数学能力的认识。
response
Scientists have learned that babies as young as five months old can perform basic mathematics, such as simple arithmetic. For example, in this experiment, researchers place a doll in front of a baby then hide it behind a screen. They then place another doll behind the screen but allow the baby to watch them put it there. However, they remove one of the dolls secretly. After the screen is lifted, the baby expects two dolls but only sees one. They observe the baby’s eye movement and they know the baby is surprised because it stares at the doll. Thus, the researchers conclude the baby knows that one plus one should be two.