题文
In Africa, listening is a guiding principle .It’s a principle that’ been lost in the constant chat of the Western world .From my own past experience , I noticed how much faster I had to answer a question during a TV interview .It is as if we have completely lost the ability to listen .We talk and talk , and we end up frightened by silence .Everywhere, people on the African continent write and tell stories. Even the nomads(流浪者)who still live in the Kalahari Desert are said to tell one another stories on their daylong wanderings, during which they search for roots and animals to hunt.
A number of years ago I sat down on a stone bench outside the Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique, where I worked as an artistic consultant. It was a hot day, and we were taking a break, hoping that a cool gentle wind would move past. Two old African men were sitting on that bench, but there was room for me, too. In Africa people share more than just water. Even when it comes to shade, people are generous.
I heard the two men talking about a third old man who had recently died. One of them said, “I was visiting him at his home. He started to tell me an amazing story about something that had happened to him when he was young. But it was a long story. Night came, and I decided that I should come back the next day to hear the rest. But when I arrived, he was dead.”
The man fell silent. I decided not to leave that bench until I heard how the other man would respond to what he’d heard. Finally he, too, spoke. “That’s not a good way to die—before you’ve told the end of your story.”
What separates us from animals is the fact that we are storytelling creatures and we can listen to other people’s dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats—and they in turn can listen to ours.
Many people make the mistake of confusing information with knowledge. They are not the same thing. Knowledge involves the interpretation of information. Knowledge involves listening.
Many words will be written on the wind and the sand, or end up in store. But the storytelling will go on until the last human being stops listening. Then we can send the great record of human out into the endless universe.
Who knows? Maybe someone is out there, willing to listen…
小题1:From the very beginning of the passage, we can know Europeans ________.A．actually lose the ability to listenB．seldom chat constantly with each otherC．feel frightened when they are alone and silentD．tend to talk more and listen less小题2: It can be inferred from the passage that if you are in Africa, you will _______.A．suffer hot weather and lack of waterB．be certainly helped when in trouble C．often hear the stories told by strangersD．have no choice but to listen during a talk小题3:According to the last three paragraphs, we can know _________.A．no one knows exactly why Africans are willing to listenB．information is hard to understand without interpretationC．listening makes the difference between information and knowledgeD．the existence of humans’ recordings totally depends on the way of storytelling小题4:The passage mainly talks about __________.A．the experience of the authorB．the art of listening in Africa C．the importance of storytellingD．the life styles of Africans 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:D
小题2:C
小题3:C
小题4:B
解析
人和动物的本质区别就是我们能够倾听其他人的梦想、恐惧、快乐、忧伤、追求和成败，反过来，其他人也会倾听我们。在非洲，学会倾听是一个人处世的基本品质。在文中作者通过讲述自己的经历介绍了非洲人的倾听艺术。
小题1:D细节理解题。根据文章首段listening is a guiding principle .It’s a principle that’ been lost in the constant chat of the Western world . It is as if we have completely lost the ability to listen .We talk and talk可知倾听这种行为准则似乎在西方世界消失了，人们往往听的少而说的多，故答案选D。
小题2:C推理判断题。文章第二段提到在非洲大陆上甚至连流浪者都会彼此讲故事听，再根据下文作者的经历可以判断非洲人非常友好，不仅可以和陌生人分享水，也可以分享阴凉，当然也可以分享他们的故事，故答案选C。
小题3:C推理判断题。作者在文章倒数第二段提出Many people make the mistake of confusing information with knowledge…Knowledge involves the interpretation of information. Knowledge involves listening，由此判断信息不包含倾听的艺术，而知识却包含倾听在内，故答案选C。
小题4:B主旨大意题。文章开头提出In Africa, listening is a guiding principle .然后作者通过讲述自己的经历来证明了这一点，文章最后又通过But the storytelling will go on until the last human being stops listening.进一步深化主题，由此判断文章中心是关于非洲人的倾听艺术，答案选B。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“ In Africa, listenin.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
