题文
The city can seem a cold, mean place. In the middle of so many people hurrying about their own business, a person can feel alone among the millions of others.There is a popular view that in cities, strangers are less likely to help an elderly person cross a street or call the police when they see a bike being stolen. Recently, a New Yorker named Casey Neistat did an experiment. He chained up his bike in several public places, then "stole" it in a number of obvious ways, such as using a hacksaw (钢锯). He filmed everything to see whether other New Yorkers would try to stop a shameless bike theft. The result? People just walked on by.
Is this evidence of an immoral, selfish urban society? Not necessarily. According to another recent study, the way city people mind their own business is about other factors besides morality (道德).
This is called the Bystander Effect, the theory that city people do not react because of the urban enviromnent they live in.
Psychologist Dr. Harold explained why people did not involve themselves in Neistat's bike theft experiment with the Bystander Effect.
First, people who live in cities are surrounded by so much activity that they stop noticing what is going on around them. Second, they are less easy to surprise and assume every activity has a logical explanation.
"The third is that people notice it, but they don't know what to do," he continued. "And the fourth is fear — they know they should do something, but they're afraid to challenge someone with a hacksaw."
A lack of concern is only a small reason why people don't take action, concludes Dr. Harold.
Despite the results of Neistat's experiment, there is also evidence of a sense of team spirit that connects people in cities. All it takes is a funny joke or a shared interest to start a conversation with someone at a bus stop. When city folk are in trouble, they come together for support — famously in New York on September 11, 2001.
City society is different, but that doesn't mean it's cold or mean — it just means it's busy!
小题1:Casey Neistat fihned everything in the experiment with the purpose of .A．proving that he was not the thiefB．telling people that bike theft was immoralC．finding out who had a sense of right and wrongD．making his experiment well-known to the public小题2:We can infer from the third paragraph that morality .A．can partly explain a selfish urban societyB．is what our society should pay special attention toC．is the only factor that leads to a selfish urban societyD．is the root of the Bystander Effect mentioned in the passage小题3:The underlined part September 11, 2001 in Paragraph 9 serves as .A．a reminder of the sad memoriesB．a way to prove Dr Harold's Bystander effectC．evidence that city life can be really dangerousD．an example to show team spirit connecting city people小题4:As can be inferred from the passage, the writer probably .A．criticizes the loss of morality in urban societyB．feels sad about the result of Neistat's experimentC．thinks city people are too busy to care about othersD．disagrees that city life sometimes can be cold and mean 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:D
小题4:D
解析
本文讲述了城市生活中充满了冷淡，这到底是道德的沦丧还是脚步匆匆的缘故？小题1:C 推断题。纽约人做这个实验的目的就是想看看是否有人会阻止他“偷”自行车。也就是说证明城市中人时候有是非观。
小题2:A 细节推理题。根据第三段内容可知，城市中的人只管自己的事，这样的生活方式未必只与道德有关。
小题3:D推理题。通过9.11事件，作者只是想证明当人们处于困境中时，团队精神还是存在的。
小题4:D 推理题。根据最后一段可知，作者认为人与人之间的冷漠可能是因为人们太忙。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“The city can seem a .....”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。
