阅读理解
Passage Two
Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
It's an annual argument. Do we or do we not go on holiday? My partner says no because the boiler could go, or the roof fall off, and we have no savings to save us. I say you only live once and we work hard and what's the point if you can't go on holiday. The joy of a recession means no argument next year—we just won't go.
Since money is known to be one of the things most likely to bring a relationship to its knees, we should be grateful. For many families the recession means more than not booking a holiday. A YouGov poll of 2,000 people found 22% said they were arguing more with their partners because of concerns about money. What's less clear is whether divorce and separation rates rise in a recession—financial pressures mean couples argue more but make splitting up less affordable. A recent research shows arguments about money were especially damaging to couples. Disputes were characterised by intense verbal(言语上的) aggression, tended to be repeated and not resolved, and made men, more than women, extremely angry.
Kim Stephenson, an occupational psychologist, believes money is such a big deal because of what it symbolises, which may be different things to men and women. "People can say the same things about money but have different ideas of what it's for," he explains. "They'll say it's to save, to spend, for security, for freedom, to show someone you love them." He says men are more likely to see money as a way of buying status and of showing their parents that they've achieved something.
"The biggest problem is that couples assume each other knows what's going on with their finances, but they don't. There seems to be more of a taboo (禁忌) about talking about money than about death. But you both need to know what you're doing, who's paying what into the joint account and how much you keep separately. In a healthy relationship, you don't have to agree about money, but you have to talk about it."
单选题
What does the author say about vacationing?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】第一段介绍了作者及其爱人对度假的不同看法。由第二句可知，作者的爱人认为应该攒钱以备不时之需。第三句...we work hard and what's the point if you can't go on holiday的意思是“如果不能去度假的话我们努力工作为了什么”，由此可以看出，作者认为度假才使努力工作有意义(worthwhile)，故本题选C。A项“在经济衰退时人们更加享受度假”与原文第一段最后一句表达的意思相反。最后一句说，“经济萧条让人高兴之处就在于它意味着明年我们不用再为此争吵了——明年我们不会去度假”。根据常识也可以知道，经济衰退的时候，人们经济比较紧张，不可能更加享受度假，故排除A。B项和D项均属于引申过度，文章中并没有类似的表达，故排除。
单选题
What does the author mean by saying "money is known...to bring a relationship to its knees" (Line 1, Para. 2)?
单选题
The YouGov poll of 2,000 people indicates that in a recession______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】第二段第三句指出，尤格夫(YouGov，英国调研公司)的一项针对2000人的调查发现，有22%的人称他们因为与钱有关的问题现在与自己的伴侣争吵的次数变多。由此可知，A项“夫妻间的冲突往往增加”为正确答案。conflicts between couples tend to rise与原文中的they were arguing more with their partners属于同义转述。B项比较有迷惑性，原文提到经济衰退使离婚变得更加负担不起，但实际上这是因为人们赚得少了，文中并没有说这是因为离婚的费用变高了，故排除。C项“夫妻双方更关心彼此”原文明显没有提到，故排除。D项“离婚和分居的比例变高”与原文不符，原文说“离婚和分居的比例是否因为经济衰退而升高并没有那么明确——经济压力意味着夫妻双方吵架的次数更多，但也使离婚变得更加负担不起”，也就是说离婚率也可能更低了。