单选题 Behaviors that we do not understand often become nearly invisible—even when, in retrospect, we see how truly strange they are.
When I was a psychiatric resident, we had a faculty member who was famous for his messy office: stacks of papers and old journals covered every chair and table as well as much of the floor. One day, as I walked past the open office door with one of my supervisors, he murmured mildly, "Odd duck." And that was as far as anyone seemed to reflect on this peculiar state of affairs within an institution staffed by psychiatrists. Eventually, the faculty member had to be given another office in which to see patients.
Not surprisingly, the psychiatric diagnostic manual does not list "messy room" in the index. But it does mention a tantalizing symptom: inability "to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value," It comes under the diagnosis obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, an obscure cousin of the more famous obsessive compulsive disorder.
I was barely aware of the diagnosis. Every era has mental disorders that for cultural or scientific reasons become popular. In Freud's day it was hysteria. Currently, depression has moved to center stage. But other ailments go relatively ignored, and this disorder was one.
It came with a list of additional symptoms that appeared to be peculiar : anxiety about spending money, excessive devotion to work to the exclusion of leisure activities, rigidity about following rules, perfectionism in doing tasks—at times to the point of interfering with finishing them.
In moderation, the symptoms seemed to fit right in with our workaholic culture—perhaps explaining the low profile of the diagnosis. Relentless work orientation and perfectionism may even be assets in rule-and detail-oriented professions like accounting or law.
But when the symptoms are too intense or pervasive, they become crippling. Beneath the seemingly adaptive behaviors lies a central disability. People with this diagnosis have enormous difficulty making decisions. They lack the internal sense of completion that most of us experience at the end of a choice or a task, even one as simple as throwing something out or making a purchase. In obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, this feeling occurs only after endless deliberation and revision, if at all.
The need to come up with the "correct" answer, the best purchase or the perfect proposal leads to excess rumination over each decision. It can even lead to complete paralysis. For such people, rules of all kinds are a godsend—they represent pre-made decisions. Open-ended assignments, like writing papers, are nightmares.
For such a patient or for a psychiatrist, understanding a cluster of diagnostic symptoms can be a revelation. The picture leaps out from the previously disorganized background. But undoubtedly, at times we can become too reductionistic, seeing patterns where none exist, sometimes a messy room is just a messy room.

单选题 Which of the following best describes people's attitude towards the faculty member?
A. They disliked him, and that's why he got his separate room to see patients.
B. They thought he is a little strange, but didn't pay much attention to his behavior.
C. They were interested in his behavior, as they were all psychiatrists.
D. They thought he had some mental retardness.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查细节推理能力。根据第一段内容“Behaviors that we do not understand often become nearly invisible—even when,in retrospect,we see how truly strange they are.”可知,我们常常忽视这些我们不能理解的行为——甚至当我们回想时会发现那些行为有多奇怪,作者接着举例子来说明此观点。由此可知,B项符合题意。
单选题 The popular mental disorder of current time, according to the author, is ______.
A. hysteria B. depression
C. messiness D. obsessive-compulsive disorder
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为细节题。根据第四段第四句话“Currently,depression has moved to center stage.”可知,现如今抑郁症已经来到了中央舞台。由此可知,B项符合题意。
单选题 The reason why symptoms of the "obsessive-compulsive disorder" go unnoticed is that ______.
A. they are highly thought of in according to law
B. some of the mild symptoms fit in with a workaholic culture
C. they have a low profile
D. they take a long time to become intense or pervasive
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为细节题。根据第六段第一句话“In moderation,the symptoms seemed to fit right in with our workaholic culture—perhaps explaining the low profile of the diagnosis.”可知,如果能适度控制,症状似乎恰好符合我们工作狂的文化精神——可能这样就解释了诊断结果的另一面。由此可知,B项符合题意。
单选题 Rules are godsend to persons with the obsessive-compulsive personality disorder because ______.
A. they do not involve decision making
B. they are open-ended assignments
C. they lead to complete paralysis
D. they are made by other
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查细节推理能力。根据第八段第三句“For such people,rules of all kinds are a godsend—they represent pre-made decisions.”可知,对于这样的人来说,所有规则都是天赐之物——它们代表预先作好的决定。由此可知,A项符合题意。
单选题 From the last paragraph we can see that the author's view is that ______.
A. a messy room is just a messy room
B. a messy room is an indication of the obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
C. psychiatrists should pay attention to a messy room
D. psychiatrists should see patterns of seemingly disorganized behaviors, but shouldn't be too reductionistic
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查归纳总结能力。根据最后一段内容“For such a patient or for a psychiatrist,understanding a cluster of diagnostic symptoms can be a revelation.”可知,对于这样的病人或者精神病医生来说,理解一组诊断性的症状是一种启示;根据“But undoubtedly,at times we can become too reductionistic”可知有时我们可以变得简单些。根据这几句话可知,作者认为医生既要有给病人看病的本领,熟悉各种病症,以便诊断,也不能过于多虑,把所有行为都看成一种病症。由此可知,D项符合题意。
句子主干是:They lack the sense of completion;that引导的定语从句修饰the sense of completion;现在分词throwing和making引导的现在分词短语表示举例子,用于修饰one。