A strange thing about humans is their capacity for blind rage. Rage is presumably an emotion resulting from survival instinct, but the surprising thing about it is that we do not deploy it against other animals. If we encounter a dangerous wild animal - a poisonous snake or a wild cat - we do not fly into a temper. If we are unarmed, we show fear and attempt to back away; if we are suitably armed, we attack, but in a rational manner not in a rage. We reserve rage for our own species. It is hard to see any survival value in attacking one’s own, but if we take account of the long competition, which must have existed between our own subspecies and others like Neanderthal man - indeed others still more remote from us than Neanderthal man - human rage becomes more comprehensible.
In our everyday language and behavior there are many reminders of those early struggles. We are always using the words “us and them”. “Our” side is perpetually trying to do down the “other” side. In games we artificially create other subspecies we can attack. The opposition of “us” and “them” is the touchstone of the two-party system of “democratic” politics. Although there are no very serious consequences to many of these modern psychological representations of the “us and them” emotion, it is as well to remember that the original aim was not to beat the other subspecies in a game but to exterminate it.
The readiness with which humans allow themselves to be regimented has permitted large armies to be formed, which, taken together with the “us and them” blind rage, has led to destructive clashes within our subspecies itself. The First World War is an example in which Europe divided itself into two imaginary subspecies. And there is a similar extermination battle now in Northern Ireland. The idea that there is a religious basis for this clash is illusory, for not even the Pope has been able to control it. The clash is much more primitive than the Christian religion, much older in its emotional origin. The conflict in Ireland is unlikely to stop until a greater primitive fear is imposed from outside the community, or until the combatants become exhausted.
31.A suitable title for this passage would be____.
A) Why Human Armies Are Formed B) Man’s Anger Against Rage
C) The Human Capacity for Rage D) Early Struggles of Angry Man
32.According to the author, the surprising aspect of human anger is____.
A) its lengthy and complex development B) a conflict such as is now going on in Northern Ireland
C) that we do not fly into a temper more often D) that we reserve anger for mankind
33.The passage suggests that____.
A) historically, we have created an “us” versus “them” society
B) humans have had a natural disinclination toward formal grouping
C) the First World War is an example of how man has always avoided domination
D) the emotional origin of the war in Ireland is lost in time
34.From the passage we can infer that ____.
A) the artificial creation of a subspecies unlike us is something that never happens
B) games are psychologically unhealthy C) any artificially created subspecies would be our enemy
D) the real or imagined existence of an opposing subspecies is inherent in man’s activities
35.The author believes that a religious explanation for the war in Northern Ireland is____.
A) founded in historical fact B) deceptive C) apparent D) probably accurate
答案：CDADB
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