2. 外语
  3. Great emotional and intellectual resources are demanded in quarrels; stamina(耐力) helps, as does a capacity for obsession. But no

Great emotional and intellectual resources are demanded in quarrels; stamina(耐力) helps, as does a capacity for obsession. But no

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问题     Great emotional and intellectual resources are demanded in quarrels; stamina(耐力) helps, as does a capacity for obsession. But no one is born a good quarreler: the craft must be learned.
    There are two generally recognized apprenticeships. First, and universally preferred, is a long childhood spent in the company of fractious siblings. After several years of rainy-afternoons, brothers and sisters develop a sure feel for the tactics of attrition and the niceties of strategy so necessary in first-rate quarreling.
    The only child, or the child of peaceful or repressed households, is likely to grow up failing to understand that quarrels, unlike arguments, are not about anything, least of all the pursuit of truth. The apparent subject of a quarrel is a mere pretext; the real business is the quarrel itself.
    Essentially , adversaries in a quarrel are out to establish or rescue their dignity. Hence the elementary principle: anything may be said. The unschooled may spend an hour with knocking heart sifting the consequences of calling this old acquaintance a lying fraud.
    Those who miss their first apprenticeship may care to enroll in the second, the bad marriage. This can be perilous for the neophyte; the mutual intimacy of spouses makes them at once more vulnerable and more dangerous in attack. Once sex is involved, the stakes are higher all round. And there is an unspoken rule that those who love, or have loved, one another are granted a license for unlimited beastliness such as is denied to mere sworn enemies. For all that some of our most tenacious black belt quarrelers have come to it late in life and mastered every throw.
    A quarrel may last years. Among brooding types with time on their hands, like writers, half a lifetime is not uncommon. In its most refined form, a quarrel may consist of the participants not talking to each other. They will need to scheme laboriously to appear in public together to register their silence.
    Brief, violent quarrels are also known as rows. In all cases the essential ingredient remains the same; the original cause must be forgotten as soon as possible. From here on, dignity, pride, self-esteem, honor are quarrelling, like jealousy, is an ail-consuming business, virtually a profession. For the quarreler’s very self-hood is on the line. To lose an argument is a brief disappointment, much like losing a game of tennis; but to be crushed in a quarrel, rather bite off your tongue and spread it at your opponent’s feet. (413 words)
In the article as a whole, the writer treats quarreling as if it were______.
选项 A、a military campaign
B、a social skill
C、a moral evil
D、a natural gift
答案B
解析 作者在第一段第二句里说，吵架的技巧是后天学来的，所以B项内容与之较吻合。
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