专题03 阅读理解（说明文）12篇（名校模拟+地区真题)-冲刺2024年中考英语必考题型终极预测（北京专用）

冲刺2024年中考英语必考题型终极预测（北京专用） 专题03 阅读理解（说明文）12篇 （2023·北京东城·统考二模） Gossip is the information passed from one person to another about other people’s lives. You may think gossip is awful. Even dictionary entries suggest that it is often unkind or untrue. And yet this common idea is unreasonable. Firstly, a study by Robbins and Karan in 2019 shows that gossip common but much of it is just people sharing information. For their study, 467 people’s conversations were recorded. Robbins and Karan found that, on average, these people gossiped for 52 minutes a day, with three quarters of the time spent communicating non-evaluative(非评价性的) information. Only about 14 percent(百分比) of the gossip was considered malicious, a much smaller percentage than the common idea suggests, although to be fair, that was double the percentage of positive gossip. Scientists consider gossip to be an important reason why our ancestors(祖先) were able to stay alive. It helped spread important news, but more importantly, it provided information about who was trustworthy and who might not work well with others in a group. It allowed humans to build small communities with those who could be trusted, ensuring a greater chance of living. Today, it seems that not much has changed. Gossip still allows us to form, relationships and find out who we can work with best. Gossip also explains the principles(行为准则) of our society. When we hear someone criticize a person’s behaviour, it is obvious that such behaviour is unacceptable and should not be copied. That’s not to say we should pay attention to everything we hear, but it gives us direction. Of course, these days, our world is changing the nature of gossip. Our networks are now larger, and some gossip can spread like wildfire. Our obsession(痴迷) with gossip about well-known people may seem unimportant to some, but it serves to bring people closer. Problems come up when gossip includes untrue information. This kind of gossip can destroy people’s lives. So scienti