14．The gift of being able to describe a face accurately is a rare one，as every experienced police officer knows to his cost．As the Lancet put it recently，"When we try to describe faces precisely，words fail us，and we resort to identikit （拼臉型圖） procedures．"
Yet，according to one authority on the subject，we can each probably recognize more than 1，000faces，the majority of which differ in fine details．This，when one comes to think of it，is a tremendous feat，though，curiously enough，relatively little attention has been devoted to the fundamental problems of how and why we acquire this gift for recognizing and remembering faces．Is it an inborn property of our brains，or an acquired one？As so often happens，the experts tend to differ．
Thus，some argue that it is inborn，and that there are"special characteristics about the brain's ability to distinguish faces"．In support of this，they note how much better we are at recognizing a face after a single encounter than we are，for example，in recognizing an individual horse．On the other hand，there are those，and they are probably in the majority，who claim that the gift is an acquired one．
The arguments in favor of this latter view，it must be confessed，are impressive．It is a habit that is acquired soon after birth．Watch，for instance，how a quite young baby recognizes his mother by sight．Granted that his other senses help-the sound，his sense of smell，the distinctive way she handles him．But of all these，sight is predominant．Formed at the very beginning of life，the ability to recognize faces quickly becomes an established habit，and one that is，essential for daily living，if not necessarily for survival．How essential and valuable it is we probably do not appreciate until we encounter people who have been deprived of the faculty．
This unfortunate inability to recognize familiar faces is known to all，but such people can often recognize individuals by their voices，their walking manners or their spectacles．With typical human ingenuity，many of these unfortunate people overcome their handicap by recognizing other characteristic features．
72．It is stated in the passage thatD．
A．it is unusual for a person to be able to identify a face satisfactorily
B．the ability to recognize faces unhesitatingly is an unusual gift
C．quite a few people can visualize faces they have seen
D．few people can give exact details of the appearance of a face
73．What the author feels strange about is thatB．
A．people have the tremendous ability to recognize more than 1，000 faces
B．people don't think much of the problem of how and why we acquire the ability to recognize and remember faces
C．people don't realize how essential and valuable it is for them to have the ability to recognize faces
D．people have been arguing much over the way people recognize and remember faces
74．What is the first suggested explanation of the origin of the ability？C
A．It is one of the characteristics peculiar to human beings．
B．It is acquired soon after birth．
C．It is something we can do from the very moment we are born．
D．It is learned from our environment and experiences．
75．This passage seems to emphasize thatA．
A．the ability to recognize individuals is dependent on other senses as well as sight
B．sight is indispensable （必需的） to recognizing individuals
C．the ability to recognize faces is a special inborn ability of the brain
D．the importance of the ability of recognizing faces is fully appreciated by people．
分析 本文屬于說明文閱讀，作者通過這篇文章主要向我們描述了很少人能夠描述出臉的細(xì)節(jié)，識別個(gè)體的能力主要依賴于視力等重要感官．
解答 72．D．推理判斷題．根據(jù)第一段The gift of being able to describe a face accurately is a rare one，as every experienced police officer knows to his cost可知很少人能夠描述出臉的細(xì)節(jié)；故選D．
73．B．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)第二段This，when one comes to think of it，is a tremendous feat，though，curiously enough，relatively little attention has been devoted to the fundamental problems of how and why we acquire this gift for recognizing and remembering faces可知作者對人不重視如何以及為什么我們獲得能力去識別和記住別人的面孔感到奇怪；故選B．
74．C．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)第三段Thus，some argue that it is inborn，and that there are"special characteristics about the brain's ability to distinguish faces可知第一種解釋認(rèn)為能力的起源是我們從出生就擁有的可以做的事情；故選C．
75．A．推理判斷題．根據(jù)第三段But of all these，sight is predominant．Formed at the very beginning of life，the ability to recognize faces quickly becomes an established habit，and one that is，essential for daily living，if not necessarily for survival可知文章主要強(qiáng)調(diào)識別個(gè)體的能力主要依賴于視力等重要感官；故選A．
點(diǎn)評 考察學(xué)生的細(xì)節(jié)理解和推理判斷能力，做細(xì)節(jié)理解題時(shí)一定要找到文章中的原句，和題干進(jìn)行比較，再做出正確的選擇．在做推理判斷題不要以個(gè)人的主觀想象代替文章的事實(shí)，要根據(jù)文章事實(shí)進(jìn)行合乎邏輯的推理判斷．
