23 題至第 25 題為篇章結構,各題請依文意,從四個選項中選出最合適者,各題答案內容不重複。
About six million American men are diagnosed with depression each year. 23 In a confessional culture in
which Americans are increasingly obsessed with their health, it may seem clichéd—men are from Mars, women from
Venus, and all that—to say that men tend not to take care of themselves and are reluctant to own up to mental illness.
But the facts highly suggest that men tend not to take care of themselves and are reluctant to own up to mental illness.
Although depression is emotionally crippling and has numerous medical implications—some of them deadly—many
men fail to recognize the symptoms. 24 And even when they do realize they have a problem, men often view
asking for help as an admission of weakness, a betrayal of their male identities.
The result is a hidden epidemic of despair that is destroying marriages, disrupting careers, filling jail cells,
clogging emergency rooms, and costing society billions of dollars in lost productivity and medical bills. It is also
creating a cohort of children who carry the burden of their fathers’ pain for the rest of their lives. The Gary Cooper
model of manhood—what Tony Soprano called “the strong, silent type”—is so deeply embedded in our social psyche
that some men would rather kill themselves than confront the fact that they feel despondent, inadequate, or helpless.
“Our definition of a successful man in this culture does not include being depressed, down or sad,” says Michael Addis,
chair of psychology at Clark University in Massachusetts. “ 25 A successful man is always up, positive, in charge,
and in control of his emotions.” 【題組】25 (A) In many ways it is the exact opposite.
(B) Some of the symptoms of depression are so severe, like gambling addiction or alcoholism, they are often
mistaken for the problem.
(C) Instead of talking about their feelings, men may mask them with alcohol, drug abuse, gambling, anger or by
becoming workaholics.
(D) But millions more suffer silently, unaware that their problem has a name or unwilling to seek treatment.