Offline research has given rise to what’s called the “Social Brain Hypothesis”. This says that our brain’s ability to process multiple relationships creates a natural group size for humans of 100-200 people. This size is also constrained (限制) by the time required to maintain relationships — we only have so much time to devote to meeting or talking to people.
It has been suggested that social media might overcome the time constraints because posts and pictures allow us to talk to many more people at the same time even if the interaction is not direct. So psychologist Professor Robin Dunbar carried out two surveys of more than 3,300 people to see whether using the Internet really means we can have more friends.
What he found was that even among regular social media users, the average number of friends they had on Facebook was 155 in the first survey and 183 in the second, right in the bracket (范围) predicted by the “Social Brain Hypothesis”.
The first survey group, made up of regular social media users, considered only 28% of their Facebook friends to be “genuine” friends. When asked specifically how many people they would turn to for support in a crisis and how many they would turn to for sympathy, on average those groups were just 4 and 14 friends respectively, matching the offline findings of the “Social Brain Hypothesis”.
While a few people did have much larger groups of online “ friends ” on Facebook, they had similar sized support and sympathy groups to others. This suggests that when social media seem to allow someone to have more friends, it is because looser acquaintances are being included in the “friend” category, and partly because social media sites tend not to differentiate between close and more distant relationships — even though we clearly distinguish between friends and acquaintances in the offline world.
Professor Robin Dunbar explained, “social media certainly help to slow down the natural rate of decline in relationship quality that would set in once we cannot readily meet friends face to face. But no amount of social media will prevent a friend from eventually becoming just another acquaintance if you don’t meet face to face from time to time. There is something vital for face-to-face interaction that is crucial for maintaining friendships. Seeing the white of their eyes from time to time seems to be crucial to the way we maintain friendships.”
1. Why did Professor Robin Dunbar carried out two surveys?| A．To discover if social media use can expand one’s social circle. |
| B．To prove social media offer a way to overcome the time constraints. |
| C．To explore how offline interactions allow one to have more friends. |
| D．To show if social media provides more communication opportunities. |
| A．They can not serve as evidence. | B．They are well above expectations. |
| C．They have led to more offline research. | D．They confirm the “Social Brain Hypothesis”. |
| A．Because they got great support and sympathy from their online social circle. |
| B．Because they were better at turning acquaintances into friends. |
| C．Because they could distinguish their friends and acquaintances clearly online. |
| D．Because they viewed people in their acquaintance circle as friends. |
| A．Social media can not replace face-to-face contact. |
| B．Social media affect our face-to-face socialization skills. |
| C．Social media fail to improve the quality of our relationships. |
| D．Social media have negative effects on face-to-face interaction. |
相似题推荐
Most people look forward to retirement as a time when they can finally take up activities that they never had the time or energy to pursue before.
Led by Hugo Westerlund, a professor of psychology at Stockholm University, the study of more than 14,000 workers found lower rates of depression and fatigue in people after they got retired than while they were still employed.
“The economic or financial situation in retirement is very important,” Westerlund says. “We don’t know if the decrease in fatigue and depressive symptoms is because of the removal of something bad while in work or the addition of something good while in retirement. But no matter the reason, if life in retirement is not comfortable, then we won’t see the improvements we did.”
| A．But some recent studies on people in their golden years are disturbing. |
| B．However, in European nations like France, governments are considering changes to pension plans, which may affect retirees’ health after they leave their jobs. |
| C．Clearly, said Westerlund, much of the decrease in physical and mental fatigue can be traced back to relief from the stresses of work. |
| D．Those who don’t have good social networks may not be able to get assistance if they become ill. |
| E．The scientists followed the employees of the French national gas and electric company for 14 years. |
| F．But for many, retirement means a sudden loss of many work-related social ties and a drastic decrease in activity levels. |
【推荐2】TV time can cause a loss to your child's nutrition. Why? Many kids spend a great amount of time in front of the television.
How can you control TV attractions? Registered dietitian Karen Ansel, MS, RD, offers these tips:
Watch commercials with your kids.
Ask them what they think of the foods being shown and what might be some tasty (more healthful) ones. When kids are making choices, “health” and “nutrition” are not big motivators.
Help your kids learn more about their foods.
And have them jump in to help out. Kids are naturally curious. Take advantage of their desire for discovery to tell them the amazing flavors, shapes and colors of healthful foods.
Set a few limits to TV time.
TV can become the toleration activity for kids—something easy to do for long periods of time.
| A．Bring the kids into the kitchen.. |
| B．Make your kids care about what they eat. |
| C．There are healthy foods in advertisements. |
| D．Teach them to look at an ingredient list. |
| E．Link healthful foods with things your kids care about. |
| F．Set a few guidelines for when and how much television is OK. |
| G．Researches show they are easily affected to choose the foods they see advertised. |
【推荐3】Trade has a pretty bad name in some quarters. Trade robs poor people of a proper living, and keeps them trapped in poverty. There is a widely held popular view that trade is unfair.
Though many claim that a freer trade would change the current indecent reputation of world market, the cure-all free trade is the dream of most textbook economists. In fact, “free trade” has been used successfully by powerful countries to land their mass-produced goods on fresh overseas dumping grounds and squeeze out local household businesses and craftsmanship.
At home the story is different. Large firms have little appetite for free trade and competition in their own backyard. They prefer to enjoy the advantages and protections for which they have carefully earned. Free thus fierce competition has little appeal for those who understand that they will make more profit if they can corner the market, whether at home or abroad.
By contrast, making trade fairer is about addressing both outcomes and processes of trade. Fairness is not just moral request. It affects behaviour. Actually the concept of fairness increases steadily as societies achieve greater market uprightness: Businessmen from upright societies are willing to punish those who do not play fair, even if this is costly to themselves.
Fairer trade rather than freer trade could partly mend mal-administering of resources in certain areas. Though thought of as evil economic policies in the west world, carefully planned special preferences and protectionism could be used intelligently to help to block the economic robbery of the rich class in African countries, and to improve the lives of the bottom billion.
Fairness is also important in the control of trade. The current International trade negotiations have resulted in rules favoring the powerful. The rules are made in negotiations in which the countries in control call the shots, and do not always do so in good faith. Industrialized countries were often found to have obtained definite and far-reaching commitments from developing countries, in exchange for vague promises, such as to liberalise agriculture, which they have not kept. On the other hand, the essence of the fair trade lies in the promise that every party benefit from the business, rich or poor, powerful or weak.
Making trade fairer is important to avoid a further public hate against trade. It is also important so as better to balance trade goals with other important national goals such as environmental and social protection. Finally, the so-called free trade system needs to be made fairer so that it does not block competition, and crush innovation and business spirit. It needs to offer a more level playing field to commercial newcomers and competitors in rich and poor countries alike.
1. Free trade is a concept at rich countries’ service to________.| A．open up new markets abroad |
| B．define trade in the economic textbooks |
| C．dump pollutants in poor countries |
| D．learn the skills from local household businesses. |
| A．punishing the rich countries when they cheat the poor countries |
| B．making sure that rich countries provide more chances for poor countries |
| C．promoting special preferences and protectionism in poor areas |
| D．guaranteeing the common interests of all the dealers |
| A．macro-management |
| B．overall collection |
| C．uneven distribution |
| D．negative mining |
| A．Large firms earn huge profits from free trade on domestic markets. |
| B．Honest dealers would sacrifice their own interest to discipline the dishonest. |
| C．Special preferences and protectionism are occasionally adopted in western countries. |
| D．A fairer trade helps to ease competition between the rich and the poor. |
【推荐1】Although credit cards are becoming a more acceptable part of the financial scene, they are still regarded with doubts by many as being a major part of the “live now pay later” syndrome（综合症）.Along with hire-purchase, rental and leasing schemes（租赁项目）, they provide encouragement to spend more money. Of course, it is only the hotheaded who give way to the temptation to live, temporarily at least, beyond their means, and such people would no doubt manage to do so even without credit cards.
Advertising campaigns have, however, promoted a growing realization of the advantages of these small pieces of plastic. They prevent need to carry large amounts of cash and are always useful in emergencies.
All the credit card organizations charge interest on a monthly basis which may work out as high as 25 per cent a year, yet sensible purchasing using a card can mean that you obtain up to seven weeks, interest-free credit. Using the card abroad, where items frequently take a long time to be included on your account, can extend this period even further.
It is worthwhile shopping around before deciding on a particular credit card. It is necessary to consider the amount of credit granted; interest rates, which may vary slightly; the number and range of outlets（经销店）, though most cards cover major garages, hotels, restaurants and department stores; and of course, what happens if your card is lost or stolen. A credit card thief may be sitting on a potential goldmine particularly if there is a delay in reporting the loss of the card.
However, if used wisely, a credit card can cost nothing, or at least help to tide you over a period of financial difficulty.
1. The hotheaded are people who ________.| A．spend more money than they have |
| B．spend less money than other people |
| C．save money |
| D．make money |
| A．to enable you to buy things without carrying large amount of cash |
| B．to encourage people to spend more money |
| C．to be always useful in emergencies |
| D．to help people tide over a period of financial difficulty |
| A．the amount of credit granted |
| B．the number and range of outlets |
| C．the possibility of loss of money |
| D．the department stores where you are going to use your credit cards |
| A．floating with the tide of |
| B．going through a difficult period of |
| C．rising and falling with the tide of |
| D．attempting to go against the tide of |
【推荐2】In spite of “endless talk of difference”, American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. This includes the uniformity in clothing and communication, as well as the casualness and lack of respect seen in popular culture. People are absorbed into “a culture of consumption” launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered a wide range of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of fancy shops catering to the upper-class, these were stores “anyone could enter, regardless of class or background.” This turned shopping into a public and democratic (民主的) act. The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.
Immigrants are quickly adapting to this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today’s immigration is neither at remarkable levels nor resistant to assimilation (融合). In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indicators of assimilation — language, home ownership and intermarriage.
The 1990 Census revealed that “a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English ‘well’ or ‘very well’ after ten years of residence.” The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual (双语的) and good at English. “By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families.” Hence, America is described as a “graveyard” for languages. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans. Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics “have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks.” By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.
Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet “some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States are not influenced by the nation’s assimilative power.”
Are there divisive issues and anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America’s troubled past, today’s social Indicators hardly suggest a dark and worsening social environment.
1. The underlined phrase in paragraph 1 probably means ________.| A．making people adapt to American consumption culture |
| B．encouraging people to embrace a democratic lifestyle |
| C．encouraging people to stick to their own ideas and principles |
| D．making people behave more similarly in many aspects |
| A．Their adaptation to the common culture is quick but harmful to the society. |
| B．The scale of immigration is not big and the immigrants welcome American culture. |
| C．Their children are good at both English and their original language. |
| D．Hispanic and Asian-American women both prefer to marry native-born Americans. |
| A．provide examples of successful immigrants |
| B．suggest the weakness of America’s assimilative power |
| C．show the powerful influence of American culture |
| D．prove their popularity at home and abroad |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Concerned. | C．Neutral. | D．Negative. |
【推荐3】The release of GPT-4, the latest language model developed by Open AI, has raised concerns about its potential impact on the job market. In the finance industry, fears around AI disruption are particularly severe, as many jobs involve the processing of data that could easily be done by machines.
This has prompted questions about what it means for the CFA Institute, which offers chartered financial analyst qualifications to humans who pay a considerable fee to take the exams. If an AI algorithm (算法) can pass the CFA exam, it could threaten the CFA Institute’s revenue (收入) model and potentially affect several hundred thousand bank employees.
However, recent experiments have shown that GPT-4 is not yet capable of passing the CFA exam. The simulation scored only 8 out of a possible 24 points, demonstrating that faking logical thought is very different from fake reasoning through the application of arbitrary rules and definitions. Humans still retain an upper hand in this area.
The CFA exam relies heavily on memorization and pattern matching, rather than processing the meaning of each question. This has allowed humans to continue to excel at the exam compared to machines that rely on algorithms and logical deductions (推理).
While the development of advanced AI may pose a threat to some industries, including finance, it appears that in the case of CFA accreditation, humans still have the upper hand. For now, those working in financial regulations and those responsible for setting exams in this field can breathe a small sigh of relief knowing their jobs are safe — at least for a little while longer.
In conclusion, the release of GPT-4 has sparked concerns about its potential to disturb the job market, especially in finance. However, experiments have demonstrated that AI still has limitations, particularly in areas requiring fake reasoning through memorized answers. While this news may reassure those in the finance industry, there is no denying that AI technology continues to transform many aspects of work and life.
1. Why are there concerns about GPT-4’s impact on the job market in finance?| A．It is capable of passing the CFA exam and taking over jobs. |
| B．It could potentially replace humans in processing data. |
| C．The finance industry has been slow to adopt new technology. |
| D．Bank employees are actively protesting against AI adoption. |
| A．Logical reasoning and deduction. | B．Understanding financial regulations. |
| C．Data processing and analysis. | D．Memorizing and pattern matching. |
| A．They demonstrate that humans’ jobs are safe for the foreseeable future. |
| B．They suggest that banks will soon be replacing humans with AI. |
| C．They prove that AI has already surpassed humans in financial analysis. |
| D．They have no impact on the job market. |
| A．It could threaten the job security of regulators. |
| B．It could cause a decrease in the number of regulations. |
| C．It could increase the speed and efficiency of regulatory processes. |
| D．It could lead to increased instances of fraud and corruption. |
