Have you ever wished you could be better organised or more sociable? Perhaps you’re a constant worrier, and you’d prefer to be a little more carefree?
Many surveys show that at least two-thirds of people would like to change some elements of their personality. In the past, such desires appeared to be unachievable. Like the proverbial leopard that could never change its spots, our virtues and flaws were believed to be woven into the fabric of our minds.
Recent scientific research, however, proves this expectation of personality’s permanence wrong. With the right psychological strategies and enough effort, many people can successfully shape their core personalities into what they desire.
Our genes almost certainly play a role: it’s why people’s personalities often reflect their biological parents’ ones. The influence of our social environment was thought to end in early adulthood, as the brain reached maturity. If this were true, it wouldn’t be possible to shift personality at will. Yet that is exactly what psychology professor Nathan Hudson and his colleagues have shown with a series of groundbreaking studies.
The interventions in their studies typically involve arranging regular activities that reflect the personalities people wish to adopt. A quiet person who wished to be more outgoing, for example, might have the goal of introducing themselves to a stranger once a week, or making small talk with the cashier at their local supermarket.
The aim is for the thinking patterns and behaviours they generate to become habitual. In the first trial, provided participants actually completed those arranged tasks, their personalities shifted in the desired direction. Similarly exciting results could be seen in a later trial. The differences of participants’ personalities before and after the intervention were still apparent three months after the experiment had ended. As Aristotle argued more than 2,300 years ago, we become what we repeatedly do.
The unexpected plasticity of our minds should be good news for anyone who wishes they were a bit more sociable, organised, or happy-go-lucky. Another potential benefit is that awareness of this research could help improve mental health.
1. Why is “leopard” mentioned in paragraph 2?| A．To explain that our minds consist of virtues and flaws. |
| B．To show the similarity between leopards and human beings. |
| C．To prove a possibility that people can change their personality. |
| D．To demonstrate the previous belief that personalities remain fixed. |
| A．The two trials reached different conclusions. | B．Activities are tailored to specific personalitites. |
| C．The purpose is to better people’s personalities. | D．People’s personalities can be changed but can’t last. |
| A．The previous expectation of personality’s permanence was confirmed. |
| B．The influence of our social environment ends when the brain matures. |
| C．The desire to change some elements of our personality can be achieved. |
| D．Our genes play a greater role in our personality than social environment. |
| A．We Are What We Do | B．Habits Make Things Easier |
| C．Your Personality Is Not Set In Stone | D．A Leopard Never Changes Its Spots |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】The best colors for advertising are those that make people comfortable or stimulate (激发） their senses; knowing which color does that depends on what is being advertised.In general, color schemes (调配）contain three kinds: warm, cool and black and white.
Warm Colors
Bright red, orange, and yellow are warm colors, and they stimulate excitement.In fact, all advertisements and menus of fast food chains feature these colors.Warm colors are some of the best colors for advertising food as they are known to increase the appetite.
A color scheme that includes warm colors also encourages people to stay longer.These colors stimulate warmth and comfort，and when people relax over dinner，they are more likely to enjoy a dessert or a cup of coffee, thus spending more money.
Cool Colors
Besides knowledge and understanding，some shades of blue are also associated with quiet.As a result，blue can actually slow a person's heart rate (比率)and reduce appetite，which is why it's not often chosen for restaurant advertising.On the other hand, blue is one of the best colors for advertising medicine and other health products. Light blue can have a calming effect on people and it is most often linked with health and healing(治愈）.However, it has been debated whether or not blue is one of the best colors for advertising online.Some people think it does not catch the readers attention fast enough or often enough.
Black and White
Black and white can be two of the best colors for advertising because they create a strong contrast when paired together.Black and white often indicate opposite emotions (情绪）：white is often linked with purity and perfection, while black usually represents power, eleganc-e, or evil (邪恶).When used together, however, black and white can create a sense that a company is highly professional (专业的）.
1. What influence do warm colors have on the people eating in a restaurant?| A．They make the people more uncomfortable. |
| B．They encourage the people to eat more. |
| C．They mainly stimulate people's interest in drinking. |
| D．They help people to gain weight. |
| A．Cool colors are often linked with health and healing. |
| B．Cool colors are disliked by most people. |
| C．Cool colors are reminders of medicine. |
| D．Cool colors can't easily catch people's eyes. |
| A．They are people's favourite colors. |
| B．They are pure and perfect colors. |
| C．They make people think highly of the products. |
| D．They usually stand for power, elegance or evil. |
| A．The best colors for advertising. |
| B．The colors being liked and disliked- |
| C．The reasons for the choice of colors. |
| D．The effect of colors on people. |
【推荐2】There is no one clear path to success. Different people achieve success in different ways, but there are some traits (品质) that successful people have in common to help them reach their goals. If you want to be more successful in your professional life, it is important to have the traits listed below.
Outstanding leadership.
Self-confidence.
Great patience. Success is not something that happens overnight.
Effective communication. Communication is not just about speaking, but also about listening. Therefore, you need to learn how to listen actively and empathize(感同身受). Communication is a two-way street and everyone’s opinion is valuable.
| A．Great creativity. |
| B．Willingness to learn. |
| C．Successful people typically have remarkable leadership skills. |
| D．It is crucial that you remain patient and continue to put in effort. |
| E．In order to be successful, you must first believe that you are capable. |
| F．Therefore, developing self-confidence is essential for achieving success. |
| G．By listening carefully, you can gain a better understanding and make wise decisions. |
【推荐3】The printed book is back. Recent studies have shown that students remember more information when they read a paper book compared to reading an e-book. One school responded to these findings by ditching its e-readers and encouraging students to pick up traditional books. The students found that “the ease of navigation (导航)” was greater when using a traditional book.
I love the way we now judge printed books using the language of the digital world. E-books may come with “navigational tools,” but it turns out the best navigational tools are the “devices (设备)” at the ends of your arms. You can use them to flip (翻) the pages forward and backward.
Fans of digital books may point out that e-readers have a handy “search” tool. Old-fashioned books also have a search function, in which you turn back to the opening part to help you remember the hero’s name. They even have a “bookmark system,” which uses something called a “bookmark.”
Can a traditional book offer all the features of an e-book? Also, no. It has no “progress bar (进度条)” indicating how much of the book has been read. Luckily, a clever tip is available: turn your book so that it can be viewed from the side or top. It will naturally form two parts joined in the middle. If the left part is thicker than the right one, you are more than halfway through.
Admittedly, e-books are lighter than paper books, but one must question whether this is really an advantage. In secondary school my body figure was actually transformed by the daily need to carry textbooks. For me and my fellow students, these weighty books would draw our shoulders back and our chests forward.
Educational fashions come and go, so maybe the return of traditional books won’t last. But for the moment, I find myself welcoming their wonderful return.
1. Which can best replace the underlined “ditching” in paragraph 1?| A．Referring to. | B．Getting used to. |
| C．Getting rid of. | D．Making use of. |
| A．Bookmarks. | B．Fingers. | C．The progress bar. | D．The opening part. |
| A．It has a handy search function called a bookmark. |
| B．It is convenient for us to search whatever you want. |
| C．It is lighter than a paper book to help change our body shape. |
| D．It tells you how much of the book has been read by a progress bar. |
| A．Why the Printed Book Is Back? | B．How the Printed Book Benefits us? |
| C．What Future the Printed Book Faces? | D．Which Is Better, Printed Book or E-book? |
【推荐1】Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets which other scientists had made. The orbit of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems.
However, Halley had a friend named Newton, who was a brilliant mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse.
Now Halley set to work. He figured out the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearances had been 75 to 76 years apart.
This seemed very strange to Halley. The different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets, as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.
It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain enough to make a prediction of what comet would happen in the future. He decided that this comet would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested. In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet has been called Halley’s comet, in his honor.
1. Halley made his discovery ________.| A．by doing experiments | B．by means of his own careful observation |
| C．by using the work of other scientists | D．by chance |
| A．1704 | B．1705 | C．1706 | D．1707 |
| A．Halley and other scientists | B．the orbit of a comet |
| C．Newton and Halley | D．Halley and his discovery |
| A．Edmund Halley was an American scientist. | B．Halley made his discovery by doing experiments. |
| C．Newton was a famous mathematician. | D．The orbit of a comet had the shape of a circle. |
【推荐2】Coronaviruses(冠状病毒) are a large group of viruses. In this text, we’ll take a quick look at what’s recently known about the virus.
Covid-2019
The 2019 Novel Coronavirus, first reported December in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, has quickly spread across the country and around the world.
Intermediate hosts (中间宿主) : The Covid-2019 may originate (起源) in bats, a team led by Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli said earlier, but the intermediate host remains unknown.
Incubation period(潜伏期): usually 1-14 days.
Infection: Virus may spread before symptoms show.
SARS-CoV
The SARS coronavirus was first identified in China in 2003.
Intermediate hosts: Bats are the original host.
Incubation period: 2-7 days.
Infection: Virus spread after symptoms show.
MERS-CoV
The MERS(中东呼吸综合征) coronavirus was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
Intermediate hosts: MERS-CoV was travelled from camel to humans.
Incubation period: 2-14 days.
Infection: Virus may spread before symptoms show.
1. What might be the intermediate hosts of the Covid-2019?| A．Bats. | B．Mosquitoes | C．Camel. | D．Unknown yet. |
| A．SARS-CoV. | B．MERS-CoV. | C．The Covid-2019. | D．All Coronaviruses. |
| A．Bats are to blame for the outbreak of all the three coronaviruses. |
| B．The Covid-2019, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV are all listed as coronaviruses. |
| C．Mers-Cov were first identified in China. |
| D．SARS-Cov has a longer incubation period than Mers-cov. |
【推荐3】Thinking of getting your child to take up a sport that involves a coach or instructor? There is a piece of good news. A new study finds that children who join in organized physical activities at a young age are less likely to have emotional difficulties by the time they turn 12.
“The primary school years are a critical time in child development,” said Frédéric N. Brière, a professor of psycho-education who led the study. And every parent wants to raise a well-adjusted (适应性强的) child. Besides keeping children from sitting for long, physical activities, such as structured sports, have the potential physical and mental benefits, Brière believes, something parents seem to know instinctively (直觉地).
“We followed a large representative population of typically developing Canadian children over time to examine whether consistent participation in organized sports from ages 6 to 10 would lessen risks associated with emotional distress, anxiety, shyness, social withdrawal (不合群) at age 12, said Brière. “Our goal was to test this question as critically as possible by excluding pre-existing child or family conditions that could offer a different explanation.” To do this. Brière and his team examined data from children born in 1997 or 1998. From ages 6 to 10, mothers reported whether their child participated in organized physical activities. At age 12, teachers reported on the child's levels of emotional distress, anxiety, shyness, and social withdrawal at school.
“The results revealed that children who participated in sports consistently from ages 6 to 10 showed fewer cases of those factors at age 12 than their peers who did not engage in physical activities in a consistent way,” said Brière. “We found these benefits above and beyond pre-existing individual and family characteristics.”
Brière concluded, “Getting kids actively involved in organized sports seems to promote global development. This involvement appears to be good on a socio-emotional level apart from the physical benefits it brings. Being less emotionally troubled between primary and high school is a priceless benefit for children,as they are about to enter a much larger universe with bigger academic challenges.
1. What does Brière's study show about doing sports?| A．It helps children improve study efficiency. |
| B．It improves children's personality development. |
| C．It strengthens children’s relationship with their parents |
| D．It helps prevent children from having emotional problems. |
| A．It investigates children from similar backgrounds. |
| B．It takes children's personal habits into consideration. |
| C．It focuses on how children fit in with the environment. |
| D．It requires cooperation from children's parents and teachers. |
| A．Children’s personal and family characteristics. |
| B．Children’s performances in the study. |
| C．Children’s emotional problems. |
| D．Children’s daily activities. |
| A．They are too busy to participate in sports. |
| B．They go through a quick development. |
| C．They will soon face great academic stress. |
| D．They are more likely to have mental problems. |
