When a driver slams on the brakes to avoid hitting a pedestrian crossing the road illegally, she is making a moral decision that shifts risk from the pedestrian to the people in the car. Self-driving cars might soon have to make such ethical (道德的)judgments on their own — but settling on a universal moral code for the vehicles could be a tough task, suggests a survey.
The largest ever survey of machine ethics, called the Moral Machine, laid out 13 possible situations in which someone’s death was unavoidable. Respondents were asked to choose who to spare in situations that involved a mix of variables: young or old, rich or poor, more people or fewer. Within 18 months, the online quiz had recorded 40 million decisions made by people from 233 countries and territories.
When the researchers analysed these answers, they found that the nations could be divided into three groups. One contains North America and several European nations where Christianity has been the dominant (占支配地位的)religion; another includes countries such as Japan, Indonesia and Pakistan, with strong Confucian or Islamic traditions. A third group consists of countries in Central and South America, such as Colombia and Brazil. The first group showed a stronger preference for sacrificing older lives to save younger ones than did the second group, for example.
The researchers also identified relationships between social and economic factors in a country. They found that people from relatively wealthy countries with strong institutions, such as Finland and Japan, more often chose to hit people who stepped into traffic illegally than did respondents in nations with weaker institutions, such as Nigeria or Pakistan.
People rarely face such moral dilemmas, and some cities question whether the possible situations posed in the online quiz are relevant to the ethical and practical questions surrounding driverless cars. But the researchers argue that the findings reveal cultural differences that governments and makers of self-driving cars must take into account if they want the vehicles to gain public acceptance.
At least Barbara Wege, who heads a group working on autonomous-vehicle ethics at Audi in Ingolstadt, Germany, says such studies are valuable. Wege argues that self-driving cars would cause fewer accidents, proportionally, than human drivers do each year—but that people might focus more on events involving robots.
Surveys such as the Moral Machine can help to begin public discussions about these unavoidable accidents that might develop trust. “We need to come up with a social consensus,” she says, “about which risks we are willing to take.”
1. Why is it difficult to set universal moral rules for programming self-driving cars?A.Social values always change with the times. |
B.Moral choices vary between different cultures. |
C.Drivers have a preference for sacrificing the weak. |
D.Car makers are faced with decisions of life or death. |
A.using a massive online quiz worldwide |
B.comparing different cultures and customs |
C.dividing the respondents into three groups |
D.performing a series of controlled experiments |
A.Nigeria | B.Colombia |
C.Finland | D.Indonesia |
A.Self-driving cars will greatly improve the traffic environment |
B.Accidents caused by self-driving cars might receive more attention |
C.Problems involving self-driving cars might shake the public trust in society |
D.Car makers needn’t take the risk of solving self-driving car ethical dilemmas |
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【推荐1】If you haven’t heard or seen anything about Road Rage in the last few months, you’ve probably been avoiding the media. There have been countless stories about this new and scary phenomenon, considered a type of aggressive driving. You have most likely encountered aggressive driving or Road Rage recently if you drive at all.
While drunk driving remains a critical problem, the facts about aggressive driving are surely as disturbing. For instance, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Association, 41,907 people died on the highway last year. Of those deaths, the agency estimates that about two-thirds were caused at least in part by aggressive driving behavior.
Why is this phenomenon occurring more than ever now, and why is it something that seemed almost nonexistent a few short years ago? Experts have several theories, and all are probably partially correct. One suggestion is extreme overcrowding. In the last decade, the number of cars on the roads has increased by more than 11 percent, and the number of miles driven has increased by 35 percent. However, the number of new road miles has only increased by 1 percent. That means more cars in the same amount of space; and the problem is severe in urban areas. Also, people have less time and more things to do. With people working and trying to fit extra chores and activities into the day, stress levels have never been higher. Stress creates anxiety, which leads to short tempers. These factors, when combined in certain situations, can spell Road Rage.
You may think you are the last person who would drive aggressively, but you might be surprised. For instance, have you ever yelled out loud at a slower driver, sounded the horn long and hard an another car, or sped up to keep another driver from passing? If you recognize yourself in any of these situations, watch out!
Whether you are getting angry at other drivers, or another driver is visibly upset with you, there are things you can do to avoid any major conflict. If you are easily influenced by Road Rage, the key is to release your emotion in a healthy way. If you are the target of another driver’s rage, do everything possible to get away from the other driver safely, including avoiding eye contact and getting out of their way.
1. The first sentence in Para. 1 implies that ______.A.Road Rage has received much media coverage in the last few months |
B.the media created the term“RoadRage”only a few months ago |
C.one may be angered by media reports and wants to avoid them |
D.people not interested in the media know little about recent happenings |
A.relieve | B.cause | C.spread | D.prevent |
A.Talking while driving. | B.Driving at high speed. |
C.Shouting at another driver. | D.Sounding the horn when passing |
A.tell people how to deal with Road Rage |
B.inform people how aggressive drivers could be |
C.show people how to control themselves when angry |
D.warn people against eye contact with another driver |
【推荐2】On June 23, 2010, a Sunny Airlines captain with 32 years of experience stopped his flight from departing. He was deeply concerned about a power part that might run out of all electrical power on his trans-Pacific flight. Regardless of his concerns, Sunny Airlines pressured him to fly the airplane over the ocean at night. When he refused to put the safety of his passengers at risk, Sunny Airlines' Security removed him out of the airport, and threatened to arrest his crew if they did not cooperate.
Besides that, five more Sunny Airlines pilots also refused to fly the aircraft, expressing their own concerns about the safety of the plane. It turned out the pilots were right: the power part was faulty and the plane was removed from service and finally fixed. Eventually a third crew operated the flight, hours later. In this whole process, Sunny Airlines pressured their highly experienced pilots to ignore their safety concerns and fly passengers over the Pacific Ocean at night in a plane that needed maintenance. Fortunately for all of us, these pilots stood strong and would not be frightened.
Don't just take our word. Please research this yourself and learn the facts at www.SunnyAirlinePilot.org. Once you review this shocking information, please keep in mind that while their use of Corporate Security to remove a pilot from the airport is a new procedure, flight crews' lacking confidence is becoming common at Sunny Airlines, with recorded events occurring on a weekly basis.
The flying public deserves the highest levels of safety. No airlines should maximize their gains by pushing their employees to move their airplanes regardless of the potential human cost. Sunny Airlines' pilots are committed to resisting any practices of damaging your safety for profits. We've been trying to deal with these problems behind the scenes for quite some time; now we need your help. Go to www.SunnyAirlinePilot.org to get more information and find out what you can do.
1. After the captain refused to fly the aircraft, he was ________.A.asked to find another pilot |
B.forced to leave the airport |
C.arrested for disobeying the order |
D.made to help the Airlines fix the plane |
A.To help Sunny Airlines make higher profits. |
B.To introduce Sunny Airlines' pilot training programs. |
C.To review plans for improving Sunny Airlines' service. |
D.To expose problems with Sunny Airlines' security practices. |
A.It was too old for any more flight service. |
B.Its problem was found and finally repaired. |
C.It was removed from the airport for a week-long checkup. |
D.Its problem remained and no crew would operate the flight. |
A.security guards | B.managers |
C.pilots | D.passengers |
【推荐3】From the health point of view we are living in an amazing age. We are free from many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once deadly illnesses can now be cured by modern medicine. It is almost certain that one day medicines will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased greatly. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the unbelievable killing of men, women and children on the roads. Man vs the motor-car. It is a never-ending battle which man is losing. Thousands of people over the world are killed or horribly killed each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen.
It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel (方向盘), his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s very worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering-wheel. They say, they are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-year-old and completely selfish. All their hidden angers and disappointments seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving.
The surprising thing is that society smiles so gently on the motorist and seems to forgive his behavior. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy traffic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is ruined by road networks; and the deaths become nothing more than a number every year, to be easily forgotten.
It is high time a world rule was created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are unbelievably lax (不严格) and even the strictest are not strict enough. A rule which was universally accepted could only have an obviously beneficial effect on the accident rate. Here are a few examples of some of the things that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through strict tests for safety each year. Even the smallest amount of alcohol in the blood can damage a person’s driving ability. Present drinking and driving laws (where they exist) should be made much stricter. Speed limits should be required on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications for car factories, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stressing power and performance should be banned. These measures may not sound good enough. But surely nothing should be considered as too severe if it results in reducing the number of deaths. After all, the world is for human beings, not motor-cars.
1. What is the main idea of this passage?A.Traffic accidents are mainly caused by motorists. |
B.Thousands of people over the world are killed each year. |
C.Only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents |
D.The laws of some countries about driving are too lax. |
A.Society laughs at the motorists. |
B.Society forgives their rude driving. |
C.Victims of accidents are nothing. |
D.Huge car parks are built in the cities and towns. |
A.Driving can represent his manners. |
B.Driving can show the other part of his personality. |
C.Driving can bring out his character. |
D.Driving can show his hidden qualities. |
A.Test drivers every three years. |
B.Stricter driving tests. |
C.Build more highways. |
D.Raise age limit and lay down safety specifications. |
A.unsatisfied | B.positive |
C.appealing | D.unclear |
【推荐1】Dec 21st 2018
On December 19th Gatwick airport, Britain’s second-biggest, was forced to close due to several sightings of drones(无人机)flying near its runways. The airport only reopened on the morning of December 21st. ① .
The potential for an incident of this scale has been recognized for some years now. The falling price of small drones in recent years has resulted in the number flying dangerously near aircraft to rise sharply. ② .
This is a threat that the authorities have to take seriously. Recent research suggests that small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be much more damaging than birds — a surprisingly common cause of aircraft crashes — at the same impact speed, even if they are a similar weight. The researchers found that the drones’ rigid and dense materials—such as metal, plastic and lithium batteries—can put aero planes at much greater risk than a bird carcass(动物尸体). If a drone were to hit an aircraft’s fan blades when it is operating at its highest speed, the blades could break and power to the engine could be lost.
③ . But it also underlined the potential for destruction that drones afford. The British police do not think that terrorism was the motivation behind the latest incident at Gatwick. According to the Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper, environmental activists are suspected of being behind the attack, which has happened before.
As attention turns to what can be done to prevent a repeat, two solutions stand out. The first is regulation. Regulators in America and Britain already ban drones from flying too close to airports. America has introduced a compulsory registration scheme for drones and Britain plans to follow suit.
But as the chaos at Gatwick shows, even serious punishments will not stop those intending to cause harm deliberately. ④ . Technology is the second, and more important, answer to the threat. In the US the FAA has experimented with a system. Drones can have pre-programmed software that keeps them away from prohibited areas, an approach known as “geofencing”. British engineers have come up with a system that catches drones with a net and then softly lands them with a parachute. Dutch police have even attempted to train eagles to catch drones in the sky and return them to their trainers as if they were song birds. The closure at Gatwick will give ideas such as these a mighty push forward.
1. Compared to birds, drones have become a more serious threat to airplane crash in that _____.A.drones are much heavier than birds in general |
B.drones usually fly even faster than birds |
C.drones will attack airplanes on purpose |
D.drones are made of rigid and dense materials |
A.① | B.② |
C.③ | D.④ |
A.The decreasing size of drones recently has led to frequent accidents of this kind. |
B.Among the solutions, technology is considered to be a more reliable one. |
C.The FAA has adopted a “geofencing” system with the help of trained eagles. |
D.The British police think environmentalists conducted the latest incident at Gatwick. |
A.Drones or birds, which is more harmful? |
B.How to stop unmanned aerial vehicles? |
C.Several drones close Gatwick airport. |
D.Drones have become a pressing issue. |
【推荐2】It was decades ago now, but it’s still one of the most memorable conversations of my life. On a long, slow train heading north, with nothing to do but watch the rain, the man sitting opposite began trying to talk to me. Like most young women who have learned the hard way to be careful of strangers, I was unfriendly. But curiosity took over when he said that he was just bored, and liked talking.
So that’s what we did for hours and hours as the man turned out to be quite talkative. When the train finally pulled in, we didn’t change numbers. However, I still think about it sometimes on long, boring journeys, before getting a phone out and scrolling silently like everyone else. It’s a rare person who can cheerfully break the social rule about not talking to strangers without any ill intention, but life would be more interesting if more of us knew how to do it.
And that’s why I can’t be as cynical as I probably should be about “Tube Chat” campaign launched to encourage Britons to talk to each other. All anyone is being asked to do is to start a conversation they wouldn’t otherwise have had — maybe with a friend from whom they’ve been apart or a neighbor they don’t know.
Obviously, it takes more than a bit of small talk over garden fences to unite strangers together. More people live alone than did so a generation ago, and the rise in freelancing (自由职业) means more of us work alone too. We socialize increasingly through screens, sending texts instead of bothering to call.
It’s true that the “Tube Chat” campaign of a few years back failed in its attempts to make Londoners talk to each other on public transport. But even city people who would normally die rather than make eye contact with strangers still happily gather in large numbers by the Thames for the New Year’s Eve fireworks. They would get a far better view at home on television — it’s not really about the fireworks, but about being part of something communal (公共的).
There’s no guarantee (保证) that this latest campaign to reconnect will succeed wherever others have failed. But if there ever a moment to stop social disbelief it may start a fire to warm a world that sometimes feels cold. Wherever my train friend is now, I hope he’s still talking.
1. The author introduced her train friend to .A.share her most memorable but boring journey |
B.express her deep regret for losing touch with him |
C.show that talking to strangers can add interest to life |
D.explain why people are becoming indifferent |
A.doubtful | B.supportive | C.confused | D.disappointed |
A.“Tube Chat”, failed in its attempts to unite strangers together |
B.it’s hard to break the social rule about not talking to strangers |
C.people have a wish to be socially connected by nature |
D.“Tube Chat” made some difference to reconnecting people |
A.Keep our desire to connect. | B.Avoid talking to strangers. |
C.Show respect for social disbelief | D.Socialize with our friends. |
【推荐3】It is now possible to watch live sport on television on any day of the week, and the present amount of reporting will undoubtedly increase further in years to come. This is certainly having an influence on the live sports events themselves, and there are both benefits and shortcomings to this.
What are the benefits of this televised sport?
However, there will be some disadvantages if so much sport is on television. Considering football again, many small clubs have suffered financial losses recently, as they cannot compete with the large ones.
In a word, watching live sport on television has both good and bad effects. Televised sport has created many chances and benefited certain people and clubs very much.
A.Why has there been such growth in televised sport? |
B.Why are there so many benefits of watching live sport on television? |
C.Televised sport can be helpful in increasing people’s value of teamwork. |
D.There has been a general falling in ticket sales, especially among smaller clubs. |
E.Through televised sport, more people have become interested in actually playing sport. |
F.One obvious advantage of televised sport is the money provided by television companies. |
G.However, it has also been responsible for changing the nature of live sports events for ever. |
【推荐1】Deep in the middle of Sri Lanka, a massive column of rock reaches out from the green tropical forest. It is 660 feet tall and features frescoes (壁画), graffiti, and landscaped gardens.
The rock is known as Sigiriya and holds a special place in the island's cultural history.
It was established as the stronghold of a king over 1,500 years ago, and today the Sigiriya complex stands as one of the earliest preserved examples of ancient urban planning.
Located in the Central Province, the column of rock is somewhat central to the country. The rock is known as Sihagiri, meaning "Lion Rock", a nod to the giant animal carved from stone which greeted visitors at the entrance.
In 476 BC. King Dhatusena ruled over Sri Lanka. One of his illegal sons, Kashyapa, wanted the throne (王位). Kashyapa overthrew Dhatusena and drove his brother Moggallana to Southern India. Kashyapa crowned himself king in 477 BC.
King Kashyapa chose Sigiriya as his palace because its position was an advantage to the defensive stronghold, offering fantastic 360-degree views. Plans to build a city quickly unfolded and after several years, the Sigiriya complex had become a business center for the new King.
Sigiriya was both a palace and a fortress (堡垒); the overall complex featured five gates and measured just under 3 km by just over 1 km. The site plan consisted of a fort,an upper palace on the top of the rock,and lower palaces at ground level. The king also constructed gardens throughout,and for protection a river with walls surrounded the complex.
Frescoes decorate the western side of the rock, along with the mirror wall, a brick face covered in a highly-polished white plaster. When new, the wall was said to be able to produce Reflections.
Over time the Mirror Wall became a graffiti board, covered in verses written by visitors. Known as "Sigiri Graffiti", some of the messages date to the 8th century CE.
1. It is implied in the passage that Sigiriya was built to ______________.A.preserve the culture of Sri Lanka | B.prove the ancient urban planning |
C.keep the King from being attacked | D.protect the green tropical forest |
A.have a reflection before the Mirror Wall |
B.leave comments on the Mirror Wall |
C.draw beautiful paintings of girls on the wall |
D.be lost in thought before the Mirror Wall |
A.Its entrance is carved like a lion. | B.Its gardens are at ground level. |
C.Its western side is a mirror. | D.Its palaces are on the top of the rock. |
A.The giant lions in Sri Lanka. | B.The pearl of the Indian Ocean. |
C.The Lion Rock of Sri Lanka. | D.The mirror wall in a rock. |
【推荐2】Have you ever dreamed of meeting top scientists in person? If so, what would you want to ask them? For Tan Fanglin, a 15-year-old girl from No.2 High School of East China Normal University in Shanghai, her dream of meeting top scientists has already come true.
In October, she attended the World Laureates Forum(论坛)for a second time. Tan was by far the youngest participant among the scientists invited to be at the meeting of the world's sharpest minds. Her discovery about the relationship between the Fibonacci sequence(菲波那契数列)and Bézout numbers has won her many prizes in youth innovation competitions. This finding has been praised by the famous Canadian mathematician, Professor Rankin. According to Guangming Daily, Rankin has been studying the same theme for five years but with no conclusions.
From a very young age, Tan has always been fascinated by mathematics. This is largely because of the influence of her father, who teaches mathematics in University. But she had not participated in any Mathematics Olympiad exams before. According to Xu Jun, Tan's head teacher from her middle and high school, she doesn't take after-school classes or too many extra exercises either. Her mastering of Further Mathematics and her good grades in school are thanks to the right study method.
Attending this forum enabled Tan to get more inspiration from top scientists. She asked Professor Miesenbock, the 2019 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize winner, what he considered were the best personal qualities for conducting scientific research. Miesenbock encouraged her not to lose her passion and love for what she does. He stressed that people all knew that even Thomas Edison went through hundreds of unsuccessful attempts before finally inventing the light bulb. Tan has met many barriers in her research and often feels upset. The words made Tan feel inspired. "I will keep my curiosity and interests in mathematics and overcome any obstacles(障碍)in my research," she told Chinese Business View.
1. What does the underlined word "fascinated" in the third paragraph mean?A.threatened | B.refused |
C.discovered | D.attracted |
A.Tan has realized her dream of meeting top scientists. |
B.Tan is one of the youngest participants in the World Laureates Forum. |
C.When she was young,she took part in many Mathematics Olympiad exams. |
D.Tan's discovery has achieved a breakthrough after studying the theme for 5 years. |
A.Tan has seldom met obstacles in her research. |
B.Tan often feels undefeated when meeting barriers. |
C.Inspired by Miesenbock, Tan is determined to overcome difficulties in research. |
D.Tan has the best personal qualities for conducting scientific research in Miesenbock's eyes. |
A.Top Minds Inspire Student. |
B.Failure is the Mother of Success. |
C.Loving What You Do, a Way to Success. |
D.The Elder One Grows, the More He Gets. |
【推荐3】This year’s flu season is pretty scary. To try to minimize the effects, public officials are still urging anyone who hasn’t yet gotten their flu shot to get one as soon as possible. However, even if every single person got a shot in the arm, the vaccine(疫 苗)—with its excellent 36 percent effectiveness—would not prevent everyone from getting infected with the annoying virus. Knowledge is power, so here's what goes on in your body when you come down with the flu.
The influenza virus primarily attacks your nose, throat, and the tubes that lead to your lungs. But the flu is so much more than that. Your muscles ache, your head hurts, and your appetite goes down, among other things. To our surprise, almost all of these symptoms have less to do with the virus itself than with your immune( 免 疫 的)response to them. Unfortunately, the very defense you have in place to get rid of the flu is the reason you feel so painful when you recover.
The virus usually enters through your mouth, typically by way of your hands . But it takes a few days for symptoms to set in. While this process might cause some harm to your nose and throat, it's nothing major, and nothing like the symptoms that typically accompany a bad or even mild case of the flu.
The real fun starts when your immune system begins to fight. Your immune system comes in two parts: the innate system and the adaptive. The innate immune system is essentially an all-purpose tool. As soon as your body senses the presence of any injury or invader , the innate immune system launches into action by producing tiny proteins called cytokines and chemokines. The cytokines reproduce almost immediately and start to attack the virus. This increase in immune cells creates a serious inflammation( 炎 症 ) throughout the body. But the worst is still to come.
Meanwhile, the chemokines work with the adaptive immune system to help create T cells. These cells are a special type of white blood cell that works in a much more specific way: They find the influenza virus, identify what's special about it, and create something unique on their surface that finds and destroys similar invaders.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?A.All the vaccine is not effective. |
B.No one can avoid catching this year's flu. |
C.This year's flu is the most serious one in recent years. |
D.Public health officials have to use a gun when necessary. |
A.Because recovery from illness is painful. |
B.Because your immune system is working against your defense system. |
C.Because your body is fighting hard against the flu. |
D.Because the influenza virus attacks your nose, throat and other parts. |
A.joy | B.battle |
C.action | D.program |
A.The fight between innate immune system and the adaptive. |
B.The categories of immune system. |
C.The way immune system works. |
D.The process of the development of immune system. |
【推荐1】More than 30 volunteers organized by the village Party committee were participating in a group effort to produce gauze (纱布) masks, alcohol liquid and sterilizing powder (消毒粉) at a factory in southwest China's Yunnan Province to help arm the fight against the novel coronavirus (新型冠状病毒). Some villagers also had given away their sewing machines for the production work at Yunnan Xiangsha Medical Material Company in Anning City.
Volunteers addressed the labor, shortage during the Spring Festival holiday at the factory, which had begun to produce on. Friday. They received body temperature checks and training before the work started, with volunteers able to use the sewing machines being more than 50 years old on average. Seventy-nine-year-old Chu Shudong, who had 30 years of tailoring experience, volunteered to repair the sewing machines.“I've not done tailoring for 20 years. I'm old and my eyesight is poor. I hope to do what I can here and make more masks so that people are protected, ”he said. The youngest volunteer, 22-year-old Bi Qiling, joined the: team. She's available because the new semester at her university in Beijing was delayed because of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“With the volunteers, our production capacity is higher. We have 65 people, divided into two groups, and work on two shifts (轮班) a day. All the machines are working around the clock,”said Hang Kaijin, head of the factory, which has the ability to produce two tons of alcohol liquid and 200 kilograms of sterilizing power every day.
It sent its production information to the city government on a daily basis and the products were all allocated by the government.
1. What did villagers donate for the production?A.Raw materials. | B.Clean gauze. |
C.Sewing machines. | D.Alcohol liquid. |
A.The average age of the volunteers able to use sewing machines was over 50. |
B.Chu Shudong, an experienced tailor at the age of 78, offered to do some sewing. |
C.Volunteers having 30 years of tailoring experience should receive body temperature checks. . |
D.Bi Qiling, a girl, was turned down by the university because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. |
A.Most of the volunteers worked twice a day. |
B.All of the volunteers. worked. 12 hours in the daytime. |
C.Two groups of volunteers took turns to work 24 hours a day. |
D.Volunteers were divided into two groups, each working 8 hours. |
A.great minds think alike | B.more hands produce a stronger flame |
C.two heads are better than one | D.God helps those who help themselves . |
【推荐2】Last spring, I started a new exercise class. As someone who dislikes doing jumping jacks, burpees, and push-ups, I found the workouts surprisingly enjoyable, at least for a while. But after several months, I was overly familiar with the class routine, and my excitement had been replaced with boredom.
A 2016 study for the American Psychological Association estimated that 63 percent of us suffer from boredom regularly. And research shows that chronically(长期地) bored people tend to fall into depression, drug abuse and anxiety.
But boredom isn’t a character weakness. It’s a state caused by something called hedonic(享乐的) adaptations, or the tendency to get used to things over time. This explains why activities and even relationships that were initially satisfying can sometimes lose their appeal.
Humans are remarkably good at growing accustomed to changes in our lives, both positive and negative, according to Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside. This is a good thing when we are faced with adjusting to setbacks such as losing a loved one or a job. But becoming insensitive to positive events can prove harmful. Think about the last time you got a raise, bought a car, or moved. At first, these experiences can bring immense joy. But over time, they become part of the routine. We are ready for the next new thing to excite us.
While boredom can be a downer when it removes the pleasure from our lives, it can provide a sort of service. “If our emotional reactions didn’t weaken with time, we couldn’t recognize new changes that may signal rewards or threats,” Lyubomirsky says. In other words, we’d ignored cues signaling us to make important decisions about our relationships and safety.
It’s not unlike how our reactions change when we fall in love or experience loss. Being caught in the glow of happiness or the web of sadness can make us distracted or forgetful. We may miss signals that indicate whether we’re about to make a smart move or a disastrous one. The good news is that understanding the connection between hedonic adaptation and boredom can help us.
A study published in 2018 in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin showed that finding unusual ways to get along with familiar people, places, and things can make everyday experiences feel exciting. In other words, sometimes you’ve just got to shake things up!
1. The author talked about his new exercise class in Paragraph 1 to ______.A.introduce the topic of boredom | B.show the negative effects of exercise |
C.prove the significance of exercise | D.encourage people to work out regularly |
A.Three in five people are bound to live with boredom. |
B.Occasional boredom has no side effects at all. |
C.Lasting boredom may affect people negatively. |
D.63 percent of people are victims of anxiety disorder. |
A.They possess some character weaknesses. |
B.They adjust themselves to negative changes. |
C.They get accustomed to previous happenings. |
D.They have difficulty handling human relations. |
A.Emotional reactions result in decision making. |
B.Emotional reactions determine the social relationship. |
C.Boredom leads to being distracted or forgetful. |
D.Boredom helps the discovery of new changes. |
A.the tiny excitement of familiarity | B.some fresh ideas for keeping life fresh |
C.the reasons for accepting boredom | D.some methods to mix things up |
【推荐3】Eliud Kipchoge’s extraordinary sub-two-hour marathon in Vienna on Saturday is one of the greatest sporting achievements—recording a time that has never been achieved before, again. It is a time on the fringes (边缘) of what scientists believe is humanly possible.
“It is a great feeling to make history in sport after Sir Roger Bannister in 1954. I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited,” Kipchoge said afterwards.
Is he right? Where are the limits of human ability? And how close are we to reaching them?
Raph Brandon, head of science for England cricket, distinguishes between achievements which are constrained (限制) by human anatomy (解剖学), and those which require human determination or skill.
“When Bolt ran 9.58 in Berlin 10 years ago, if you analyse the split times it’s very hard to imagine where the improvement comes from,” said Brandon, “The Usain Bolt 100m or the two-hour marathon, they’re in that category.”
Multi-day, ultra-endurance events, such as Thomas’s cross-Channel swim, are different, Brandon said.
“They need determination, psychology and bloody-mindedness to go that little bit further. Those people will continue to do unique things because you’re not really taking the body to its anatomical limit. It’s more a question of how much you’re prepared to consume and exhaust yourself.”
And there’s a third category, those sporting endeavours (努力) that rely on hand-eye coordination: the goal tallies of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and the batting of Virat Kohli Steve Smith or Don Bradman, who trained by hitting a golf ball with a stump against a wall to become the best batsman ever to play Test cricket.
Equipment has been a factor for many sports. NFL receivers wear gloves that enable them to make improbable one-handed catches. The GB cycling team swept the board at the Olympics because of their amazing new clothing tech.
The line between what is fair and unfair is blurry. Kipchoge’s sub-two-hour run will not be officially recognized. He ran behind a car which beamed a green laser on to the ground in front of him. Teams of pacemakers, 41 in total, ran in a v-formation to protect him from headwinds (逆风). He wore specially designed shoes and the time and date of the event were picked only after detailed weather forecasting.
Jo Davies, a sport psychologist, says recent studies have shown athletes can push themselves harder because of their perception of exhaustion.
Other research published this year which looked at athletes who had won multiple gold medals found that they were different in several important ways. They had often had a shocking and upsetting life experience and had suffered significant setbacks in their performance during their careers, as well as personality traits of determination, perseverance and perfectionism.
So whether or not those limits have been reached, there will be no shortage of people prepared to try to go beyond them.
1. Why is Eliud Kipchoge’s sub-two-hour marathon considered extraordinary?A.It was made in Vienna on a weekend. |
B.It pushed the limits of human ability. |
C.It proved that there was no boundary of his achievements. |
D.It was greater than the record kept by Sir Roger Bannister. |
A.they need great determination or skills | B.they can be achieved via equipment |
C.they rely on hand-eye coordination | D.they are reaching anatomical limit |
A.he was followed by pacemakers | B.he was caught in headwinds |
C.he got much special help | D.he didn’t run on the picked day |
A.Jo Davies believes that athletes make progress in the same way |
B.anatomical limit prevents athletes from having sad life experience |
C.an athlete who has suffered setbacks will win gold medals |
D.whether an athlete can succeed or not may depend on himself |