If you are on a bus or train, you’ve probably noticed that most people spend the ride looking at their cell phones. No doubt, they think doing nothing but sit there would be boring, so they prefer distracting themselves. This squares (一致) with past research showing people will do almost anything to avoid boredom.
But results from new research suggest we should rethink that choice. We are probably underestimating (低估) how enjoyable and interesting it is to do nothing but pay attention to wherever our thoughts take us.
In a series of experiments, researchers brought Japanese university students into a lab and told them that they would soon go into a room without their belongings to wait and do nothing but sit for 20 minutes. While waiting, they could think about anything, but were not allowed to sleep, walk, or exercise; look at a smartphone; or check a watch. Before entering the room, they were asked to predict how much they’d enjoy waiting and thinking, how interesting or boring it would be, and how much it would engage them so that they would lose themselves in it and forget the time. Then, they went in the room to wait. Afterward, they reported how waiting actually felt—how engaging, pleasurable, interesting, or boring it was. In some variations of the experiment, they waited in a dark room without any stimulation (刺激). Either way, researchers found that the participants (参与者) were not good at predicting how much they’d enjoy doing nothing but think. Even in a dark room with no stimulation, they ended up being more engaged and interested than they’d expected.
“People don’t recognize the real value of waiting/thinking,” says researcher Kou Murayama of the Motivation Science Lab at the University of Tübingen in Germany and coauthor of the study. “Once they engage in it, though, they appreciate it.” Spontaneous (自发的) thinking often involves mind-wandering, daydreaming, thinking about the future, or recollecting memories, all of which can have upsides. For example, daydreaming and mind-wandering have been found to improve our mood, creativity, goal-setting, and job performance.
Though it’s hard to know if these results with students would apply (适用) to the rest of us, Murayama did at least compare German students to Japanese students and found both groups underestimated the pleasure of waiting to a similar degree. This suggests that it’s not necessarily a culturally-driven phenomenon (现象), though more research would need to be done to check that.
Overall, says Murayama, the results suggest we rethink whipping out our cell phones every time we are waiting or bored. Instead, we might benefit from having a moment to think freely about whatever catches our fancy—and enjoy ourselves just as much.
1. What can we learn from the experiments mentioned in the passage?| A．Participants could sleep when they stayed in the lab. |
| B．Participants felt more interested than they had expected. |
| C．Participants could enter the dark room with their watches. |
| D．Participants predicted they would enjoy waiting and thinking. |
| A．upset | B．surprise | C．confuse | D．attract |
| A．More studies are needed to support the findings. |
| B．Both Germans and Japanese undervalued the pleasure of waiting |
| C．Underestimating the pleasure of waiting may not be related to culture. |
| D．The study results with students would be able to apply to the rest of us. |
| A．To present the results of new research. |
| B．To introduce a culturally-driven phenomenon. |
| C．To discuss the true meaning of waiting and thinking. |
| D．To advise us to think freely when we have nothing to do. |
相似题推荐
Have you ever had an experience where you meet someone new, learn his name and think to yourself, “Wow, they really look just like their names!” What does this mean, exactly? Scientists are suggesting that humans manage to contact people’s names with their appearance, and can even guess someone’s name based on how they look.
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel collected thousands of photos of people’s faces. They labeled (贴标签) each photo with four names. Then, they asked volunteers to guess which of the four names was correct.
The volunteers were able to guess the right name 38 percent of the time. It seems that humans are able to recognize (认出) certain characteristics of faces that can give them clues about someone’s name, Reader’s Digest reported.
However, this only works when we’re looking at names within our own culture. In addition, the volunteers were not as good at guessing the real names of people who use nicknames (昵称) more often than their real names. This shows that a person’s appearance is influenced by his name only if they use it often.
This kind of face-name matching happens “because of a process of self-fulfilling prophecy (自我实现预言), as we become what other people expect us to become,” Ruth Mayo from the university told science news website EurekAlert.
Earlier studies have shown that gender and race stereotypes (刻板印象) can influence a person’s appearance. The researchers believe there are also similar stereotypes about names. For example, people manage to think that men named Bob should have rounder faces because the word itself looks round. People may think that women named Rose are beautiful. They expect them to be delicate and feminine, just like the flower they are named for.
1. What does the passage mainly tell us?| A．People can guess others’ names based on their appearance. |
| B．There are several ways to guess a stranger’s name. |
| C．A person’s appearance can be influenced by three factors. |
| D．It’s not polite to ask strangers about their names. |
| A．their different cultures | B．a self-fulfilling prophecy |
| C．racial stereotypes | D．their living environment |
| A．wear glasses | B．have big eyes |
| C．look beautiful | D．have round faces |
| A．Nicknames have a bigger influence on people’s appearance. |
| B．Gender and race have no influence on a person’s appearance. |
| C．The volunteers guessed nearly four names correctly out of ten. |
| D．People are good at recognizing the different characteristics of faces. |
【推荐2】Daniel has got used to his life. Now he tries to live more healthily.
Today, people want to do sports and exercise to keep healthy. But some of them have some wrong ideas about it.
“A plate of chicken is a good meal before games because it has much energy.”
The best meal before games should have carbohydrates（碳水化合物）. Food like potatoes, bread, bananas are rich in it, but chicken and meat are not.
“ 1 ”
No. Morning is a good time to exercise, but it may not be good for you. If an afternoon or an evening is better for you, and you enjoy the feeling of getting healthy, then you can exercise at that time. So choose any time to exercise!
“If you drink water when you exercise, you’ll feel tired.”
You must have some water when you exercise. And after exercising, you also need to have some water. If you don’t drink any water, then you may feel tired.
“Exercising every day is very important.”
Wrong. Too much exercise is bad for us. You need to give your body a day of rest.
1. This is most probably from ________.| A．a lunch menu | B．a sports stamp | C．a travel postcard | D．a health book |
| A．a good meal | B．a plate of chicken | C．carbohydrates | D．bread |
| A．The best time to exercise is early in the morning. |
| B．The best time to exercise is late in the afternoon. |
| C．The best time to exercise is early in the evening. |
| D．The best time to exercise is anytime during the day. |
| A．Reasons for sports and exercises | B．Questions of sports and exercise |
| C．Best time for sports and exercise | D．Wrong ideas about sports and exercise |
Salt is so common in our life that we use it to make our food
taste better every day. But salt has many other uses that you may have
never tried before.
Before you throw away the badlooking apple, try some salt. Put the apple in water with a little salt, and the apple will look better soon. |
Milk and salad both stay fresher when you put a bit of salt in it. |
 Put a little salt in your shoes to take care of bad smells. You can also use salt to remove the onions from your hands. |
Someone left a glass on your wooden table, and now there's a mark. Mix a few drops of water together with a spoon of salt. Then clean the mark until it disappears. |
Take care of bad breath with a mixture of salt and baking soda(小苏打). Pour some water into the mixture, and wash your mouth. |
D. Ugly Marks E. Taste Better F. Stay Fresher
【推荐1】With her eyes always feeling tired as she prepared for an exam, 16-year-old Li Xiang went to hospital with her parents in January. She was shocked when she found out that her eyesight dropped from 5.0 to 4.6. “A few of my friends have had the same experience lately,” Li Xiang said.
In fact, poor eyesight among Chinese primary and high school students increased by 11.7% in the first six months of 2020, according to the Ministry of Education.
To protect students’ eyesight, the Chinese government has worked out new requirements for school supplies and equipment that will take effect on March l, 2022. For example, according to the requirements, the size of text in students textbooks should be no smaller than nine-point.
Teachers should also avoid using projectors and other multimedia equipment that are too bright, Beijing Daily reported.
There are also requirements for desks and classroom lights. For example, these lights should give off as little blue light as possible.
Blue light is bad for our eyes, as it can kill the photoreceptor cells we need for vision, according to Harvard Medical School. Many of the electronic devices we use every day, including our phones and computer screens, give off blue light.
By 2050, half of the world’s population (nearly 5 billion)will be nearsighted, according to a study in the journal Ophthalmology. The main reason for this is that people’s lifestyles have changed. They spend less time outdoors and more time looking at screens.
The government has taken steps to protect students’ eyesight in China. In May, 2020, the National Health Commission wanted schools to make sure that students have at least two hours of outdoor activities a day.
1. Through Li Xiang’s experience, the writer tells us that ________.| A．she still has good eyesight | B．she should have gone to hospital earlier |
| C．most Chinese students wear glasses | D．many Chinese students have bad eyesight |
| A．要求 | B．地方 | C．规则 | D．价格 |
a. schools to use textbooks with larger size of text
b. teachers to avoid using over-bright multimedia equipment
c. schools not to use blue light bulbs
d. schools to use lights that give off less blue light
| A．a b c | B．a b d | C．a c d | D．bed |
| A．People spend much time reading too many books. |
| B．It takes people much time to play with the electronic devices. |
| C．Some jobs have to require people to use their eyes for too long. |
| D．Many people have to study or work too hard in the dark light. |
| A．Students should go outside to read books. | B．Students must go outside with friends. |
| C．Students should go out to relax every day. | D．Teachers shouldn’t want students to read more |
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the king’s baker (面包师) in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window in the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery (面包房) into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o’clock three hundr ed houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was t he worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St. Paul’s and the Guildhall among them.
Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire. People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.
The fire stopped only when the king finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect (建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow; but he did build more than fifty churches, among them new St. Paul’s.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.
1. It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that__________.
| A．some people lost their lives |
| B．the birds in the sky were killed by the fire |
| C．many famous buildings were destroyed |
| D．the king’s bakery was burned down |
| A．Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire. |
| B．Because Pepys also wrote about the fire. |
| C．To show that poor people suffered most. |
| D．To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire. |
| A．The king and his soldiers came to help. |
| B．All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed. |
| C．People managed to get enough water from the river. |
| D．Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down. |
【推荐3】Stand in front of a mirror and look at it. How much do you really know about the person in it?
It’s not easy to know ourselves. To help students, schools across China are providing more classes and activities on self-knowledge.
Liu Yue, a teacher from Chengdu Yucai Middle School, has recently given her students a useful tool. “It’s called the Johari Window, developed by two US psychologists,” said Liu, “It has four areas about one’s self: open area (that everyone knows about), hidden area (that only you know), blind spot (that everyone knows except you) and unknown area (that nobody knows). Using this tool, students successfully saw themselves in a new way.”
“I’m most curious about my blind spot,” said eighth-grader Yang Manfei. “So I did a survey.” The results showed that Yang easily gets worried and impatient because of procrastination (拖延症). “That’s a bad habit” Yang said.
“I find the unknown area more amazing,” said Sun Boyin. “It means everyone has lots of potential.” He wasn’t good at math at first. “But I set a goal and did many math exercises. Now I’m much better at math. The unknown part of my math ability is getting clearer!” Sun said.
When it came to ________, most students kept silent. “I’m scared to show my secrets deep down,” said Li Yixuan “Then one classmate stood up and said his favourite cartoon is Tom and Jerry. I thought: am I brave enough to show my childish hobby? Perhaps not. I want my classmates to see me as a grown-up, not a kid. But then I realized that I don’t find that classmate silly. I think he has the power to be himself.”
“Show yourself and make yourself better—that’s the best lesson I learned,” Li said.
1. Which of the following can be put into “________” in Paragraph 6?| A．the open area |
| B．the hidden area |
| C．the blind spot |
| D．the unknown area |
| A．Everyone has a part of that is childish. |
| B．You have the right to keep your secrets hidden. |
| C．People prefer to be grown-ups in front of others. |
| D．Showing your true self helps you improve yourself. |
| A．To tell the importance of knowing yourself. |
| B．To introduce a method of knowing yourself. |
| C．To tell the stories of students knowing themselves. |
| D．To introduce the specific knowledge about your potential. |
①Imagine (想象) you are collecting some information about winter traditions in northern China. You click on a link (链接) for a video that you think could be useful to you. The video, however, takes time to load (下载). After ten seconds, it hasn’t even started playing yet. Will you continue to wait patiently?
②Ramesh Sitaraman is an American computer scientist. He placed 6.7 million people in a situation like the one above. According to his study, people would begin giving up on a video after only two seconds if it still hadn’t started loading yet. And with every additional (额外的) second that would pass without the video starting to play, another 5.8 percent of them would click on the “Close” icon.
③Sitaraman’s study, along with several other studies, shows people are becoming less and less patient. Because of the faster and faster Internet speeds, we are used to receiving “instant gratification” (及时满足). We expect to get what we want without having to wait. When we don’t get what we want at once, we become worried or even angry. This happens not only in front of our screens.
④Take one of my friends for example. One day last summer, he was cycling home after work. At one crossing, he had to stop because of a red traffic light. After waiting for 30 seconds, he felt impatient and made a crazy decision: Go in whichever (无论哪个) direction he saw there was a green light. The decision didn’t really save him time. In fact, he took a detour and needed 20 minutes more than usual to get back home.
⑤My friend is not alone. Whenever there are traffic jams, many drivers try to quickly change lanes (变道)—a main reason for accidents. Being patient doesn’t just save you trouble. It is also key to your success in life.
⑥The next time you want to get instant gratification, ask yourself: Why are you in such a hurry? Are you worried that you might miss out on something important? Keep in mind that good things do take time.
1. Why does the writer ask readers to imagine putting themselves in the situation in paragraph (段落)1?| A．To make people think about if they are patient. |
| B．To introduce the right way of clicking on links. |
| C．To recommend readers how to find useful videos. |
| D．To describe the importance of Chinese traditions. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．抄近道走 | B．长久等待 | C．原地转圈 | D．绕远路走 |
| A．①……②③……④⑤……⑥ | B．①②……③④⑤…⑥ |
| C．①②……③④……⑤⑥ | D．①……②③④……⑤⑥ |
| A．The writer strongly supports it. | B．The writer doesn’t agree about it. |
| C．The writer can’t decide if it is right. | D．The writer shows great interest in it. |
| A．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| B．Learning without thinking is a dangerous thing. |
| C．He who laughs last laughs best. |
| D．God helps those who help themselves. |
| E．Laughter is the best medicine. |
| F．An apple a day keeps the doctor away. |
【推荐3】Do you have a good sleep every night? March 21 is World Sleep Day. It’s a good time to think about our sleeping habits (习惯) and get more sleep. Sleep is important (重要的) for our heath.
But today, many people have bad habits. They use their phones to talk with friends on Wechat (微信) or play games on bed. They get too excited before sleep. Some other people have too much stress (压力) from work. It makes them have bad sleep.
Losing (失去) one or two hours of sleep every night can make us tired or get ill. “If you don’t get enough sleep at night, you may sleep in class. If you sleep, you don’t learn anything,” said Mary, a teacher from a middle school.
How much sleep do you need? For 12 to 15-year-old students, you need 8.5 to 9 hours a day. The best time to go to bed is 10:00-10:30 at night.
How to sleep well?
✧ Stop using your phone before sleep.
✧ Try to go to bed at the same time every day, even on weekends and holiday.
✧ Listen to beautiful music before you go to bed.
1. The date of World Sleep Day is ________.
| A．March 21 | B．March 12 | C．May 21 | D．May 12 |
| A．12-15 | B．10.5-11 | C．9-10 | D．8.5-9 |
| A．伤感 | B．兴奋 | C．困乏 | D．舒服 |
| A．Everybody has bad sleep. |
| B．Some people have good sleep because they have much stress from work. |
| C．Middles school students should go to bed before 11:30. |
| D．You can’t play games on the phone before sleep. |
| A．Good Sleep is Important | B．Don’t Use the Phone |
| C．The Best Time to Sleep | D．World Sleep Day |
