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1 . According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions(份), it's the beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.

To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, 95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly(表面上)participate in a study about movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.

Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.

For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case, she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.

The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we're making decisions. If this fellow participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she's having” effect. However, we'll adjust the influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I'll hold back a bit because I see the results of his eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I'll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can't I?

1. What is the recent study mainly about?
A.Food safety.B.Movie viewership.
C.Consumer demand.D.Eating behavior.
2. What does the underlined word “beanpoles” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A.Big eaters.B.Overweight persons.
C.Picky eaters.D.Tall thin persons.
3. Why did the researchers hire the actor?
A.To see how she would affect the participants.
B.To test if the participants could recognize her.
C.To find out what she would do in the two tests.
D.To study why she could keep her weight down.
4. On what basis do we “adjust the influence” according to the last paragraph?
A.How hungry we are.B.How slim we want to be.
C.How we perceive others.D.How we feel about the food.
2020-07-11更新 | 7438次组卷 | 47卷引用:广东省汕头市潮阳实验学校2021-2022学年高三上学期摸底考试英语试题
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2 . When you were trying to figure out what to buy for the environmentalist on your holiday list, fur probably didn’t cross your mind. But some ecologists and fashion (时装)enthusiasts are trying to bring back the market for fur made from nutria(海狸鼠).

Unusual fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn have showcased nutria fur made into clothes in different styles. “It sounds crazy to talk about guilt-free fur-unless you understand that the nutria are destroying vast wetlands every year”, says Cree McCree, project director of Righteous Fur.

Scientists in Louisiana were so concerned that they decided to pay hunters $5 a tail. Some of the fur ends up in the fashion shows like the one in Brooklyn last month.

Nutria were brought there from Argentina by fur farmers and let go into the wild. “The ecosystem down there can’t handle this non-native species(物种).It’s destroying the environment. It’s them or us.” says Michael Massimi, an expert in this field.

The fur trade kept nutria in check for decades,but when the market for nutria collapsed in the late 1980s,the cat-sized animals multiplied like crazy.

Biologist Edmond Mouton runs the nutria control program for Louisiana. He says it’s not easy to convince people that nutria fur is green, but he has no doubt about it. Hunters bring in more than 300,000 nutria tails a year, so part of Mouton’s job these days is trying to promote fur.

Then there’s Righteous Fur and its unusual fashion. Model Paige Morgan says,”To give people a guilt-free option that they can wear without someone throwing paint on them-I think that’s going to be a massive thing, at least here in New York.” Designer Jennifer Anderson admits it took her a while to come around to the opinion that using nutria fur for her creations is morally acceptable. She is trying to come up with a label to attach to nutria fashions to show it is eco-friendly.

1. What is the purpose of the fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn?
A.To promote guilt-free fur.
B.To expand the fashion market.
C.To introduce a new brand.
D.To celebrate a winter holiday.
2. Why are scientists concerned about nutria?
A.Nutria damage the ecosystem seriously.
B.Nutria are an endangered species.
C.Nutria hurt local cat-sized animals.
D.Nutria are illegally hunted.
3. What does the underlined word “collapsed” in paragraph 5 probably mean?
A.Boomed.B.Became mature.C.Remained stable.D.Crashed.
4. What can we infer about wearing fur in New York according to Morgan?
A.It’s formal.B.It’s risky.C.It’s harmful.D.It’s traditional.
2020-07-08更新 | 7080次组卷 | 33卷引用:2023届河南省豫北名校全真模拟三模英语试题

3 . Albert Einstein’s 1915 masterpiece “The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity” is the first and still the best introduction to the subject, and I recommend it as such to students. But it probably wouldn’t be publishable in a scientific journal today.

Why not? After all, it would pass with flying colours the tests of correctness and significance. And while popular belief holds that the paper was incomprehensible to its first readers, in fact many papers in theoretical physics are much more difficult.

As the physicist Richard Feynman wrote, “There was a time when the newspapers said that only 12 men understood the theory of relativity. I do believe there might have been a time when only one man did, because he was the only guy who caught on, before he wrote his paper. But after people read the paper a lot understood the theory of relativity in some way or other, certainly more than 12.”

No, the problem is its style. It starts with a leisurely philosophical discussion of space and time and then continues with an exposition of known mathematics. Those two sections, which would be considered extraneous today, take up half the paper. Worse, there are zero citations of previous scientists’ work, nor are there any graphics. Those features might make a paper not even get past the first editors.

A similar process of professionalization has transformed other parts of the scientific landscape. Requests for research time at major observatories or national laboratories are more rigidly structured. And anything involving work with human subjects, or putting instruments in space, involves piles of paperwork.

We see it also in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Nobel Prize of high school science competitions. In the early decades of its 78-year history, the winning projects were usually the sort of clever but naive, amateurish efforts one might expect of talented beginners working on their own. Today, polished work coming out of internships(实习) at established laboratories is the norm.

These professionalizing tendencies are a natural consequence of the explosive growth of modern science. Standardization and system make it easier to manage the rapid flow of papers, applications and people. But there are serious downsides. A lot of unproductive effort goes into jumping through bureaucratic hoops(繁文缛节), and outsiders face entry barriers at every turn.

Of course, Einstein would have found his way to meeting modern standards and publishing his results. Its scientific core wouldn’t have changed, but the paper might not be the same taste to read.

1. According to Richard Feynman, Einstein’s 1915 paper ________.
A.was a classic in theoretical physics
B.turned out to be comprehensible
C.needed further improvement
D.attracted few professionals
2. What does the underlined word “extraneous” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A.Unrealistic.B.Irrelevant.
C.Unattractive.D.Imprecise.
3. According to the author, what is affected as modern science develops?
A.The application of research findings.
B.The principle of scientific research.
C.The selection of young talents.
D.The evaluation of laboratories.
4. Which would be the best title for this passage?
A.What makes Einstein great?
B.Will science be professionalized?
C.Could Einstein get published today?
D.How will modern science make advances?

4 . When you hear “I have a dream…”, one of the most famous speeches in human history, you’ll never have the idea how the audience on the scene were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther King. Jr. presented his dream, he chose language that would stir the hearts of his audience. Delivering this electrifying(震撼性的) message required emotional intelligence—the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions.

Emotional intelligence has been highly recommended by leaders, policymakers, and educators as the solution to a wide range of social problems. Emotional intelligence is important, but the uncontrolled enthusiasm has obscured (掩盖)a dark side. New evidence shows that when people sharpen their emotional skills, they become better at controlling others. When you’re good at controlling your own emotions, you can hide your true feelings. When you know what others are feeling, you can motivate them to act against their own best interests.

Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotional intelligence. In a research led by University of Toronto professor Jochen Menges, when a leader gave an inspiring speech filled with emotion, the audience was less likely to scrutinize (细察) the message and remembered the content. Ironically(讽刺 的是), audience members were so moved by the speech that they claimed to recall more of it.

The authors call this the awestruck effect, but it might just as easily be described as the dumbstruck effect. One observer reflected that Hitler’s persuasive impact came from his ability to strategically express emotions—he would “tear open his heart”—and these emotions affected his followers to the point that they would “stop thinking critically and just emote.”

Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our abilities to reason. If their values are out of step with our own, the results can be destructive. New evidence suggests that when people have self-serving motives, emotional intelligence becomes a weapon for controlling others.

Throwing light on this dark side of emotional intelligence is one mission of a research team led by University College London professor Martin Kilduff. According to these experts, emotional intelligence helps people disguise (伪装) one set of emotions while expressing another for personal gain. Professor Kilduff’s team writes, “The strategic disguise of one’s own emotions and the controlling of others’ emotions for strategic ends are behaviors evident not only on Shakespeare’s stage but also in the offices and corridors where power and influence are traded.”

Of course, people aren’t always using emotional intelligence for   nefarious ends. More often than not, high EQ is helpful in most aspects of our life. Emotional intelligence—like any skill—can be used for good or evil. So whether it is a gift or a curse lies in your hand.

1. Why does the author mention Martin Luther King, Jr?
A.To honor the great leader for his courage.
B.To recommend his speech to other leaders.
C.To introduce the major topic to readers.
D.To advocate a society with fewer problems.
2. Which of the following belongs to a dark side of emotional intelligence?
A.Developing the capability to control one’s own emotion.
B.Influencing people to do what brings disadvantages to them.
C.Appealing to the audience to concentrate and remember more.
D.Encouraging the moved audience to learn more of the speech.
3. What is the dumbstruck effect of Hitler’s emotional intelligence?
A.His followers would tear open their hearts to him.
B.His followers would express emotions strategically.
C.His followers would lose the ability to reason properly.
D.His followers would develop the self-serving motives.
4. How do people use their emotional intelligence for personal gain?
A.They disguise their true emotions and show another one.
B.They help their colleagues to build up confidence.
C.They present their strategic behaviors on the stage.
D.They lower their own dignity to gain popularity.
5. Which may mean the same as the underlined word in the last paragraph ?
A.Immoral.B.Unimportant.C.Illegal.D.Uncontrollable.
6. What would be the best title for the passage?
A.The benefits of emotional intelligence.
B.The advantages and disadvantages of emotions.
C.The reasons for using emotional skills.
D.The dark side of emotional intelligence.
2020-12-15更新 | 1551次组卷 | 6卷引用:2022届天津市耀华中学高三高考实战摸底测试8英语试题
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5 . Great work is work that makes a difference in people’s lives, writes David Sturt, Executive Vice President of the O.C. Tanner Institute, in his book Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love. Sturt insists, however, that great work is not just for surgeons or special-needs educators or the founders of organizations trying to eliminate poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The central theme of Great Work, according to Sturt, is that anyone can make a difference in any job. It’s not the nature of the job, but what you do with the job that counts. As proof, Sturt tells the story of a remarkable hospital cleaner named Moses.

In a building filled with doctors and nurses doing great life-saving work, Moses the cleaner makes a difference. Whenever he enters a room, especially a room with a sick child, he engages both patients and parents with his optimism and calm, introducing himself to the child and, Sturt writes, speaking “little comments about light and sunshine and making things clean.” He comments on any progress he sees day by day (“you’re sitting up today, that’s good.”) Moses is no doctor and doesn’t pretend to be, but he has witnessed hundreds of sick children recovering from painful surgery, and parents take comfort from his encouraging words. For Matt and Mindi, whose son McKay was born with only half of a heart, Moses became a close friend. As Sturt explains, “Moses took his innate (与生俱来的) talents (his sensitivity) and his practical wisdom (from years of hospital experience) and combined them into a powerful form of patient and family support that changed the critical-care experience for Mindi, Matt and little McKay.”

How do people like Moses do great work when so many people just work? That was the central question raised by Sturt and his team at the O.C. Tanner Institute, a consulting company specialized in employee recognition and rewards system.

O.C. Tanner launched an exhaustive Great Work study that included surveys to 200 senior executives, a further set of surveys to 1,000 managers and employees working on projects, an in-depth qualitative study of 1.7 million accounts of award-winning work (in the form of nominations (提名) for awards from corporations around the world), and one-on-one interviews with 200 difference makers. The results of the study revealed that those who do great work refuse to be defeated by the constraints of their jobs and are especially able to reframe their jobs: they don’t view their jobs as a list of tasks and responsibilities but see their jobs as opportunities to make a difference. No matter, as Moses so ably exemplifies (例证), what that job may be.

1. According to Sturt, which of the following is TRUE?
A.It’s not the nature of the job, but what you do that makes a difference.
B.Anyone in the world is responsible to delete poverty and change the world.
C.Anyone can make a difference in people’s lives no matter what kind of job he does.
D.Surgeons, special-needs educators and founders of organizations can succeed more easily.
2. According to this passage, how does Moses, a common hospital cleaner, make a difference in people’s lives?
A.By keeping optimistic and calm when facing patients and their parents at hospital.
B.By showing his special gift and working experience when working at hospital.
C.By showing his sympathy and kindness to patients when entering their rooms.
D.By pretending to be a doctor or nurse when entering a room with a sick child.
3. The word “constraints” in the last paragraph probably refers to ______.
A.demandsB.advantagesC.disadvantagesD.limitations
4. What can we infer from the passage?
A.Great work is work that makes a difference in people’s lives no matter what you do.
B.If a boss has trouble recognizing his employees, he can ask O. C. Tanner for advice.
C.Moses makes a difference through his sensitivity and his practical wisdom.
D.Those who do great work are never defeated by others or their jobs themselves.
2020-11-12更新 | 1876次组卷 | 9卷引用:湖南长沙一中2021届高三下学期第三阶段考试英语试题

6 . A robot with a sense of touch may one day feel “pain”, both its own physical pain and sympathy for the pain of its human companions. Such touchy-feely robots are still far off, but advances in robotic touch-sensing are bringing that possibility closer to reality.

Sensors set in soft, artificial skin that can detect both a gentle touch and a painful strike have been hooked up to a robot that can then signal emotions, Asada reported February 15 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This artificial “pain nervous system,” as Asada calls it, may be a small building block for a machine that could ultimately experience pain. Such a feeling might also allow a robot to “sympathize” with a human companion’s suffering.

Asada, an engineer at Osaka University, and his colleagues have designed touch sensors that reliably pick up a range of touches. In a robot system named Affetto, a realistic looking child’s head, these touch and pain signals can be converted to emotional facial expressions.

A touch-sensitive, soft material, as opposed to a rigid metal surface, allows richer interactions between a machine and the world, says neuroscientist Kingson Man of the University of Southern California. Artificial skin “allows the possibility of engagement in truly intelligent ways”.

Such a system, Asada says, might ultimately lead to robots that can recognize the pain of others, a valuable skill for robots designed to help care for people in need, the elderly, for instance.

But there is an important distinction between a robot that responds in a predictable way to a painful strike and a robot that’s able to compute an internal feeling accurately, says Damasio, a neuroscientist also at the University of Southern California. A robot with sensors that can detect touch and pain is “along the lines of having a robot, for example, that smiles when you talk to it,” Damasio says. ‘It’s a device for communication of the machine to a human.” While that’s an interesting development, “it’s not the same thing” as a robot designed to compute some sort of internal experience, he says.

1. What do we know about the “pain nervous system”?
A.It is named Affetto by scientists.B.It is a set of complicated sensors.
C.It is able to signal different emotions.D.It combines sensors and artificial skin.
2. What does the underlined word “converted” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Delivered.B.Translated.C.Attached.D.Adapted.
3. What does Damasio consider as an interesting development?
A.Robots can smile when talked to.
B.Robots can talk to human beings.
C.Robots can compute internal feelings
D.Robots can detect pains and respond accordingly.
4. What can be the best title of the text?
A.Machines Become EmotionalB.Robots Inch to Feeling Pain
C.Human Feelings Can Be FeltD.New Devices Touch Your Heart

7 . Regardless of how famous they are, and despite the star treatment they receive, many celebrities make it a point to give back to charities. Some have even set up their own private foundations. Their widely publicised visits to troubled areas of the world help to raise awareness of issues such as famine and poverty. According to Jane Cooper of Unicef UK, celebrities have a unique ability to reach huge numbers of people, many of whom might not otherwise be engaged in charitable causes. She pointed out that famous faces had played a significant role in raising funds in recent years, and their energies had produced tangible results, such as enabling millions of children in poorer countries to attend school.

But in spite of these successes there is evidence to suggest that celebrity endorsement (代言) may be overrated. In a survey of members of the public to find out if celebrity involvement would encourage people to donate, researchers found that the impact was not as great as previously thought. When shown a list of well-known organisations and famous people who represent them, over half of respondents were unable to match the celebrity with the cause. What’s more, three quarters claimed that they didn’t respond to celebrity endorsement in any way. The survey also showed that a few names did stand out as being associated with particular charities. But the presence of a celebrity in a campaign, was not a significant factor when it came to a decision to donate time or money. Instead, the majority of people contribute because of personal connections in their lives and families which make a charity important to them.

In another study aimed at young people, most participants cited a compelling (无法抗拒的) mission as their main motivation to give. The second most important incentive was if a friend or peer recommended supporting a particular cause. Only two percent of respondents said they were motivated by celebrity endorsement. This seems to contradict the general assumption that teenagers are particularly influenced by famous people. One possible explanation is that there is a general fatigue (疲倦) with celebrity culture. There is also a suspicion that the stars are the one who benefit most when they offer to do charity work. Some critics have accused that celebrities might actually take attention away from issues by attracting more attention than the causes they represent.

So taking all these issues into account, is it time for charities to rethink their campaign strategies and look for alternative ways to reach new audiences? Whichever point of view you favour, there seems to be opportunities for more research into how charity campaigns might develop relationships with celebrities to maximise their potential. This in turn will open up more engagement, and better targeted campaigns-which can only benefit those who really matter — the people and animals that are in need of assistance.

1. What does the underlined word “tangible” in paragraph I probably mean?
A.Definite.B.Complicated.C.Limited.D.Temporary.
2. According to the passage, most people contribute to charities because ________.
A.they gain benefit from the charities
B.they are forced to finish a necessary task
C.they believe in the famous people they like
D.they are inspired by the people around them
3. The third paragraph is mainly about ________.
A.what celebrities achieve in doing charities
B.How young people react to celebrity culture
C.why young people are hardly influenced by celebrities
D.who is to blame for taking attention away from charities
4. What is the author's attitude towards celebrity doing charities?
A.Objective.B.Positive.
C.Negative.D.Unclear.
2021-06-01更新 | 832次组卷 | 5卷引用:北京市昌平区 2021届高三第二次统一练习英语试题
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8 . If you wear glasses, chances are you are smarter. Research published in the famous British journal Nature Communications has found that people who displayed higher levels of intelligence were almost 30 percent more likely to wear glasses.

The scientists studied the genes of thousands of people between the ages of 16 and 102.The study showed intelligence can be connected to physical characteristics. One characteristic was eyesight. In out of 10 people who were more intelligent, there was a higher chance they needed glasses. Scientists also said being smarter has other benefits. It is connected to better health.

It is important to remember these are connections which are not proven causes. Scientists call this correlation. Just because something is connected to something else does not mean one of those things caused the other. And it’s worth noting that what constitutes intelligence is subjective and can be difficult, if not impossible, to measure.

Forget genes though. Plenty of proof shows wearing glasses makes people think you are more intelligent, even if you do not need glasses. A number of studies have found people who wear glasses are seen as smarter, hard-working and honest. Many lawyers use this idea to help win their cases. Lawyer Harvey Solves explained this. Glasses soften their appearance. He said Sometimes there has been a huge amount of proof showing that people he was defending broke the law. He had them wear glasses and they weren’t found guilty.

Glasses are also used to show someone is intelligent in movies and on TV. Ideas about people who wear glasses have begun to shift. People who do not need glasses sometimes wear them for fashion only. They want to look worldly or cool. But not everyone is impressed by this idea, though. GQ magazine said people who wear glasses for fashion are trying too hard to look smart and hip (时髦的). However, that hasn’t stopped many celebrities from happily wearing glasses even if they do not need them. Justin Bieber is just one high-profile fan of fashion glasses.

1. What does the new study show?
A.People wearing glasses are smarter.
B.People wearing glasses are healthier.
C.Wearing glasses can make people cleverer.
D.Wearing glasses is associated with higher IQ.
2. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Shift.B.Link.C.Proof.D.Consequence.
3. Why do some lawyers ask their clients to wear glasses in court?
A.Because it can create a moral image.
B.Because it can mislead the witnesses.
C.Because it can highlight clients’ qualities.
D.Because it can prove the clients’ innocence.
4. What is the general attitude to those who wear glasses for fashion?
A.Positive.B.Negative.C.MixedD.Indifferent.

9 . To learn to think is to learn to question. Those who don't question never truly think for themselves. These are simple rules that have governed the advancement of science and human thought since the beginning of time. Advancements are made when thinkers question theories and introduce new ones. Unfortunately, it is often the great and respected thinkers who end up slowing the progress of human thought. Aristotle was a brilliant philosopher whose theories explained much of the natural world, often incorrectly. He was so esteemed by the scientific community that even 1,200 years after his death, scientists were still trying to build upon his mistakes rather than correct them!

Brilliant minds can intimidate up­and­coming thinkers who are not confident of their abilities. They often believe they are inferior to the minds of giants such as Aristotle, leading many to accept current paradigms instead of questioning them.

I, like many thinkers of the past, once believed in my mental inferiority. I was certain that my parents, my teachers-adults in general-were always right. They were like a textbook to me; I didn't question what was written on those pages. I respected them, and accepted whatever they told me. But that attitude soon changed. My mind's independence was first stimulated in the classroom.

A stern, 65­year­old elementary­school science teacher once told me that light is a type of wave. I confidently went through years of school believing that light is a wave. One day,however I heard the German exchange student mention that light could be made up of particles. As the others laughed at his statement, I started to question my beliefs.

Maybe the teachers and textbooks hadn't given me the whole story. I went to the library, did some research and learned of the light­as­a­wave versus light­as­a­particle debate. I read about Einstein's discovery of the dual nature of light and learned the facts of a paradox(悖论) that puzzles the world's greatest thinkers to this day. Light behaves as both a particle and a wave, it is both at once. I realized I had gone through life accepting only half of the story as the whole truth.

Each new year brought more new facts, and I formulated even more questions. I found myself in the library after school, trying to find my own answers to gain a more complete understanding of what I thought I already knew. I discovered that my parents and teachers are incredible tools in my quest for knowledge, but they are never the final word. Even textbooks can be challenged. I learned to question my sources, I learned to be a thinker. I once believed that everything I learned at home and at school was certain, but I have now discovered to re­examine when necessary.

Questions are said to be the path to knowledge and truth, and I plan to continue questioning. How many things do we know for sure today that we will question in the future? At this moment, I know that our sun will burn for another five billion years, and I know nothing can escape the gravity of a black hole. This knowledge, however, may change in the next 20 years-maybe even in the next two. The one thing we can control now is our openness to discovery. Questions are the tools of open minds, and open minds are the key to intellectual advancement.

1. In the first paragraph, Aristotle is taken as an example to show that ______.
A.he is the greatest and respected philosopher of all time
B.huge influence of great thinkers may block human thought
C.advancements are made when thinkers question theories
D.great thinkers often make mistakes and then correct them
2. What does the underlined word “intimidate” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A.Frighten.B.Encourage.C.Strength.D.Persuade.
3. The author began to question his previous beliefs because ______.
A.what he learned from textbooks before turned out to be wrong
B.he was inspired by the different ideas from an exchange student
C.he was laughed at by other students for his unacceptable statement
D.he was not satisfied with his life and desperate to achieve success
4. According to the passage, the author ______.
A.looks down upon great thinkers all the time
B.never doubts what he has learned in the textbook
C.always throws himself into the laboratory
D.determines to be a thinker and questioner
5. We can conclude from the last paragraph that ______.
A.the author is not quite sure about his future
B.we human beings don't dare to predict future
C.theory of black holes will change in two years
D.questioning is necessary to promote advancement
6. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.Following rules.B.Challenging yourself.
C.Questioning giants.D.Predicting future.
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10 . According to a new study, teens focus on rewards and have a hard time learning to avoid punishment or consider the consequences of alternative actions.

University College London researchers compared how teens and adults learn to make choices based on the available information. They tracked the way in which 18 volunteers aged 12-17 and 20 volunteers aged 18-32 completed tasks in which they had to choose between abstract symbols.

Each symbol was consistently associated with a fixed chance of a reward, punishment, or no outcome. As the trial progressed , participants learned which symbols were likely to lead to each outcome and adjusted their choices accordingly. Teens and adults were equally good at learning to choose symbols associated with reward, but teens were less good at avoiding symbols associated with punishment. Adults also performed significantly better when they were told what would have happened if they had chosen the other symbol after each choice, while teens did not appear to take this information into account.

“From this experimental lab study we can draw conclusions about learning during the teen years. We find that teens and adults learn in different ways, something that might be relevant to education," said lead author Dr. Stefano Palminteri. " Unlike adults, teens are not so good at learning to adjust their choices to avoid punishment. This suggests that incentive systems based on reward rather than punishment may be more effective for this age group. Additionally, we found that teens did not learn from being shown what would have happened if they made alternative choices."

To interpret the results, the researchers developed computational models of learning and ran simulations (模拟)applying them to the results of the study. The first was a simple model, one that learned from rewards, and the second model added to this by also learning from the option that was not chosen. The third model was the most complete and took the full context into account, with equal weight given to punishment avoidance and reward seeking. For example, obtaining no outcome rather than losing a point is weighted equally to gaining a point rather than having no outcome.

Comparing the experimental data to the models, the team found that teens" behavior followed the simple reward-based model while adults" behavior matched the complete, contextual model. “Our study suggests that teens are more receptive to rewards than they are to punishments of equal value, ” said senior author Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. “As a result, it may be useful for parents and teachers to frame things in more positive terms.”

1. It can be learned from the study that .
A.adults made choices faster than teens
B.adults understood rewards better than teens
C.teens reacted better to reward than punishment
D.teens were aware of the outcome of each choice
2. What do we know about the three computational models?
A.They reflected people’s strong desire for punishment avoidance.
B.They gave circumstances different degrees of consideration.
C.They paid equal attention to reward and punishment.
D.They shaped the behavior of people at different ages.
3. The underlined word “receptive" in the last paragraph probably means .
A.accustomedB.opposed
C.sympatheticD.responsive
4. According to the writer, which of the following statements works best for teens?
A.“If you insist on doing things in this way, you will lose ten points. "
B.“If we had talked about this earlier, you wouldn’t have made the mistake. "
C.“ If you hand in your assignment ahead of time, you will get an extra bonus."
D.“If you want to approach a problem differently , you can talk to your parents. "
共计 平均难度:一般