1 . When evaluating people on various psychological tests, psychologists often distinguish between markers of absolute performance and relative performance. Absolute performance reflects the raw measurement of something, like the time it takes to run a mile. Relative performance is how a person rates in relation to their peers, as in what place a runner gets in a race.
The standards we use to evaluate ourselves are almost always relative, as we compare ourselves to our peers and the standards that are most familiar to us. Our conscious recognition of these peers and norms is what sets our expectations, shaping our self-image and happiness. What’s interesting about the relative comparisons that most of us make is that in whatever area of life we consider—for example, our highest level of education—it’s not how we fare in comparison to the rest of the world that seems to matter most, but rather how we compare to our closest peers.
For instance, in my private practice, I have one patient I will call “Omar” who is dependent on social services and makes less than $30,000 per year at his job. While this level of poverty would lead most people to wake up depressed each day, Omar is one of the most optimistic and appreciative individuals I know. Why? Because most of his closest peers—his siblings and friends from childhood—have lives far worse than his.
In contrast to. Omar, I have another patient, an adolescent I’ll call “Lena”, whose family has property over $5 million. Lena, however, lives in an upper-class neighborhood where her family is at the lower end of the income level. Though Lena’s family allows her to enjoy possessions and experiences that less than 1 percent of her peers across the world can share, she consistently feels “less than”. Why? Because Lena doesn’t compare herself to the rest of the world; This is too abstract an exercise for her, as it would be for most of us.
Accordingly, whether a psychologist is psychodynamic or cognitive-behavioral, therapy (疗法) with individuals struggling with situation al or psychological depression aims to solve the problems associated with basing one’s self-worth on comparisons with others. Psychologists try to help people focus on personal growth around the achievement of concrete goals in line with their values independent of the achievement of others. For all of us, defining these goals, especially during Periods of emotional calm, can go a long way in helping us to avoid the trap of relativity that often leads to situational and psychological depression.
1. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to ________.| A．show the significance of evaluating people. |
| B．motivate readers to study psychological tests. |
| C．help people perform well in psychological tests |
| D．provide some background information on evaluating people. |
| A．To measure different achievement. |
| B．To introduce the standards to evaluate people. |
| C．To explain relative performance with examples. |
| D．To contrast relative performance and absolute performance. |
| A．“Omar” is independent on social services. |
| B．“Omar” ‘s siblings lead better lives than he does. |
| C．“Lena” is always discontented with what she has. |
| D．“Lena” tends to compare herself to the rest of the world. |
| A．Setting goals in life is essential for everyone. |
| B．It’s important to avoid unhealthy comparisons. |
| C．A sense of achievement can affect one’s happiness. |
| D．Improving self-worth can help get rid of depression. |
| A．Happiness: Is it all relative? | B．Happiness: Is it associated with achievement? |
| C．Self-worth: Is it based on efforts? | D．Self-worth: Is it measurable? |
2 . We say that technology is a double-edged sword—while it brings convenience, it also brings new problems. The sword of “social media” even has a gender preference in its damage. It cuts deeper into girls than boys.
Earlier studies have shown that spending too much time on social media is bad for teenagers’mental health. Constantly watching their friends show off “perfect” lives can hurt their own self-esteem. That’s not to mention the problems caused by online shaming and bullying.
Jean Twenge, a professor at San Diego State University in the US, recently discovered an alarming trend: Since 2010, the number of teenage girls who suffer from major depression—showing signs like self-harm and suicide—has increased much faster than that of boys. In an article she wrote at The Conversation, Twenge said social media, again, was to blame.
For starters, girls use social media more than boys. Boys tend to spend their screen time on games, where they talk to their teammates through headphones. This counts as real human contact. Girls, however, simply type and browse through posts, which is a much isolated experience. “They’re not having a real-time conversation with someone,” Mary Fristad, psychologist at The Ohio State University, told NPR.
And when it comes to online shaming, girls are also more vulnerable than boys. “Girls face more pressure about their appearance, which could be exacerbated (加重) by social media,” wrote Twenge.
Shannon McLaughlin, for example, is an 18-year-old from Blackburn College in the US. She shared with the Guardian how social media made her feel depressed. “I was constantly confronted by women with skinny bodies who were praised for the way they looked. This was only made worse by the diet fixes and skinny culture,” she said. But McLaughlin found a solution. She started volunteering with the National Citizen Service, where she made face-to-face contact with people. “It's so easy to forget the importance of real connections when we have hundreds of people that we’re trying to impress at our fingertips,” she told the Guardian. And she hopes that others “look up from their phones and focus more on the world around them”.
1. What did Twenge find in her recent study?| A．Overuse of social media harms teenagers’ mental health. |
| B．Social media does more harm to girls than boys. |
| C．Girls suffered more t rom bullving than boys. |
| D．Online shaming and bullving are to blame for teenagers’ depression. |
| A．Girls have less real-time interaction with people. |
| B．Playing games allows boys to have more fun than girls. |
| C．Girls suffer more pressure on social media. |
| D．Girls usually desire more contact with others. |
| A．adjusting oneself well | B．fighting back bravely |
| C．being unconcerned about something | D．being likely to be at risk of something |
| A．Ignore social media and stop following a diet. | B．Connect more with the real world. |
| C．Constantly take part in volunteer work. | D．Make better use of phones for socializing. |
| A．A gender preference | B．Skinny culture |
| C．Social media anxiety | D．A double-edged sword |
3 . As medical science develops rapidly with new technology, what is left for the doctor to do?
For medical humanist Dr. Abraham Verghese, the answer is simple: Spend more time getting to know your patients as people. Take the time to read a poem and other literature. Do your part to bridge the gap (鸿沟) between the two cultures of science and the humanities.
It takes a doctor who knows a patient’s life history well to make the best use of these tools, Verghese said. And that means paying more attention to human character.
Verghese said machines “have gone beyond human beings in their ability to care for the patient,” that is, in diagnosing illnesses and indicating the best treatment.
But doctors can awaken the human spirit, the knowledge of human beings and their motivations (动机), which can pull together a life picture of a patient and understand them as more than a collection of symptoms.
Case history: A 64-year-old man was admitted to the hospital after repeated falls, pains, and the loss of two teeth that just fell out, with no obvious cause.
What was wrong? Was it his medicine? Was it alcohol abuse (酗酒)?
The man rapidly improved after being hospitalized. It turned out he had bachelor scurvy, a disease among older men who live alone, which results from a lack of nutrition (缺乏营养).
“He was surviving on no fruits or vegetables, just alcohol and processed meats, I would guess,” Verghese said. “My point here is that this diagnosis, as clever as it was, also might have been made much, much earlier had we had a good relationship with this patient and had some sense of who that person was, as an individual.”
1. What is Verghese’s suggestion for doctors?| A．Use machines less frequently. |
| B．Remember to care for patients. |
| C．Try to make an early diagnosis of patients. |
| D．Keep up with the development of technology. |
| A．It needs to be improved greatly. |
| B．It will replace doctors sooner or later. |
| C．It may give patients incorrect treatment. |
| D．It is of great help in diagnosing illnesses. |
| A．He lives on his own. |
| B．He lives a healthy lifestyle. |
| C．He suffers from a rare disease. |
| D．He is a regular visitor to the hospital. |
| A．By giving an example. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By providing explanations. |
| D．By showing facts and opinions. |
| A．To introduce some medical tools. |
| B．To advise doctors to get to know patients better. |
| C．To describe the development of medical science. |
| D．To show the importance of machines in medical operations. |
| A．believing | B．believed | C．to believe | D．believe |
| A．where; to clarify | B．when; to classify |
| C．which; to identify | D．what; to simplify |
6 . One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might someday get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world. Fear-producing TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will change the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play.
Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down. We cannot be the last generation to have that place. At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes. “If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment (蚕食)?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.
Without having a nature experience, kids, can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives. That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health, to stress levels, creativity and cognitive (认知的) skills. Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents — and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters (培养) leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest. Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child. The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world. A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes. We really need to value that more.
Kids are not responsible. They are over-protected and frightened. It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite (仪式) of passage.
Everyone, from developers, to schools and outdoor citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that cement love, respect and need for landscape. As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature. This could yet be our greatest cause.
1. The main idea of Paragraph 2 is that ________.| A．kids miss the sense of wonder outdoors |
| B．parks are in danger of being gradually encroached |
| C．Richard Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods |
| D．children are expected to develop into protectors of nature |
| A．be less healthy both physically and mentally |
| B．be over-protected by their parents |
| C．keep a high sense of wonder |
| D．change wild places and creatures for the better |
| A．the fault on the part of their parents |
| B．the natural experience in their growing up |
| C．the result of their own carelessness in play |
| D．the effect of their repetitive stress from computers |
| A．Weaken. | B．Strengthen. | C．Lower. | D．Decease. |
| A．blame children for getting lost in computer games |
| B．encourage children to protect parks from encroachment |
| C．show his concern about children’s lack of experience in nature |
| D．inspire children to keep the sense of wonder about things around |
| A．be engaged in | B．is coexisted with | C．consisting of | D．be paid attention to |
| A．in terms of | B．as for | C．regardless of | D．in place of |
| A．take up | B．pick up | C．hold up | D．make up |
| A．hurriedly | B．quickly | C．instantly | D．shortly |
