1 . “I think kawaii, or cute feelings, can remind us of human connection that we sometimes forget,” says Hiroshi Nittono, director of the Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory at Osaka University.

“Viewing cute images of baby animals gives us a desire to act tenderly and responsibly to protect them,” he explains. “This idea holds that weak and defenseless but cute things set off caregiving behavior in the beholder.” Cute things make us feel protective, and when we’re protective, we might be naturally more focused.

Engineers, advertisers, and developers have taken advantage of this phenomenon, using kawaii to control user experience and consumer behavior. Researchers call it cute engineering. It’s a way to harness positive feelings and emotions to motivate (激励) and shape the user’s behavior in a positive way.

Sometimes cute engineering is subtle (微妙的), but it’s often quite obvious. Engineers use kawaii in the field of robotics, for instance—the cuter the robot, the more humans will want to engage with it. There’s also the iMac, which over the years, Apple designed to be subtly adorable (可爱的). It persuaded traditionally non-computer users to buy into the world of computing so that they could sell more units.

There’s also “cute filtering (萌物滤镜)”, a component of cute engineering that allows consumers to personalize their kawaii experience, just like the way iMac users could choose the color of their units. In this way, users can create their own kawaii experience. Using a “cute filter”, users can freely choose the cuteness parameters (参数) such as color, size, motion, smell, and taste to adjust their desired cute output.

1. Why would people like to protect cute baby animals according to Hiroshi Nittono?

A．People have no choice but to do it.

B．People are taught to protect animals.

C．Cute things motivate people to protect them.

D．Cute baby animals are too weak to protect themselves.

2. What does the underlined word “harness” probably mean?

A．Focus on.

B．Figure out.

C．Throw light on.

D．Make use of.

3. Why was the iMac designed to be adorable?

A．The iMac could shape people’s preference.

B．Computer producers could make more money.

C．Engineers could design computers to their taste.

D．Consumers would like to have more kawaii experience.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Power of Kawaii.	B．Protect Cute Animals.
C．A New Discovery.	D．Control Cute Feelings.