1 . In recent decades, it has become clear that consumers’ decision-making process is influenced by their emotions. Traditionally, people have been asked how they feel about products and services, but since individuals are often unaware of their own emotions, their responses may not accurately reflect reality.

Consumer neuroscience investigations have helped create a deeper understanding of the role of emotions in consumer-related choices. Emotions can be broadly categorized as positive or negative; examples of positive emotions include love, pride, and happiness, while negative emotions include anger, disgust, and fear. Both types of emotions cause physiological responses.

Distinguishing between different types of emotions is more important than classifying them as positive or negative. When sad, consumers tend to be willing to pay more for goods and are drawn towards high-risk, high-reward options. For instance, an environmentalist shopping at a supermarket might focus on getting one item for free in a two-for-one offer rather than thinking they don’t need two identical products.

Anxiety can reduce the likelihood of making risky choices and make individuals careless about rewards, similar to the effect of some positive emotions. Negative moods like fear and anger also influence risk-related decision-making differently: anger leads to more optimistic assessments, while fear results in more pessimistic risk assessments. Stress is perhaps the most problematic emotion for consumers when it comes to risk-seeking. It’s common for consumers to rush into decisions between work or social activities, feeling pressured to make quick choices. This stress can increase risk-seeking behavior, leading to regrettable decisions.

Purchases often involve making predictions about how we may feel when we have bought something. For example, will buying a new hat make me feel good? Unfortunately, consumers are not good at predicting how they will feel in the future. This means that people often purchase something on the basis that they think it will make them happy. However, as it is common to overestimate the future emotions of happiness linked to products, consumers often feel disappointed with the item as it does not live up to their emotional expectations.

1. What probably causes consumers to make improper decisions?

A．Misjudgement of reality.	B．Unaware of emotions.
C．Slow reflection to service.	D．Preference for certain products.

2. Which emotion makes consumers more willing to pay a higher price despite the risks?

A．Love.

B．Pride.

C．Anxiety.

D．Sadness.

3. Which is a reasonable suggestion to consumers according to the text?

A．Consider only immediate rewards.

B．Avoid making decisions under pressure.

C．Focus on product quality when shopping.

D．Predict future emotions before making a purchase.

4. Why do consumers sometimes feel disappointed with their purchases?

A．They accurately predict their future emotions.

B．They underestimate the happiness linked to products.

C．They have very high requirements for products.

D．They don’t get the pleasure they expected of the products.

2 . Whether you’re eating a slice of delicious bread or an extra-chewy chocolate cookie, it’s always fun to be the taste tester for a friend or relative who loves to bake. And, while eating products created with love and sugar probably makes you feel good, the baker is obtaining some psychological benefits, too.

Studies have shown that creative activities like baking contribute to an overall sense of well-being. Boston University professor of brain sciences Donna Pincus explained that there’s “stress relief that people get from having some kind of an outlet (发泄方式) and a way to express themselves”.

Baking is also a great way to practice mindfulness, because it requires you to focus on following very straightforward directions in a specific order. In other words, most of the decisions have already been made for you, allowing you to concentrate on the details while nudging (轻推) your mind away from the stressors and anxieties of your life outside the kitchen. Julie Ohana, a clinical social worker, explained that baking is effective because it helps you practice the “balance of the moment and the bigger picture”. While you’re measuring and mixing ingredients, you’re probably visualizing how they’ll all come together to create a fulfilling final product and deciding how and when you’ll share it with others.

Sharing your desserts selflessly rather than for attention or competition is another mood-booster, making you “feel like you’ve done something good for the world, which perhaps increases your meaning in life and connection with other people,” Pincus said. It can also function as a mode of communication. Susan Whitbourne, professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts, said that “it can be helpful for people who have difficulty expressing their feelings in words to show appreciation, or sympathy with baked goods”.

Baking may not be the be-all and end-all of the cure for mental illness, but anyone in need of lifted spirits should consider pulling out the flour and warming up the oven.

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the theme.	B．To draw a conclusion.
C．To offer some advice.	D．To illustrate the background.

2. What is the benefit of baking according to Julie Ohana?

A．It is of importance to physical health.

B．It is a great way to encourage exercise.

C．It ensures everything will be in a right order.

D．It helps you to have positive expectations.

3. What do Pincus’s words mean in paragraph 4?

A．Competing can effectively boost our moods.

B．We can catch others’ attention through sharing.

C．Baking contributes to closer social relations.

D．Sharing enables us to express our feelings accurately.

4. In which part of a newspaper will you find the article most probably?

A．Technology.

B．Lifestyle.

C．Society.

D．Education.

3 . We all want to know what happiness means and try to find ways to help make our life better. Happiness — you know it when you see it, but it’s hard to define. You might call it a sense of well-being, optimism or meaningfulness in life, although those could also be treated separately.     1     we know that we want it, and that is just somehow good.

We also know that we don’t always have control over our happiness. Research suggests that genetics may play a big role in our level of happiness, so some of us may start out at a disadvantage. On top of that, environmental factors can bring down mood and dry up our thirst for living.     2    . Many studies have found a connection between psychological and physical well-being.

A 2022 review of more than 200 studies found a connection between positive psychological features, such as happiness, optimism and life satisfaction, and a lowered risk of heart disease.

    3    . If you have a good sense of well-being, it’s easier to maintain good habits: exercising, eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep.

    4    , and they do not provide hard evidence of cause and effect. But some researchers believe that positive mental states do have a direct effect on the body, perhaps by reducing damaging physical processes. For instance, they found that optimism is associated with lower levels of inflammation (炎症).

If what you mean by happiness is specifically “enjoyment of life”, there’s newer evidence to support that, too. A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that people aged 60 and over who said they enjoyed life less were more likely to develop disability over an 8-year period.     5    . This study does not prove that physical problems are caused by less enjoyment of life, but suggests a relationship.

A．But whatever happiness really is.

B．It might take more work if your mood is low.

C．For now these studies can only show associations.

D．That refers to the person, and the situation he or she is in.

E．Being able to travel around was also related to enjoyment of life.

F．To manage our emotions is important for both our body and mind.

G．It’s not as simple as “you must be happy to prevent heart attacks”, though.

4 . Cheerfulness is a powerful way to deal with a world that will always be tough and unjust in one way or another. It is a sign of strength in the face of difficulties. Different from fear, joy, or anger, cheerfulness isn’t something that overcomes you.     1     As such, you can include it into your life once you make the right mental switch. Here are four ways to do so.

◎Acknowledge the difficulties.

Cheerfulness is an honest emotion because you’re not hiding from reality.     2     Instead, it’s extremely important to be honest with yourself about the problems you’re facing. Only by first acknowledging that things are tough will you be able to find ways to cope.

◎Don’t focus on the negative.

Whether in your personal life or in society, it’s easy to focus on what’s going wrong. But whatever you focus on, it grows. If you decide to focus on what’s going wrong, those problems will grow in your mind until they consume you.     3    

◎Be grateful for what you have.

    4     Usually, they’re the things we take for granted until they’re no longer there, such as good health, a loving family, or even something as simple as a beautiful sunrise. Being grateful will shift your perspective and make it easier to see the silver linings of your problems.

◎    5    

No cheerfulness without laughter. So you can watch comedies, browse memes, or joke around with friends. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts your mood, makes you feel less pain, and protects you from stress. Laughter is cathartic (精神宣泄的) and infectious. Laugh and brighten the room.

A．Find your sense of humor.

B．Deal with difficulties seriously.

C．Focus on the good things you have.

D．To a large degree, cheerfulness is a choice.

E．You’re not covering your eyes and looking away.

F．Acknowledge the problems, but don’t give them too much attention.

G．Being cheerful will make you see the world and your own life in a different way.

5 . During my first year in college, I was silent. I was too afraid of saying something wrong.

I declared a religion major as a sophomore and took a class from Barbara, a young theologian. My mind was split open by a range of new thinkers and writers and by the quality of Barbara’s questions, I finally had something to say and the energy to say it. I was a frequent visitor during Barbara’s office hours, a rocket of words. She listened and calmly responded, a perfect contrast to my feverish ramblings. I loved what she saw in me, which was a range of abilities I had never seen in myself. In the following years, our relationship gradually deepened, but I was always conscious of a teacher-student dynamic.

This changed fundamentally when I became a parent. I had my son in March 2010, and Barbara was one of the first to congratulate me. When, nine months later, my child was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease, a rare and always terminal illness with no treatment and no cure, she sent me a letter-handwritten on a white legal pad. For the next two and a half years, Barbara wrote me regular, sometimes weekly, letters, remarkable letters that are revealing, loving, and kind.

The letter written right before my son died, when he was three, was the most personal and perhaps the most profound. “I think he’s made you better by opening up the great fire of your love,” she wrote, “with his small but magnificent existence.” I have never in my life read a more deeply comforting sentence, one that spoke to my grandest hopes, my deepest fears, and the only faith that remains to me, which is a belief in chaos. Our love had bloomed and deepened from a guarded mutual respect to a richer, deeper friendship.

Mentors are meant to lead those in their charge into fresh understanding, help them sort and filter new experiences, assist in the project of making sense out of the chaos that is human life. Mentors observe and accompany the darkest despair, the wildest sorrow, and the most unexpected joy.

1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?

A．The author took the class because she excelled1 in theology.

B．Their relationship changed significantly beyond a teacher-student mode.

C．The author was a frequent visitor to Barbara’s home after working hours.

D．Barbara’s peaceful exterior was a contrast to the author’s overexcited talk.

2. What does the underlined word “This” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The way Barbara treated her students.	B．The fact that the author kept silent in class.
C．The role of the author as a college student.	D．The relationship between Barbara and the author.

3. What transformed the relationship between Barbara and the author from a mutual respect to a deeper friendship?

A．Barbara’s efforts to solve the problem.

B．Barbara’s sympathy shown in the letter.

C．The author’s in-depth understanding of Barbara.

D．Barbara’s congratulations on the birth of the author’s son.

4. What does the author think of Barbara?

A．Demanding and dedicated.	B．Responsible and reasonable.
C．Insightful and inspiring.	D．Aggressive and ambitious.

6 . How to Stop Being Angry?

Anger is the most harmful emotion. When you are in a temper, you make rush or ill-considered decisions that you will probably regret. You will also regret terrible language spoken without thought. Anger arrives quickly, in response to an event, action, or wrong remarks.    1    You might feel long-burning anger that ruins your spirit, destroys all your good intentions, and causes you to become an unpleasant person. Here are some ways that you can help you better handle anger.

Firstly, you need to change your attitude to the way the world works. No one is perfect. Also, you need to accept that not everyone has the same standards as you, nor will they behave in the same way that you would in a given situation.    2    You have to accept that sometimes things do go wrong and that people are not always lovely.

    3    Martin Luther King was angry about the lack of civil rights in the USA. Gandhi was angry about British domination in. India. They both used that anger to motivate themselves to fight against what they saw as injustice. Taking action can help to reduce the feelings of anger as you see progress towards your final goal.

Try to get to the root cause of your anger.    4    Is it worry or stress making you angry? Are you fearful of failure? Are you unhappy? Once you know why you get mad, then it is possible to deal with the cause. Taking positive steps towards solving the underlying problem will help you overcome feelings of anger.

In conclusion, you must recognize that anger is something you can control. That control will come once you identify what is at the root of your anger. Make changes to your lifestyle and attitudes, and you will find that you will turn angry much less often, if at all. Angry people are not nice people.    5    

A．Anger can be used to fuel action.

B．By contrast, anger is slow to pass.

C．When doing this, be honest with yourself.

D．Anger is really a bad habit that is hard to break.

E．This applies to work, day-to-day life, and relationships.

F．When you lose temper, you may do more harm to yourself than good.

G．They will fail to achieve more often than those people who are calm and considerate.

7 . “Regret is a possible element of any decision that we make,” says psychologist Robert Leahy. “But the likelihood that you will regret your decisions will depend on how you think about making your decisions and how you cope with living with the result.”

If you’re someone who lets past regrets fester(溃烂)in your mind, Leahy recommends that you fight against irrational(非理性的)thinking and think more realistically about where you are in life.    1     Here are some of his tips.

Remember that you don’t know things would have turned out better. If you imagine your life would have been better if only…, keep in mind that your assumption is not based on real evidence.     2     Instead, turn toward the future and remember it can change based on the choices you make now.

    3    Your negativity bias can keep you preoccupied with what’s wrong rather than what’s right. So, it’s a good idea to practise gratitude for the good in your life—even for the small and simple things. This helps to balance out the negative feelings that come with regret.

Don’t forget that sometimes things don’t turn out the way you wanted them to.    4    You cannot know anything in advance, so you need to accept that sometimes you will regret your choices. But that doesn’t mean you should criticize yourself endlessly. It’s better to learn from your mistakes than to punish yourself.

Accept tradeoffs(折中)and compromises. Not everything has to turn out just the way you wanted it to. You won’t make progress if you insist otherwise and make yourself miserable(痛苦的)in the process.    5    .

A．Be grateful for your past mistakes.

B．Don’t focus on where you might have been.

C．We will share some effective methods with you.

D．Focus on the positive aspects of your current life.

E．So, aim to be a satisficer rather than a maximizer.

F．Life can hand you lemons, but that’s not necessarily your fault.

G．He suggests using scientific approaches to question your assumptions.

8 . How to Overcome Anxiety

Anxiety is a healthy and normal emotion that everyone often feels. Anxiety may, however, develop into a mental disorder that reduces your capacity to cope with daily stress. When trying to overcome it, you should not try to get rid of your feelings of anxiety but should aim to develop your coping abilities when you do feel anxiety.    1    . Here come some useful tips to develop your anti-anxiety abilities.

Examine your anxiety

    2    . Do not start beating yourself up about it, or tell yourself unhelpful things such as “I will never be able to get out of this” or “I am incapable.” Understand that you can overcome this, and you will.

Identify the source of your anxiety

Whether you have a panic attack or a sudden round of worry and fear, it is important to determine what is causing your anxiety. Is something in your environment the primary source?    3    

Determine if your worry is solvable

If you know what your fear is, the next step is to determine if it is something you can deal with, or something that only time can manage. If your fear is largely imagination or can’t be dealt with now,    4    .If your worry is something that needs to be dealt with, take steps to create a course of action.

    5    

If your fear is mind-consuming, take a moment to think about the honest and absolute worst thing that could happen as a result of it. Perhaps you’re getting ready to do a huge presentation, and you begin to panic. Stop and think “what is the worst that could happen?” No matter how creative your response may be, thinking critically will lead to find that should it occur, there are few endings that can’t be dealt with in a reasonable manner.

A．Consider the worst

B．Think out of the box

C．Understand and acknowledge that you are anxious

D．make the conscious effort to put it out of your mind

E．You can handle anxiety more easily when you are clear about what it is

F．Having the ability to cope with anxious thought is the key to overcoming it

G．try whatever it takes to solve the problem because you cannot get away with it

9 . Anger may seem unappealing, but this emotion is a necessary part of your well-being. As with joy and sadness, expressing anger over a broken promise, a lost opportunity, or other inconvenience is healthy. However, if anger is frequently expressed, it will be harmful. Learning to deal with this emotion then becomes important.     1    .

Try positive exercises.

When you feel the unmistakable signs of your anger building up, try to focus on positive practices like deep breathing to calm yourself down.     2    . Repeating this exercise until your anger is under control can help to prevent an outburst and the negative outcomes that accompany it.

    3    .

Just as you open up to loved ones over the pain of heartbreak or the joy of a promotion, calling loved ones when you’re about to lose control of your anger is a healthy way of dealing with the emotion. Your friends and family can act as a support group, calming you until the worst is over.

Keep a mood journal.

A recommended way to deal with anger and recognize how frequently you embrace this emotion is keeping a journal to track your emotions.     4    , you can understand your feelings better. Then you can easily find a proper way to control your anger.

See a therapist (治疗师).

    5    , seeking professional guidance is always a welcome way to get things under control. A licensed mental health professional can help you recognize and control the negative thoughts that may lead to an angry outburst.

A．Turn to your loved ones for help

B．Share something good with your loved ones

C．However, you can try some practices to express your anger

D．So let’s take a look at some ways to help you manage your anger

E．If you feel that your anger is too strong to be contained through self-help

F．Supporting your breathing with comforting words can help to control your anger better

G．If you note the causes that push you to outbursts and the thoughts that run through your mind

10 . When you are anxious and stressed, you could add an “emotional workout” to your self-care regimen (养生法). “It’s like working out prevents high blood pressure and heart disease.     1    ”

Says Emily Anhalt, a clinical psychologist. Here are some expert-backed exercise to help you begin.

Annoyed with a loved one? Practice the “self-reflection push-up.”

Feeling hurt, annoyed or angry with someone else’s behavior might reflect something.     2     Anhalt suggests practicing an exercise she calls the “self-reflection push-up.” This push-up uses the “3 Js, which stand for join, jealous (嫉妒) and judge” to guide you. Ask yourself if the other person’s behavior is something you also do (join), are envious of (jealous) or criticize (judge). For instance, if you’re annoyed with your friend for being selfish, you might realize that you’ve behaved the same way.

    3     Befriend tough emotions.

As humans, we’re born to avoid pain. When uncomfortable emotions arise, we may try to distract (分散) ourselves from feeling bad. We may wander through social media or on Netflix. These strategies are called “defenses”. However, we can’t merely rely on defenses.     4    

When upset emotions arise, try to befriend your feelings. Start by naming your emotions, a technique psychologists call “affect labeling.” The goal isn’t to change the emotion, but to bring awareness to how it feels in the moment.     5     By understanding them, we can uncover the cause of suffering.

A．Feeling down?

B．Unsatisfied with a bad result?

C．That’s what we dislike about ourselves.

D．Emotional fitness can benefit stress management.

E．Therefore, we can make use of them to cheer us up.

F．To conclude, symptoms like anxiety are the body’s alarm system.

G．Without feeling our emotions, our ability to process them will be influenced.