Question

Old habits, especially bad ones, can be hard to break.

People often make fun of New Year's resolutions (決心). However, resolutions present a big opportunity for self-improvement. Fortunately, social science has some ideas about how to start a good habit and stick to it.

Gary Charness and Uri Gneezy, two scientists at the University of Chicago, did some research, where 120 students were asked to take part in an experiment about exercise habits, and each of them would get $175 in the end. The students were randomly assigned (隨機分配) to three groups. The first group got the money for just giving researchers permission (允許) to record their gym attendance. The second group gave permission, but had to go to the gym at least once the next month. The final group gave permission and had to go to the gym eight times that month.

Unsurprisingly, the group that had to make eight gym visits to get paid exercised more than the other two groups. After the payments stopped, these students kept going to the gym at higher rates (頻率). They went to the gym about twice as often as the other two groups.

In another study, researchers invited 151 students to work out in the gym, and randomly assigned 75 to a “temptation-bundling” group. As they exercised, they listened to the start of an attractive audio-novel (有聲小說). At the end of their workout, students were told that if they wanted to hear what happened next in their book, they would have to come back to the gym. They could only listen to the audio-book while exercising. The other 76 students also completed the first workout but without any kind of temptation bundle.

It turned out that the students in the temptation-bundling group visited the gym 27% more often than the control group over the next seven weeks. Sadly, the temptation-bundling trick fell apart over the Thanksgiving holiday when the gym was closed.

The studies show that trying something new quite often for as little as a month can kick-start a lasting change in behavior. Moreover, “temptation-bundling” may also be a useful method for changing behavior, particularly when used together with other methods. Even if you cannot promise yourself to stick with something for long, there is a huge benefit in putting in a lot of energy for a few weeks. It may pay off for longer than you think. So, why not challenge yourself with next New Year's resolution?

1.What can we learn from the two studies?

A.The students got different payments according to their gym attendance.

B.The temptation-bundling group loved audio-novels more than the other group.

C.27% of students in the temptation-bundling group exercised more often than before.

D.The students who exercised more often at first were more likely to keep working out.

2.The third paragraph is mainly about __________.

A.how the research was performed B.what was found in the research

C.why the scientists did the research D.who took part in the research

3.The underlined word “temptation-bundling” in Paragraph 5 probably means __________.

A.forming new habits by trying something you didn't like before

B.connecting something you like with something you have to do

C.improving your workout skills by listening to audio-books

D.pushing yourself by doing two tasks at the same time

4.What is the writer's main purpose in writing this passage?

A.To encourage people to go to the gym more often.

B.To present a new way to do scientific research.

C.To offer advice on how to develop a good habit.

D.To stress the importance of New Year's resolutions.

Answer 1