Question

【題目】 Imagine this. There's an apple and a piece of cake on a table. Which one would you like? The delicious cake or the healthy apple? A bestseller, Willpower: Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength, suggests that willpower(意志力)is the ability to make decisions that are better for us in the long term, rather than in the short term.

Here is a famous experiment in the book: The Marshmallow Test. In 1972, Professor Walter Mischel tested the willpower of 600 four-year-olds to six-year-olds. In the experiment, each child was left alone in a room for fifteen minutes with a marshmallow(棉花軟糖）on a table in front of them. They were given two choices: they could either eat it or, if they waited fifteen minutes, they'd be given a second one(and then they could eat both).

So, what did the kids do? Well, as you can imagine, 70% ate the first marshmallow within the fifteen minutes. But the other 30% showed willpower—they controlled themselves and waited for the second marshmallow. But then Mischel discovered something really interesting. Twenty years later, he got in touch with the children, who, by then, were in their early twenties. And he found that those who'd shown strong willpower were getting better marks at university and were more popular.

Willpower is like a muscle（肌肉), and the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.

So, if you do daily "self-control exercises", such as making your bed or brushing your teeth, you'll improve your overall willpower. And daily willpower exercises will help you with those bigger goals, such as studying for an exam or training for a marathon.

Be careful though. Just like any muscle, your "willpower muscle" can get tired. If you've had to do lots of things that require willpower, take a break or give yourself a treat.

That way, you’ll build up your willpower again.

And one last thing, the writer mentions people who learn foreign languages usually have a lot of willpower. So, congratulations!

【1】How many children got two marshmallows in the Marshmallow Test in 1972?

A.180.B.240.C.420.D.600.

【2】In Paragraphs 2&3, the famous experiment explains __________.

A.more kids have stronger willpower

B.willpower influences people's lives greatly

C.how people practice children's willpower

D.marshmallows can help improve willpower

【3】The writer probably agrees that ________.

A.all the language learners have stronger willpower

B.will power can't be improved by doing some daily things

C.young kids don't need to practice willpower like grown-ups

D.people with strong willpower can achieve their goals more easily

【4】According to the passage, people who ________ might have strong willpower.

A.do regular piano practice every dayB.give up morning running halfway

C.eat as much junk food as they likeD.usually get up late on the cold morning

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】B

【3】D

【4】A

【解析】

文章大意：暢銷書《意志力:重新發(fā)現(xiàn)我們最大的力量》指出，意志力是一種能力，它能做出長(zhǎng)期而非短期對(duì)我們更有利的決定。文章通過一個(gè)著名的實(shí)驗(yàn)說明了意志力對(duì)人們生活的影響。并告訴我們?nèi)绾蝸硖岣呶覀兊恼�體意志力。

【1】

推理判斷題。根據(jù)In 1972, Professor Walter Mischel tested the willpower of 600 four-year-olds to six-year-olds.以及But the other 30% showed willpower—they controlled themselves and waited for the second marshmallow.可知，在1972的棉花糖測(cè)試中，共有600個(gè)孩子參加，其中有30%的孩子得到了兩個(gè)棉花糖，也就是180個(gè)孩子，故答案選A。

【2】

理解判斷題。根據(jù)But then Mischel discovered something really interesting. Twenty years later, he got in touch with the children, who, by then, were in their early twenties. And he found that those who'd shown strong willpower were getting better marks at university and were more popular. 但隨后Mischel發(fā)現(xiàn)了一件非常有趣的事情。二十年后，他與孩子們?nèi)〉昧寺?lián)系，那時(shí)他們才二十出頭。他發(fā)現(xiàn)那些表現(xiàn)出強(qiáng)烈意志力的人在大學(xué)里成績(jī)更好，也更受歡迎。由此可知，這個(gè)著名的實(shí)驗(yàn)說明了意志力對(duì)人們生活的影響很大。故答案選B。

【3】

細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)And daily willpower exercises will help you with those bigger goals, 每天的意志力訓(xùn)練會(huì)幫助你實(shí)現(xiàn)更大的目標(biāo)�？芍�作者應(yīng)同意有堅(jiān)強(qiáng)意志力的人更容易實(shí)現(xiàn)他們的目標(biāo)，故答案選D。

【4】

推理判斷題。根據(jù)So, if you do daily "self-control exercises", such as making your bed or brushing your teeth, you'll improve your overall willpower.所以，如果你每天做“自我控制練習(xí)”，比如整理床鋪或刷牙，你就會(huì)提高你的整體意志力。也就是說你每天固定的去做一件事情，你就會(huì)有很強(qiáng)的意志力。結(jié)合選項(xiàng)，可知A選項(xiàng)“每天有規(guī)律地練習(xí)鋼琴”符合題意，故答案選A。