Question

【題目】We all have our own tricks to cheer up when we’re feeling down; these little tricks can make you feel a little bit happier every day. While there are certainly happy memories tied up in the wedding ring you and your spouse (配偶) purchased together years ago or your teddy bear from childhood, new research finds that we typically feel calmer and experience a greater sense of well-being when we focus on a place that reminds us of happier times rather than a thing, even if it holds great value.

The report, called Places That Make Us, was conducted by the United Kingdom’s National Trust (NT) and Surrey University’s researchers. Experts performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (功能磁共振成像) scans on 20 volunteers and conducted an online survey of 2,000 people to better understand this deep draw toward special places.

“Working with leading researchers and academics, and using cutting-edge fMRI brain technology, we examined how places affect people, how they become special, and why we feel a pull towards them,” explained Nino Strachey, head of research for the NT.

The 20 volunteers were shown images of landscapes, houses, and other locations, as well as personally meaningful objects. Measuring their brain activity, the researchers found that it was the places, as opposed to the objects, that caused the brain to get the most excited.

Volunteers were also interviewed at great length two times, once at home and the other time at their special place. The research made discoveries that had never known before — the favorite places aroused feelings of belonging, physical and emotional safety, and an intense internal pull to the place.

Dr. Andy Myers weighed in on the findings, saying, “For the first time we have been able to prove the physical and emotional benefits of place, far beyond any research that has been done before.”

【1】How was the research conducted?

A. By performing fMRI on 2,000 volunteers.

B. By measuring the participants’ brain activity by fMRI.

C. By doing rough interviews with the participants.

D. By showing meaningful objects to the participants.

【2】How would the author feel about the findings of the study?

A. It is pioneering. B. It is baseless.

C. It is imperfect. D. It is unbelievable.

【3】Which of the following can replace the underlined phrase “weighed in on” ?

A. Made a comment on. B. Looked down on.

C. Was opposed to. D. Made fun of.

【4】What does the text mainly talk about?

A. Everyone has his way to be happy.

B. Valuable places can make people happy.

C. Teddy bears are best memories of children.

D. Meaningful objects lead to greater well-being.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】A

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】

本文為科普說明文。當我們情緒低落時，我們都有自己的小竅門可以讓自己振作起來；這些小竅門可以讓你每天感覺開心一點。新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)并證明了當我們專注于一個能讓我們回憶起快樂往事的地方時，我們通常會感覺更平靜，體驗到更大的幸福感。

【1】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段最后Experts performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (功能磁共振成像) scans on 20 volunteers and conducted an online survey of 2,000 people to better understand this deep draw toward special places.和第三段and using cutting-edge fMRI brain technology, we examined how places affect people, how they become special, and why we feel a pull towards them,可知，研究通過使用腦功能磁共振成像測量參與者的大腦活動進行的。分析選項可知B項符合題意。

【2】推理判斷題。倒數(shù)第二段中的“had never known before”和“For the first time we have been able to prove”和最后一段中的安迪·邁爾斯博士對這一發(fā)現(xiàn)進行了評價。他說：“我們第一次能夠證明場所對身體和情感的益處，遠遠超過以往所做的任何研究�！� 由此可知是首創(chuàng)的。分析選項（It is pioneering首創(chuàng)的，開創(chuàng)性的；It is baseless. 無根據(jù)的；It is imperfect. 不完美的；It is unbelievable. 不可相信的，站不住腳的）可知，A正確。

【3】推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段的內(nèi)容可知是安迪·邁爾斯博士對這一發(fā)現(xiàn)進行了評論。分析選項（Made a comment on評論；. Looked down on.瞧不起；Was opposed to.反對；Made fun of.取笑。）可知A項正確。

【4】主旨大意題。本文在第一段最后說“new research finds that we typically feel calmer and experience a greater sense of well-being when we focus on a place that reminds us of happier times rather than a thing, even if it holds great value.” 即“新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，當我們專注于一個能讓我們回憶起快樂往事的地方而不是一件東西，即使這件東西價格昂貴時，我們通常會感覺更平靜，體驗到更大的幸福感。”，可知我們把注意力放在有美好回憶的地方可以讓我們快樂。接著用實驗研究來證實了這個研究發(fā)現(xiàn)。分析選項可知B項符合題意。

每篇文章都會有一個主旨要義。主旨要義型題范圍一般包括：短文標題、主題大意或段落大意等。此題型要求考生在理解文章后歸納文章要點，概括中心思想�？忌�需要分析文章的篇章結(jié)構(gòu)，抓住文章的開頭或結(jié)尾，從而找出能概括文章的主題句。找出主題句，抓住文章主線和關(guān)鍵詞語，歸納文章中心。要注意不是所有的段落都有主題句，有時主題句暗含在句中。閱讀這樣的文章，就需要自己根據(jù)文章的細節(jié)來分析，概括出段落的主題，從而推導出文章的主旨。分析的方法是：先弄清該段落主要講了哪幾方面的內(nèi)容，這些內(nèi)容在邏輯上有什么聯(lián)系，然后加以歸納形成主題。 如本文的第四題就是主旨大意題。本文的主旨在第一段最后部分，接著用實驗研究來證實了這個研究發(fā)現(xiàn)。分析文章不難發(fā)現(xiàn)正確答案是B。