Question

German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.

The paper，published this March in Psychology and Aging，examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96.The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.

Survey respondents (受訪者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10，among other questions.

The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction，while middle?aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future.Adults of 65 and older，however，were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction.Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would，the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.

“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade，”wrote Frieder R．Lang，a professor at the University of Erlangen?Nuremberg.

Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.

“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (預(yù)防措施)，”the authors wrote.

Surprisingly，compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes，respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline.Also，the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.

The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions.Illness，medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.

However，the researchers said a pattern was clear.“We found that from early to late adulthood，individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic，to accurate，to pessimistic，”the authors concluded.

1.According to the study，who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

A．Optimistic adults.

B．Middle?aged adults.

C．Adults in poor health.

D．Adults of lower income.

2.Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people________.

A．to fully enjoy their present life

B．to estimate their contribution accurately

C．to take measures against potential risks

D．to value health more highly than wealth

3.How do people of higher income see their future?

A．They will earn less money.

B．They will become pessimistic.

C．They will suffer mental illness.

D．They will have less time to enjoy life.

4.What is the clear conclusion of the study?

A．Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.

B．Good financial condition leads to good health.

C．Medical treatment determines health outcomes.

D．Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.

 

Answer 1

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

【解析】德國(guó)的一項(xiàng)研究表明，與悲觀者相比，對(duì)自己的未來(lái)過(guò)于樂(lè)觀的人在未來(lái)10年更容易出現(xiàn)殘疾或死亡。該研究還發(fā)現(xiàn)，年輕人組對(duì)自己未來(lái)生活的滿(mǎn)意度的期望過(guò)高，中年人預(yù)測(cè)相對(duì)準(zhǔn)確，而老年人往往低估自己未來(lái)生活的滿(mǎn)意度。

1.

2.2】解析：選C。推理判斷題。第六段說(shuō)，Lang和他的同事認(rèn)為，對(duì)自己未來(lái)悲觀的人比樂(lè)天派對(duì)自己的日常行為更小心，第七段說(shuō)，這樣的人可能會(huì)采取預(yù)防措施(應(yīng)對(duì)潛在的危險(xiǎn))，因此選C項(xiàng)。

3.3】解析：選A。推理判斷題。第八段說(shuō)，與身體不好、收入不高的人相比，身體好或者收入高的受訪者往往預(yù)料自己這兩方面(好身體或高收入)將來(lái)會(huì)下降得更厲害，研究者說(shuō)高收入往往與身體出現(xiàn)殘疾的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)相聯(lián)系，因此選A項(xiàng)。B項(xiàng)說(shuō)他們將來(lái)會(huì)很悲觀，而文章講的是他們現(xiàn)在對(duì)將來(lái)的估計(jì)；C項(xiàng)說(shuō)他們將來(lái)會(huì)出現(xiàn)精神疾病，而本段說(shuō)的是這樣的人群對(duì)將來(lái)的預(yù)計(jì)，覺(jué)得自己將來(lái)的身體和收入狀況都會(huì)下降，因此B、C不對(duì)。

4.4】解析：選D。推理判斷題。文章前幾段提到不同年齡組對(duì)自己未來(lái)生活滿(mǎn)意度的估計(jì)。從敘述看，年輕人太樂(lè)觀，中年人較實(shí)際，老年人更悲觀，看來(lái)對(duì)未來(lái)生活滿(mǎn)意度的期望是隨著年齡而遞減的，最后一段也有明確的提示，因此選D項(xiàng)。