Question

【題目】There is some unwelcome news for students preparing for exams and officers putting in long hours—you don’t need that “refreshment（提神） break” as much as you may think.

Scientists believed it was not easy for people to continue their work if they felt the need to have a snack or a rest to make them feel better. They argued that the only way to regain willpower is by supplying more energy to our bodies with rest, food or entertainment.

But psychologists have challenged this theory, saying weak willpower is in your head. They found that a person’s mindset(理念) and belief about willpower determine how long and how well they’ll be able to work on a tough mental exercise. “If you think of willpower as something that’s limited, you’re more likely to be tired when you perform a difficult task,” said Professor Veronika Job. “But if you think of willpower as something that is not easily depleted, you can go on and on.”

The researchers led by Mr. Job designed an experiment to test the students’ beliefs about willpower. After a tiring task those who believed or were led to believe that willpower was a limited resource performed worse on standard concentration tests than those who thought of willpower as something they had more control over.

Mr. Job said, “Students who may already have trouble studying are being told that their powers of concentration are limited, and they need to take frequent breaks. But a belief in willpower as a non-limited resource makes people stronger in their ability to work through challenges.”

The findings could help people who are battling with temptation(誘惑):people following strict diets and doing exercise regularly to lose weight, people trying to overcome addictions, employees facing a tight deadline. Willpower isn’t driven by a biologically based process as much as we used to think.

【1】What opinion did scientists have in the past?

A. Willpower was a limited resource.

B. It was hard to regain willpower.

C. Hardworking people seldom took breaks.

D. People could easily feel tired when working.

【2】Which of the following can replace the underlined word “depleted” in paragraph 3?

A. Given up. B. Recovered.

C. Used up. D. Changed.

【3】What can we learn from the findings of the experiment?

A. Students benefit most from the research.

B. Frequent breaks are not good for learning.

C. Will power can be regained after people have a good rest.

D. The belief in willpower can change a man’s behaviour.

【4】Why does the author write the text?

A. To explain the power of willpower.

B. To show us how to build willpower.

C. To tell us the ways of gaining willpower.

D. To introduce a new theory on willpower.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】C

【3】D

【4】D

【解析】

本文是一篇說明文，以前人們認(rèn)為意志力的來源是有限的，心理學(xué)家意志力的有了新的理論，認(rèn)為意志力存在人腦中，對我們的行為能夠產(chǎn)生很大的影響。

【1】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段第二句“They argued that the only way to regain willpower is by supplying more energy to our bodies with rest, food or entertainment.”可知他們認(rèn)為得到意志力的唯一方法是用休息、食物和娛樂。句中“only”強(qiáng)調(diào)意志力的來源是有限的。故A項(xiàng)正確。

【2】猜測詞義題。根據(jù)前句“If you think of willpower as something that’s limited, you’re more likely to be tired when you perform a difficult task”可知如果你認(rèn)為意志力是有限的東西，在完成困難的任務(wù)時，你更可能會疲憊；本句中的but是關(guān)鍵詞，如果你認(rèn)為意志力很難被耗盡，那么你就可以繼續(xù)下去。使用本句這的deplete意為“use up”，故C項(xiàng)正確。

【3】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第三段第二句“They found that a person’s mindset(理念) and belief about willpower determine how long and how well they’ll be able to work on a tough mental exercise.”可知研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)意志力能夠決定人們做一項(xiàng)艱難的任務(wù)的時間和結(jié)果。也就是說意志力能夠影響人們的行為。故D項(xiàng)正確。

【4】主旨大意題。作者在第二段里介紹了以前人們對意志力的看法，第三段第一句“But psychologists have challenged this theory, saying weak willpower is in your head.”告訴我們心理學(xué)家有了新的觀點(diǎn)，下文主要介紹了關(guān)于意志力的新的發(fā)現(xiàn)。所以本文介紹了關(guān)于意志力的一種新的理論。故D項(xiàng)正確。