6、Why do people cross their fingers when facing difficulties-eve non-religious people? Why do we blame the black cat when we saw the low score of the test?

These habits have been referred to as magical thinking and can be found everywhere in daily life. For example, a person wishes something bad for an annoying colleague. Or parents pray for a safe fight when seeing their son off.

 

Psychologically helpful

In examining these habits, scientists decided to search for a reason for humans’ belief in magical powers. Psychologists have their own approach to the question.

“I think in part it’s because we are constantly exposed to our own thoughts, and thus likely to overestimate their connection to outside events. ”said Emily Pronin, a psychologist in the US.

For people who are uncertain of their own abilities or slow to take action, magical thinking can be a great help, explained Dr. Daniel Wegner, a professor psychology at Harvard. Feeling that their own thoughts can control things can help people fight depression.

 

A trait（特點）gained through evolution

But evolutionists have their own ideas.

Two schools of evolutionary thought have come up with reasons by analyzing the development of humans. They are the “adaptationists（適應(yīng)論者）”and the “byproduct theorists（副產(chǎn)品論者）”.

The adaptationists say that belief in magical powers makes people feel better, less worried about difficulties, more focused on the future, and more willing to care for themselves. People with a strong faith (in something) have a better chance of surviving a tough environment or competition.

But in byproduct theory，magical thinking is a product of our psychological features.

“We automatically look for an explanation of why things happen,”explains Justin Barrett, a psychologist, The brain, therefore, has evolved to make quick judgments about causation（因果關(guān)系）. So we often link two events based on nothing more than coincidence. For example, “I was just thinking about looking up my old high school girlfriend when she suddenly called me. ”

Another psychological feature is the theory of mind. We recognize that there could be an unseen power of mind affecting the outcome of an incident.

Byproduct theorists claim that because of these features, we are born with a tendency to believe in our magical thinking.

But we need to confine our magical thinking, warn psychologists.

For most people, beliefs are just some sort of comforting private ritual. When something important is at stake, such as a test or a performance or a relationship, people don’t simply perform their private rituals. They have to prepare.

 

72. In the Paragraph 1, “Gross their fingers” means       .

A. a sign of anxiety and fear

B. a sign of hoping for good luck

C. a sign of cursing bad luck

D. a sign of deep thought

73. Which of the following is true according to the next?

A. Justin Barrett, an evolutionist, denies magical thinking is a product of adaptation.

B. People with a weak faith have a better chance of surviving competition.

C. The adaptationists think we are born with a tendency to believe in our magic thinking.

D. Dr. Daniel Wegner believe magic thinking can be a great help.

74. In which part of the newspaper can you find this passage most possibly?

A. Culture.      B. Recreation    C. History     D. News

75. The author writes the passage mainly to            .

A. persuade people to think twice faced with difficulties

B. introduce some information about opinions of evolutionists

C. explain why humans have a need for faith from different respects

D. convince people that magic thinking has advantages and disadvantages