Question

Decision-making under Stress

　　A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (負面的) consequences of a decision.

　　The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.

　　“Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”

　　For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress.

　　This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.

　　The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different.

　　Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.

　　This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.

1.We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.

A．keep rewards better in their memory

B．recall consequences more effortlessly

C．make risky decisions more frequently

D．learn a subject more effectively

2.According to the research, stress affects people most probably in their ______.

A．ways of making choices                   B．preference for pleasure

C．tolerance of punishments                 D．responses to suggestions

3.The research has proved that in a stressful situation, ______.

A．women find it easier to fall into certain habits

B．men have a greater tendency to slow down

C．women focus more on outcomes

D．men are more likely to take risks

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

2.A

3.D

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述的是壓力對人們不好的影響，可能改變人們做出決定的方式，讓人更多的集中于事情好的一方面而不是負面的內容。

1.A 推理題。根據第一段最后一句causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (負面的) consequences of a decision.說明在壓力之下人們更可能聚焦于快樂的事情而不是負面的結果，故他們更容易記住記憶里好的事情，A正確。

2.A 細節題。根據文章第二段　The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.說明壓力可以改變人們做出決定的方式。故A正確。

3.D 細節題。根據文章倒數第二段In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.說明男性更可能去冒險。故D正確。

考點：考查科普類短文閱讀

點評：：本文講述的是壓力對人們不好的影響，本文主旨鮮明,很容易在文中找到答案。做題時要注意文章的首段和每一段的首句或尾句，因為它們往往就是文章的主題句。閱讀中要注意要點之間的關系。然后帶著問題，再讀全文，找出答題所需要的依據，完成閱讀任務。