新闻类阅读理解模拟训练(85413)-高三英语阅读(492)-21英语网

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Novels are more than just words on a page. They bring to life breathtaking (激动人心的) adventures and heartwarming romances. Scientists have even discovered that books have the power to change us.

Recent research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology shows that reading about and identifying with a fictional (小说虚构的) character can lead to us subconsciously (下意识地) adopting their behavior. Geoff Kaufman of Dartmouth College, and Lisa Libby of Ohio State University in the US, said that we could actually become like our favorite characters.

The researchers ran several experiments into how people react to fiction. They found that people who strongly identified with a character who overcame difficulties in order to vote were more likely to vote in a real election days later than other volunteers.

Fictional characters could have a good influence on people. Those who like Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice might become more considerate and understanding, and readers can also learn from her mistakes.

But the connection with fictional characters can also be bad, researchers said. “Think of American Psycho,” Kaufman told MSNBC. “The character is very likable and attractive, but he’s a serial killer. To the extent that you connect with him, you may try to understand or justify what he is doing.”

Kaufman and Libby found that when people read a fictional story they visualized (设想) their favorite character’s emotions, thoughts and beliefs. Researchers called this process “experience-taking”.

Kaufman and Libby found that “experience-taking” could create real changes in the lives of readers, although they are not yet sure whether these changes are brief or long lasting.

“If you’ve got a deep connection with the characters, it can have a long-term impact,” said Kaufman in an interview with MSNBC. “It can inspire you to re-read something. And then the impact can be strengthened over time.”

Kaufman believes that the fiction-effect only comes with written works. “When we watch a movie, by the very essence of it, we’re positioned as audience,” he explained to the MSNBC. “So it’s hard to imagine yourself as the character. I suspect that if you read the screenplay it would be more powerful as far as experience-taking goes.”

1. Recent research mentioned in the article finds ______.

A. that people love to read about things that have never happened to them

B. how people identify with their favorite fictional characters

C. what makes books about adventures and romances appealing

D. that reading fiction can change people’s behavior

2. According to the text, the connection with fictional characters ______.

A. is beneficial to readers B. is harmful to readers

C. only has a temporary effect D. can have a lasting effect after re-reading

3. What is Kaufman and Libby’s attitude toward the influence of fictional characters on people?

A. Objective. B. Disapproving. C. Doubtful. D. Optimistic.

4. What do the last two paragraphs mean?

A. Not everybody has a good knowledge of experience-taking skills.

B. Movie audiences should try to imagine themselves as the characters they watch.

C. Reading the screenplay of a movie can help people connect with the characters.

D. Experience-taking usually only has a temporary effect on people.

B

How do you persuade someone to do something that they don’t want to? Flattery, the art of complimenting (称赞) others, can help you get what you want.

Lucy Kellaway, a writer at the Financial Times, received an e-mail asking her to go to Scotland to give a speech for a charity. She wanted to decline; Scotland is far away from London, she had never heard of the charity and she barely knew the woman who wrote the message. Yet she found herself saying yes. Why?

Because she felt flattered. The woman expressed huge admiration for Kellaway’s works and claimed the committee would be “over the moon” if she came. Writing in the Financial Times, Kellaway says she didn’t believe the woman was really her fan, but was softened up nevertheless.

According to a recent study from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, flattery works even when the recipient knows someone is being insincere (不真诚的).

The Harvard Business Review retells an experiment researchers did to prove the effectiveness of flattery.

A group of students were given a flyer (传单) from a fictional clothing shop saying: “We are contacting you directly because we know that you are a fashionable and stylish person.” The compliment was impersonal and the motive (意图) was plain – the flyer asked them to shop at the store. But the “shoppers” were charmed anyway and chose the store that had flattered them.

Flattery may persuade customers, but it doesn’t work in every situation.

It’s not a good idea to try and flatter your boss into giving you a promotion, according to research by the University at Buffalo in the US. Researchers found that if a manager sees an employee’s flattery as part of a plan to get ahead, they often rate the employee lower on job performance.

But if the flatterer is skillful enough to fool the manager into thinking his or her praise is sincere, they usually get positive feedback.

An article in The Economist agrees, arguing that ambitious people should master the art of flattery. It quotes Jennifer Chatman of the University of California who, after doing several experiments, could not find the point at which flattery becomes ineffective.

Chatman says: “People who make the boss feel good about the decisions he or she has made, who build up the boss’s confidence, those people are going to do better.”

5. Lucy Kellaway accepted the invitation to give a speech for a charity in Scotland because ______.

A. she was impressed by the person who e-mailed her

B. she supports charities and likes to help others

C. she realized the woman who e-mailed her was a fan of her work

D. she found it hard to say no to someone who regarded her works so highly

6. Which of the following is mentioned in the text?

A. Flattery always helps people get what they want.

B. False flattery can get you enemies.

C. People shouldn’t be fooled by insincere flattery.

D. Skillful flatterers are promoted at work.

7. What is Jennifer Chatman’s attitude toward the function of flattery?

A. objective B. negative C. positive D. doubtful

8. What is the text mainly about?

A. The effectiveness of flattery. B. How to be a skillful flatterer.

C. The art of persuasion. D. Flattery and ambition.

C

How packed is your schedule? When somebody says “How are you?”, is “Busy” your usual reply? Not being able to slow down and relax worries a lot of people. But when we say “I’m busy”, is it sometimes to boast (吹嘘) rather than to complain?

According to US writer Tim Kreider, people who moan (埋怨) about being busy are not always the ones who need to be busy.

Rather, they are filling their lives up voluntarily. In an article for The New York Times entitled The ‘busy’ trap, Kreider says, “busy people” are “addicted to busyness and fear what they might have to face in its absence”.

Our lives cannot possibly be silly or meaningless if we are “in demand every hour of the day”.

Kreider says that for most of us, being busy is not necessary; it’s something we’ve chosen.

He tells the story of a friend of his who was driven out of New York by high rent costs. She now lives in a small town in the south of France.

She describes herself as happy and relaxed for the first time in years. She still gets her work done, but it doesn’t take up her entire day.

She has a big circle of friends who all go out to the cafe together every night.

She used to describe her personality as “driven, anxious and sad”. These attributes (特点) turned out to be an “effect of her environment”.

Kreider says that most of us don’t want to be busy, but if everyone else puts on an air of busyness, we feel we ought to do something or risk being considered lazy.

Being artificially busy stops us from taking a step back to learn about ourselves.

Kreider urges us to space out once in a while. Doing nothing is not lazy, he says: “It is as indispensable (不可或缺的) to the brain as vitamin D is to the body.”

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