Question

Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious test-takers.

Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources.I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”

Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.

Sian Beilock: “what we think happens is when students put it down on paper , they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it’s not as had as they might think it was before and, in essence(本质上), it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they’re actually taking a test.”

The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.

The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.

Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.

Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.

Prefessor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.

Sian Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most likely to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don’t normally get nervous in these testing situations.”

But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance. 

1.What may happen if students have the problem of test anxiety?

A．Test anxiety can improve students’ performance to some degree.

B．Students’ attention and memory resources run out when worried.

C．Students may not be admitted into their favorite college if worried

D．Test anxiety is sure to cause students to fail the test.

2.Which of the following if TRUE?

A．In the first math test, students who sat quietly performed better.

B．In the second math test, students who wrote about their feelings did worse.

C．Some college students are highly anxious test-takers while others are not in the tests.

D．The result in the math test agrees with that in the biology test.

3.What does the underlined phrase “popping up” mean?

A．Giving out         B．Fading away        C．Becoming clearly    D．Appearing suddenly

4.what is most probably Sian Beilock?

A．A psychology professor.                  B．A philosophy researcher.

C．A politics professor                      D．A tutor

5.What is the main idea of the passage?

A．It is a common practice for students being worried before a test.

B．Being worried before tests does harm to students’ performance.

C．Anxious students overcome test anxiety by writing down fears.

D．It is important for students to overcome test anxiety.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B     

2.D

3.D

4.A

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文主要分析了如何避免考试焦虑症的影响，可以通过将自己的焦虑写下来，从而对克服考试焦虑症有了相当大的作用。

1.细节题。由when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources.当我们担心时，事实上，它会消耗尽我们的注意力和精力，因此，可知，答案为B

2.判断题。第一场考试中，文章并没有进行比较，A答案偷换概念。由Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.可知，第二场考试中，写了感受的学生表现的更好。故A,B错误。

C选项文章并未提到当别的学生没在考试时，一些学生会变得焦虑。故C错误

由Prefessor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not. Prefessor Beilock说高度焦虑的学生考试前写下了他们的担忧，拿到了B+，而没有写的只拿到了B-，因此，考试前写下担忧的学生结果要好一些，与数学测试的结果是一致的，故本题答案为D

3.推断题。由what we think happens is when students put it down on paper , they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it’s not as had as they might think it was before and, in essence(本质上), it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they’re actually taking a test。当学生把他们的担忧写在纸上的时候，他们会考虑最坏的结果，并且重新评估这种情况，他们可能认识到情况并没有像他们之前想的那样，本质上，当他们考试时，这样会阻止这些坏的想法出现。故选D。B.推色，衰退

4.推断题。从全文看，Sian Beilock对学生进行了考试焦虑症的测试并进行了分析总结，可知他很可能是心理学家。故选A

5.主旨题。文章主要是讲了如何减少焦虑对考试的影响，方法是可以将恐惧，焦虑写下来，从而可以减轻这种影响，并通过两个实验进行了说明，所以选C,克服考试焦虑的方法是可以将担忧写下来。

考点：记叙文

点评：文章较难，长句子较多，对于长句的理解首先学生答题时需要耐心去分析句子结构，分清楚句子的主谓，对于英语长句无非就是存在较多的修饰成分，特别是定语从句、非谓语动词的用法较频繁，学生在平时的阅读有意的培养对长句的分析，对于解答较难的材料是非常必要的，对于本文关键的第二、第五自然段要认真分析好，对解答本文是至关重要的。