Question

【题目】We all have our own tricks to cheer up when we’re feeling down; these little tricks can make you feel a little bit happier every day. While there are certainly happy memories tied up in the wedding ring you and your spouse (配偶) purchased together years ago or your teddy bear from childhood, new research finds that we typically feel calmer and experience a greater sense of well-being when we focus on a place that reminds us of happier times rather than a thing, even if it holds great value.

The report, called Places That Make Us, was conducted by the United Kingdom’s National Trust (NT) and Surrey University’s researchers. Experts performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (功能磁共振成像) scans on 20 volunteers and conducted an online survey of 2,000 people to better understand this deep draw toward special places.

“Working with leading researchers and academics, and using cutting-edge fMRI brain technology, we examined how places affect people, how they become special, and why we feel a pull towards them,” explained Nino Strachey, head of research for the NT.

The 20 volunteers were shown images of landscapes, houses, and other locations, as well as personally meaningful objects. Measuring their brain activity, the researchers found that it was the places, as opposed to the objects, that caused the brain to get the most excited.

Volunteers were also interviewed at great length two times, once at home and the other time at their special place. The research made discoveries that had never known before — the favorite places aroused feelings of belonging, physical and emotional safety, and an intense internal pull to the place.

Dr. Andy Myers weighed in on the findings, saying, “For the first time we have been able to prove the physical and emotional benefits of place, far beyond any research that has been done before.”

【1】How was the research conducted?

A. By performing fMRI on 2,000 volunteers.

B. By measuring the participants’ brain activity by fMRI.

C. By doing rough interviews with the participants.

D. By showing meaningful objects to the participants.

【2】How would the author feel about the findings of the study?

A. It is pioneering. B. It is baseless.

C. It is imperfect. D. It is unbelievable.

【3】Which of the following can replace the underlined phrase “weighed in on” ?

A. Made a comment on. B. Looked down on.

C. Was opposed to. D. Made fun of.

【4】What does the text mainly talk about?

A. Everyone has his way to be happy.

B. Valuable places can make people happy.

C. Teddy bears are best memories of children.

D. Meaningful objects lead to greater well-being.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】A

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】

本文为科普说明文。当我们情绪低落时，我们都有自己的小窍门可以让自己振作起来；这些小窍门可以让你每天感觉开心一点。新的研究发现并证明了当我们专注于一个能让我们回忆起快乐往事的地方时，我们通常会感觉更平静，体验到更大的幸福感。

【1】细节理解题。根据第二段最后Experts performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (功能磁共振成像) scans on 20 volunteers and conducted an online survey of 2,000 people to better understand this deep draw toward special places.和第三段and using cutting-edge fMRI brain technology, we examined how places affect people, how they become special, and why we feel a pull towards them,可知，研究通过使用脑功能磁共振成像测量参与者的大脑活动进行的。分析选项可知B项符合题意。

【2】推理判断题。倒数第二段中的“had never known before”和“For the first time we have been able to prove”和最后一段中的安迪·迈尔斯博士对这一发现进行了评价。他说：“我们第一次能够证明场所对身体和情感的益处，远远超过以往所做的任何研究。” 由此可知是首创的。分析选项（It is pioneering首创的，开创性的；It is baseless. 无根据的；It is imperfect. 不完美的；It is unbelievable. 不可相信的，站不住脚的）可知，A正确。

【3】推理判断题。根据最后一段的内容可知是安迪·迈尔斯博士对这一发现进行了评论。分析选项（Made a comment on评论；. Looked down on.瞧不起；Was opposed to.反对；Made fun of.取笑。）可知A项正确。

【4】主旨大意题。本文在第一段最后说“new research finds that we typically feel calmer and experience a greater sense of well-being when we focus on a place that reminds us of happier times rather than a thing, even if it holds great value.” 即“新的研究发现，当我们专注于一个能让我们回忆起快乐往事的地方而不是一件东西，即使这件东西价格昂贵时，我们通常会感觉更平静，体验到更大的幸福感。”，可知我们把注意力放在有美好回忆的地方可以让我们快乐。接着用实验研究来证实了这个研究发现。分析选项可知B项符合题意。

每篇文章都会有一个主旨要义。主旨要义型题范围一般包括：短文标题、主题大意或段落大意等。此题型要求考生在理解文章后归纳文章要点，概括中心思想。考生需要分析文章的篇章结构，抓住文章的开头或结尾，从而找出能概括文章的主题句。找出主题句，抓住文章主线和关键词语，归纳文章中心。要注意不是所有的段落都有主题句，有时主题句暗含在句中。阅读这样的文章，就需要自己根据文章的细节来分析，概括出段落的主题，从而推导出文章的主旨。分析的方法是：先弄清该段落主要讲了哪几方面的内容，这些内容在逻辑上有什么联系，然后加以归纳形成主题。 如本文的第四题就是主旨大意题。本文的主旨在第一段最后部分，接着用实验研究来证实了这个研究发现。分析文章不难发现正确答案是B。