Question

If you lose your wallet, how often do you think someone will be kind enough to return it to you, with cash and credit cards?

Some people may be greedy, and others are simply too lazy to bother(打搅) with the trip to the post office to send back a wallet to a stranger. But according to a psychology study by Dr. Richard Wiseman, there’s one thing that’ll greatly increase your odds of being reunited with a lost wallet: a photograph of a cute baby.

In the study, hundreds of wallets were scattered(分散) around the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland. The psychologists wanted to see how many strangers would take the trouble to return them to the addresses listed on the drivers’ licenses inside—but more than that, they wanted to find out what would make a person more likely to help out a stranger.

To finish this, they included personal things in most of the wallets: some included a photo of a happy elderly couple, some contained a cute puppy, some contained a family portrait, and some held a photo of a lovely baby. Others had receipts(发票) showing that the wallet’s owner had recently donated to a charity（慈善）. Some contained no personal details.

As the psychologists soon discovered, the sight of a smiling baby is enough to warm nearly any heart: only one in ten of the strangers who retrieved such wallets did not return them. In contrast, the second most successful image, the puppy, had a 53% return rate. When the wallet included no photograph, it stood only a one in seven chance of being returned to the owner.

The success of the baby photograph shows a human compassion(同情) for the young that’s been passed down through the ages, according to Dr. Wiseman. “The baby kicked off a caring feeling in people, which is not surprising from an evolutionary perspective(进化的角度),” he told the Times.

To ensure our species’ survival, scientists think that we must feel empathy and compassion for our young. Scientists say that this study supports the argument that we won’t feel compassion only for our own babies, but for any that we see—hence, the strong desire a stranger would feel to return a wallet to the baby’s parent.

On a more basic level, the study also provides a great tip to help ensure that if your wallet is ever lost, you’re more likely to get it back. “If you want to increase the chances of your wallet being returned if lost, gain a photograph of the cutest baby you can find and ensure that it is clearly displayed,” said Dr. Wiseman.

1.The main purpose of the psychologists’ leaving hundreds of wallets around was to find out________.

A．whether people were as honest as before

B．what made people willing to help strangers

C．what kind of feelings could be caused by a smiling baby

D．how evolution influenced human beings

2.The underlined word “retrieved” in Para. 5 probably means “________”.

A．picked up         B．spread out         C．found out         D．looked for

3.Why did people return a wallet with a photograph of a cute baby in it?

A．Because the wallet was not attractive enough to keep.

B．Because the sight of a baby could cause a caring feeling in them.

C．Because they were curious to know the parents of the baby

D．Because the sight of a cute baby reminded them of their own children.

4.If there are 30 lost wallets with a photograph of a cute baby, how many of them will probably be returned?

A．Only 3.           B．About 15.         C．20 or so.          D．About 27.

5.We can learn from the last two paragraphs that________.

A．humans usually have compassion for the young

B．the caring feeling in people is gone during evolution

C．scientists believed that people only feel compassion for their own babies

D．a wallet with a cute baby’s picture in it cannot be lost

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.A

3.B

4.D

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述的是一个调查报告：掉了钱包以后，有多少钱包还能被还回来？

1.B 推理题。根据文章第二段But according to a psychology study by Dr. Richard Wiseman, there’s one thing that’ll greatly increase your odds of being reunited with a lost wallet: a photograph of a cute baby.

In the study, hundreds of wallets were scattered(分散) around the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland. The psychologists wanted to see how many strangers would take the trouble to return them to the addresses listed on the drivers’ licenses inside—but more than that, they wanted to find out what would make a person more likely to help out a stranger.可知这个研究的目的就是为查明究竟是什么让人们愿意把钱包还给别人。故B正确。

2.A 推理题。根据本句only one in ten of the strangers who retrieved such wallets did not return them.说明这里的 retrieved 是指捡起钱包这件事情，故A正确。

3.B 推理题。根据文章最后一段前4行To ensure our species’ survival, scientists think that we must feel empathy and compassion for our young. Scientists say that this study supports the argument that we won’t feel compassion only for our own babies, but for any that we see—hence, the strong desire a stranger would feel to return a wallet to the baby’s parent.可知这样的照片让人们想起了自己的孩子，所以才会更有同情心，故B正确。

4.D 细节题。根据As the psychologists soon discovered, the sight of a smiling baby is enough to warm nearly any heart: only one in ten of the strangers who retrieved such wallets did not return them.只有十分之一的没有换，故30个这样的钱包大约有27个被还了过来。故D正确。

5.A 推理题。根据文章最后一段1,2行To ensure our species’ survival, scientists think that we must feel empathy and compassion for our young.可知A正确。

考点：考查社会现象类短文阅读

点评：本文讲述的是一个调查报告：掉了钱包以后，有多少钱包还能被还回来？测试考生在阅读基础上的逻辑推理能力，要求考生根据文章所述事件的逻辑关系，对未说明的趋势或结局作出合理的推断；或根据作者所阐述的观点理论，对文章未涉及的现象、事例给以解释。考生首先要仔细阅读短文，完整了解信息，准确把握作者观点。