Question

【题目】 Fear may be felt in the heart as well as in the head, according to a study that has found a link between the cycles of a beating heart and the chance of someone feeling fear.

Tests on healthy volunteers found that they were more likely to feel a sense of fear at the moment when their hearts are contracting（收缩）and pumping blood around their bodies, compared with the point when the heartbeat is relaxed. Scientists say the results suggested that the

heart is able to influence how the brain responds to a fearful event, depending on which point it is at in its regular cycle of contraction and relaxation.

Sarah Garfinkel at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School said, “Our study show for the first time that the way in which we deal with fear is different depending on when we see fearful pictures in relation to our heart.

The study tested 20 healthy volunteers on their reactions to fear as they were shown pictures of fearful faces. Dr. Garfinkel said, “The study showed that fearful faces are better noticed when the heart is pumping than when it is relaxed. Thus our hearts can also affect what we see and what we don’t see---and guide whether we see fear.”

To further understand this relationship, the scientists also used a brain scanner（扫描仪）to show how the brain influences the way the heart changes a person’s feeling of fear.

“We have found an important mechanism by which the heart and brain ‘speak’ to each ther to change our feelings and reduce fear” Dr. Garfinkel said.

“We hope that by increasing our understanding about how fear is dealt with and ways that it could be reduced, we may be able to develop more successful treatments for anxiety disorders, and also for those who may be suffering from serious stress disorder.”

【1】 What is the finding of the study?

A. One’s heart affects how he feels fear.

B. Fear is a result of one’s relaxed heartbeat.

C. Fear has something to do with one’s health.

D. One’s fast heartbeats are likely to cause fear.

【2】The study was carried out by analyzing .

A. volunteers’ heartbeats when they saw terrible pictures

B. the time volunteers saw fearful pictures and their health conditions

C. volunteers’ reactions to horrible pictures and data from their brain scans

D. different pictures shown to volunteers and their heart-brain communication

【3】 Which of the following is closest in meaning to “mechanism” in Paragraph 6?

A. Order

B. System

C. Machine

D. Treatment.

【4】 This study may contribute to .

A. treating anxiety and stress better

B. explaining the cycle of fear and anxiety

C. finding the key to the heart-brain communication

D. understanding different fears in our hearts and heads

Answer 1

【答案】【1】A

【2】 C

【3】 C

【4】 A

【解析】【1】 从Paragraph 1可以看出，研究表明，心脏的循环系统与人们对恐惧的感知之间存在某种联系，故正确答案为A。

【2】 从Paragraph 4的第一句话可以看出，研究主要测试的是志愿者对恐怖图片的反应（reaction），此外，Paragraph 5 提到在研究过程中还会使用扫描仪扫描志愿者的大脑以获取数据，故正确答案为C。

【3】 从Paragraph 6的上下文可知，在人体内部存在某种“系统”将心脏和大脑联系了起来，使二者之间可以对话（speak）。故正确答案为B。A“order”意为顺序，C“machine”意为机器，D“treatment”意为治疗，均不符合语意。

【4】 从最后一段的倒数2行可以看出，该项研究将有助于促进对焦虑症患者和压力过大者的治疗，故正确答案为A。