The “Bystander Apathy Effect” was first studied by researchers in New York after neighbours ignored --- and in some cases turned up the volume on their TVs --- the cries of a woman as she was murdered (over a half-hour period). With regard to helping those in difficulty generally, they found that:
women are helped more than men;
men help more than women;
attractive women are helped more than unattractive women.
Other factors relate to the number of people in the area, whether the person is thought to be in trouble through their own fault, and whether a person sees himself as being able to help.
According to Adrian Furnham, Professor of University College, London, there are three reasons why we tend to stand by doing nothing:
“Shifting of responsibility” --- the more people there are, the less likely help is to be given. Each person excuses himself by thinking someone else will help, so that the more “other people” there are, the greater the total shifting of responsibility.
“Fear of making a mistake” --- situations are often not clear. People think that those involved in an incident may know each other or it may be a joke, so a fear of embarrassment makes them keep themselves to themselves.
“Fear of the consequences if attention is turned on you, and the person is violent.”
Laurie Taylor, Professor of Sociology at London University, says: “In the experiments I’ve seen on intervention（介入）, much depends on the neighborhood or setting. There is a silence on public transport which is hard to break. We are embarrassed to draw attention to something that is
happening, while in a football match, people get involved , and a fight would easily follow.”
Psychotherapist Alan Dupuy identifies the importance of the individual: “the British as a whole have some difficulty intervention, but there are exceptional individuals in every group who are prepared to intervene, regardless of their own safety. These would be people with a strong moral code or religious ideals.”
60. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. Pretty women are more likely to be helped.
B. People on a bus are more likely to stop a crime.
C. Religious people are more likely to look on.
D. Criminals are more likely to harm women.
61. Which factor is NOT related with intervention according to the passage?
A. Sex. B. Nationality. C. Profession. D. Setting.
62. Which phenomenon can be described as the “Bystander Apathy Effect”?
A. A man is more likely to help than a woman.
B. In a football match, people get involved in a fight.
C. Seeing a murder, people feel sorry that it should have happened.
D. On hearing a cry for help, people keep themselves to themselves.
63. The author wrote this article _______.
A. to explain why bystanders behave as they do
B. to urge people to stand out when in need
C. to criticize the selfishness of bystanders
D. to analyze the weakness of human nature
or magazines. It’s also more exciting to see live and videotaped news events than photographs. However, newspapers and magazines have some important advantages. They give more background and details. They also let you read the parts that are important to you and skip the rest.
