A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.
The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.
Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.
The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.
“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.
“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.
Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.
However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.
【小题1】According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

A．Optimistic adults.	B．Middle-aged adults.
C．Adults in poor health.	D．Adults of lower income.

【小题2】Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.

A．to fully enjoy their present life

B．to estimate their contribution accurately

C．to take measures against potential risks

D．to value health more highly than wealth

【小题3】How do people of higher income see their future?

A．They will earn less money.

B．They will become pessimistic.

C．They will suffer mental illness.

D．They will have less time to enjoy life.

【小题4】 What is the clear conclusion of the study?

A．Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.

B．Good financial condition leads to good health.

C．Medical treatment determines health outcomes.

D．Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.

A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.

The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.

Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.

The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.

“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.

“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.

Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.

The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.

However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.

1.According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

A．Optimistic adults.                       B．Middle-aged adults.

C．Adults in poor health.                    D．Adults of lower income.

2.Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.

A．to fully enjoy their present life

B．to estimate their contribution accurately

C．to take measures against potential risks

D．to value health more highly than wealth

3.How do people of higher income see their future?

A．They will earn less money.

B．They will become pessimistic.

C．They will suffer mental illness.

D．They will have less time to enjoy life.

4. What is the clear conclusion of the study?

A．Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.

B．Good financial condition leads to good health.

C．Medical treatment determines health outcomes.

D．Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.

 

A person, like a commodity（商品）, needs packaging. But going too far is absolutely undesirable. A little exaggeration（夸张）, however, does no harm when it shows the person’s unique qualities to their advantages. To show personal attractiveness in a casual and natural way, it is important for one to have a clear knowledge of oneself. A skilled package knows how to add art to nature without any signs of embellishment（装饰）, so that the person so packaged is not a commodity but a human being, lively and lovely.

A young person, especially a female, shining with beauty and full of life, had all the favor granted by God. Any attempt to make up would be self-defeating. Youth, however, comes and goes in a flash. Packaging for the middle-aged is primarily to hide the marks made by years. If you still enjoy life enough to keep self-confidence and work at pioneering work, you are unique in your natural qualities, and your attractiveness and grace will remain. Elderly people are beautiful if their river of life has been, through plains, mountains and jungles, running its course as it should. You have really lived your life, which now arrives at a self-satisfied stage of quietness and calmness with no interest in fame or wealth. There is no need to make use of hair dyeing. The snowcapped mountain is itself a beautiful scene of fairyland. Let your looks change from young to old in step with the natural aging process so as to keep in harmony（和谐）with nature, for harmony itself is beauty, while the other way round will only end on unpleasantness. To be in the company of the elderly is like reading a thick book of deluxe (better quality)edition, which attracts one so much that one is unwilling to part with.

As long as one finds where one stands, one knows how to package oneself, just as a commodity sets up its brand by the right packaging.

1．It can be concluded from the text that           .

       A．people should be packed at all ages

       B．people should be packed in a special way

       C．elderly people also care about packing

       D．proper packing makes people attractive

2．According to the author, if you want to keep in harmony with nature, you should           .

       A．dye your hair                                       B．make up at a young age

       C．follow the aging process                       D．give up fame and wealth

3．For the middle-aged, attractiveness           .

       A．hardly exists                                        B．is the strongest

       C．comes from the inside                          D．comes from the appearance

4．The underlined sentence means that elderly people           .

       A．are usually packed like a finely-made book

       B．experience a lot and have rich knowledge of life

       C．doing a lot of traveling and give you much information

       D．enjoy reading thick books of beautiful nature and fairyland

　　A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.

　　The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.

　　Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.

　　The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.

　　“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

　　Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.

　　“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.

　　Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.

　　T  Pessimism gurantees chances of survival.he authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.

　　However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.

　　67. According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

　　A. Optimistic adults.

　　B. Middle-aged adults.

　　C. Adults in poor health.

　　D. Adults of lower income.

　　68. Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.

　　A. to fully enjoy their present life

　　B. to estimate their contribution accurately

　　C. to take measures against potential risks

　　D. to value health more highly than wealth

　　69. How do people of higher income see their future?

　　A. They will earn less money.

　　B. They will become pessimistic.

　　C. They will suffer mental illness.

　　D. They will have less time to enjoy life.

　　70. What is the clear conclusion of the study?

　　A. Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.

　　B. Good financial condition leads to good health.

　　C. Medical treatment determines health outcomes.

　　D. Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.