Decision-making under Stress

　　A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (负面的) consequences of a decision.

　　The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.

　　“Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”

　　For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress.

　　This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.

　　The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different.

　　Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.

　　This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.

1.We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.

A．keep rewards better in their memory

B．recall consequences more effortlessly

C．make risky decisions more frequently

D．learn a subject more effectively

2.According to the research, stress affects people most probably in their ______.

A．ways of making choices                   B．preference for pleasure

C．tolerance of punishments                 D．responses to suggestions

3.The research has proved that in a stressful situation, ______.

A．women find it easier to fall into certain habits

B．men have a greater tendency to slow down

C．women focus more on outcomes

D．men are more likely to take risks

 

Decision-making under Stress
　　A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (负面的) consequences of a decision.
　　The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.
　　“Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”
　　For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress.
　　This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.
　　The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different.
　　Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.
　　This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.
【小题1】We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.

A．keep rewards better in their memory

B．recall consequences more effortlessly

C．make risky decisions more frequently

D．learn a subject more effectively

【小题2】According to the research, stress affects people most probably in their ______.

A．ways of making choices	B．preference for pleasure
C．tolerance of punishments	D．responses to suggestions

【小题3】The research has proved that in a stressful situation, ______.

A．women find it easier to fall into certain habits

B．men have a greater tendency to slow down

C．women focus more on outcomes

D．men are more likely to take risks

A friend of ours was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset．As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance．As he drew   1　, he, who had been feeling so tired of teaching those naughty children at school, suddenly   2   the local native kept   3 down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water．Time and again he kept hurling （猛投） things out into the ocean．

As our friend   4   even closer, he found that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one   5  , he was   6   them back into the water．

Our friend was   7  ．He got close to the man and said, “Good evening, friend．I was  8  what you are doing．”

“I am throwing these starfish back into the ocean．You see, it’s   9   tide right now and all of these starfish have been   10   up onto the shore． 11   I don’t throw them back into the sea, they’ll die up here from   12   of oxygen．”

“I   13   that,” our friend replied, “but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach．You can’t  14   get to all of them．There are   15   too many．And don’t you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this   16  ．Can’t you see that you are not able to make a   17  ?”

The local native  18  , bent down and picked up yet   19   starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he   20  , “Made a difference to that one!”

1．A．farther                  B．nearer                 C．older                   D．stronger

2．A．observed               B．realized                C．discovered           D．noticed

3．A．slipping                 B．moving                C．bending               D．falling

4．A．marched               B．approached          C．swam                 D．ran

5．A．at a time                B．from time to time C．at times               D．in no time

6．A．giving                   B．throwing             C．dragging             D．waving

7．A．frightened             B．moved                 C．shocked             D．puzzled

8．A．recording              B．wondering           C．following             D．forecasting

9．A．low                      B．huge                   C．rising                  D．changeable

10．A．cleaned               B．dried                   C．pushed                D．washed

11．A．If                        B．Though               C．Because              D．Unless

12．A．quality                 B．lack                    C．balance               D．damage

13．A．challenge             B．suspect               C．understand          D．excuse

14．A．luckily                 B．possibly               C．hardly                 D．quickly

15．A．simply                 B．basically              C．approximately      D．especially

16．A．island                  B．coast                   C．ocean                  D．tide

17．A．sacrifice              B．choice                 C．profit                  D．difference

18．A．smiled                 B．prayed                C．sighed                 D．frowned

19．A．another               B．that                    C．one                    D．other

20．A．praised               B．commented          C．replied                D．added

“Do you think we’ll win? ”ten-year-old Tyrus Lucas asked his mother 　　1    he wrote his name on the entry(参赛作品） to Cartoon Network’s toy sweepstakes.

“We can　　 2    , ”said his mother, a divorced mother who works as a teacher and struggled to　　 3     her kids, she didn’t have much money for 　　4    .

A week later the phone rang. “Your son won our drawing!” a woman    5    .

“Great, ”cried his mother, “Which　　 6　　 did he win? ”

“All of them. A thousand toys!”

The next Saturday when the doorbell of their home rang, Tyrus, not　　 7　　 the surprise, opened the door and his face    8　　 up. “Mom, ”he cried, “Cartoon Network is here!”

So were dozens of 　　9　　 kids who had run over to the cartoon-covered truck. They jumped　　 10　　 as hundreds of toys tumbled(摇晃) from the truck’s back doors.

Tyrus thought he could　　 11     his whole room with them. But as he looked at the children around him, he 　　12   . The others in their working-class neighborhood didn’t have

    13　　 either.

“Here, ”he said,    14    a doll to a little girl. Then he handed a boy another. “Take

    15    you want, ”Tyrus told the kids—and they did,   16　　 him over and over.

Tyrus kept several games, but he hasn’t done giving. “Why don’t we give some to your

    17    , Mom? ” he asked. They 　　18　　 almost 100 toys to the elementary school where she works. “The first thing my son thought of was to 　　19    , ”his mother says, smiling, “I’m so　　 20     of him. ”

1. A. though　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. as

C. as long as   　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. so that

2. A. guess　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   B. ask

C. wait　　     　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. try

3. A. support　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. promise

C. treat　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. consider

4. A. drawings　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. extras

C. food　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. schooling

5. A. declared　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. explained

C. spoke　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   D. praised

6. A. prize　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   B. pay

C. toy　　      　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   D. wealth

7. A. seeing　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. helping

C. knowing　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. enjoying

8. A. lighted　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. looked

C. turned　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   D. set

9. A. attractive　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. warm

C. helpful　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   D. excited

10 . A. off　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   B. out

C. down　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   D. up and down

11. A. join　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   B. fill

C. keep　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. have

12. A. worried　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. stopped

C. laughed　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   D. examined

13. A. much　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. great

C. little　　     　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. quantities

14. A. showing　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. moving

C. handing　　  　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   D. driving

15. A. wherever　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. however

C. whenever　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. whatever

16. A. troubling　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. interrupting

C. reminding　　  　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. thanking

17. A. schools　　  　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. friends

C. students　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   D. children

18. A. contributed　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　  B. delivered

C. sold　　     　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. lent

19. A. take　　  　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 　　   B. lend

C. give　　     　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. imagine

20. A. fond　　   　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. proud

C. sure　　     　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. kind