英语四级长篇阅读专项练习题

　　英语四级长篇阅读专项练习题原文

　　How Your Language Affects Your Wealth and Health

　　A. Does the language we speak determine how healthy and rich we will be? New research by Keith Chen of Yale Business School suggests so. The structure of languages affects our judgments and decisions about the future and this might have dramatic long-term consequences.

　　B. There has been a lot of research into how we deal with the future. For example, the famous marshmallow ( 棉 花糖)studies of Walter Mischel and colleagues showed that being able to resist temptation is predictive of future success. Four-year-old kids were given a marshmallow and were told that if they do not eat that marshmallow and wait for the experimenter to come back, they will get two marshmallows instead of one. Follow-up studies showed that the kids who were able to wait for the bigger future reward became more successful young adults.

　　C. Resisting our impulses for immediate pleasure is often the only way to attain the outcomes that are important to us. We want to keep a slim figure but we also want that last slice of pizza. We want a comfortable retirement, but we also want to drive that dazzling car, go on that dream vacation, or get those gorgeous shoes.

　　Some people are better at delaying gratification ( 满足 ) than others. Those people have a better chance of accumulating wealth and keeping a healthy life style. They are less likely to be impulse buyers or smokers, or to engage in unsafe sex.

　　D. Chen's recent findings suggest that an unlikely factor, language, strongly affects our future-oriented behavior. Some languages strongly distinguish the present and the future. Other languages only weakly distinguish the present and the future. Chen's recent research suggests that people who speak languages that weakly distinguish the present and the future are better prepared for the future. They accumulate more wealth and they are better able to maintain their health. The way these people conceptualize the future is similar to the way they conceptualize the present. As a result, the future does not feel very distant and it is easier for them to act in accordance with their future interestS.

　　E. Different languages have different ways of talking about the future. Some languages, such as English, Korean, and Russian, require their speakers to refer to the future explicitly ( 明确地). Every time English-speakers tall about the future, they have to use future markers such as "will" or "going to." In other languages, such as Mandarin, Japanese, and German, future markers are not obligatory (强制性的). The future is often talked about similar to the way present is talked about and the meaning is understood from the context. A Mandarin speaker who is going to go to a seminar might say "Wo qu ting jiangzuo," which translates to "I go listen seminar." Languages such as English constantly remind their speakers that future events are distant. For speakers of languages such as Mandarin future feels closer. As a consequence, resisting immediate impulses and investing for the future is easier for Mandarin speakers.

　　F.Chert analyzed individual-level data from 76 developed and developing countries. This data includes people's economic decisions, such as whether they saved any money last year, the languages they speak at home, demographics (人口统计资料 ), and cultural factors such as "saving is an important cultural value for me."

　　He also analyzed individual-level data on people's retirement assets, smoking and exercising habits, and general health in older age. Lastly, he analyzed national-level data that inchides national savings rates, country GDP and GDP growth rates, country demographics, and proportions of people speaking different languages.

　　G. People's savings rates are affected by various factors such as their income, education level, age, religious connection, their countries' legal systems, and their cultural values. After those factors were accounted for, the effect of language on people's savings rates turned out to be big. Speaking a language that has obligatory future markers, such as English, makes people 30 percent less likely to save money for the future. This effect is as large as the effect of unemployment. Being unemployed decreases the likelihood of saving by about 30 percent as well.

　　H. Similar analyses showed that speaking a language that does not have obligatory future markers, such as Mandarin, makes people accumulate more retirement assets, smoke less, exercise more, and generally be healthier in older age. Countries' national savings rates are also affected by language. Having a larger proportion of people speaking languages that does not have obligatory future markers makes national savings rates higher.

　　I.At a more practical level, researchers have been looking for ways to help people act in accordance with their long-term interests. Recent, findings suggest that making the future feel closer to the present might improve future-oriented behavior. For instance, researchers recently presented people with renderings of their future selves made using age-progression algorithms (算法) that forecast how physical appearances would change over time. One group of participants saw a digital representation of their current selves in a virtual mirror, and the other group saw an age-morphed version of their future selves. Those participants who saw the age- morphed version of their future selves allocated more money toward a hypothetical savings account. The intervention brought people's future to the present and as a result they saved more for the future.

　　J.Chen's research shows that language structures our future-related thoughts. Language has been used before to alter time perception with surprising effects. Ellen Langer and colleagues famously improved older people's physical health by simple interventions including asking them to talk about the events of twenty years ago as if it they were happening now. Talking about the past as if it were the present changed people's mindsets and their mindsets affected their physical states. Chen's research points at the possibility that the way we talk about the future can shape our mindsets. Language can move the future back and forth in our mental space and this might have dramatic influences on our judgments and decisions.

　　英语四级长篇阅读专项练习题选项

　　46. Usually, preventing ourselves from enjoying immediate pleasure impulsively is the only way to achieve the outcomes that are important to us.

　　47. The structure of languages influences us when we are making a judgment or decision about the future.

　　48. Speaking a language that has obligatory future markers and being unemployed nearly share the same percentage of decreasing the likelihood of saving.

　　49. According to the well-known marshmallow studies, people who can resist temptation tend to be successful in the future.

　　50. People who speak languages like English are more likely to feel that the future events are distant.

　　51. National savings rates of countries are influenced by language as well.

　　52. In Chen's recent research, people who speak languages in which the present and the future are weakly distinguished are more prepared for the future.

　　53. Recent findings show that it is possible to improve future-oriented behavior through making the future feel closer to the present.

　　54. Through simple interventions, Ellen Langer and colleagues made the physical health of the older people changed for the better.

　　55. Chen made an analysis of individual-level statistics from 76 developed and developing nations.

　　英语四级长篇阅读专项练习题答案

　　46.C

　　解析：题干意为，让自己不要冲动地贪图一时之乐通常是获得那些对我们来说非常重要的成果的唯一办法。注意抓住题干中的关键信息enjoying immediate pleasure、the only way和outcomes that are important to us。文中论及克制冲动、推迟满足感的内容出现在C段，该段首句提到，我们要想获取一些 对自己来说非常重要的成果，抵制住眼前的一时痛快往往是唯一的办法。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为C。

　　47.A

　　解析：题干意为，语言结构会在我们做出一个关乎未来的判断或决定时对我们产生影响。注意抓住题干中的关键信息the structure of languages、judgement or decision和the furore。文中A段即提出本文论题：语言是否会决定我们未来的健康和财富?该段接下来的内容则对此论题给予了肯定陈述，该段末句提到，语言结构会影响我们对未来的判断和决定，而这可能会产生极其长远的影响。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为A。

　　48.G

　　解析：题干意为，使用必须明确表明未来的语言和失业在降低人们为将来储蓄的可能性方面的作用近乎相同。注意抓住题干中的关键信息a language that has obligatory future markers、being unemployed和 decreasing the likelihood of saving。文中论述语言和失业与个人储蓄率之间关系的内容出现在G段，该段第三句和第四句提到.使用像英语这种必须明确表明“未来”的语言使得人们为未来储蓄的可能性降低了三成，这样一种影响跟失业的影响差不多。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为G。

　　49.B

　　解析：题干意为，依据著名的棉花糖实验，能够抵御诱惑的人趋向于在未来取得成功。注意抓住题干中的关键信息marshmallow studies、resist temptation和to be successful in the future。文章的8段描述了著名的棉花糖实验，该段第二句提到，由WalterMischel和他的同事们一起进行的著名的“棉花糖实验”表明：能够抵御诱惑预示着未来的成功。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为B。

　　50.E

　　解析：题干意为，使用英语之类的语言的人很容易认为未来的事情很遥远。注意抓住题干中的关键信息languageslikeEnglish和thefuture events are distant。文中涉及英语等不同语种对人感知未来远近产生影响的内容出现在E段，该段倒数第三句提到，诸如英语这样的语言会不断地提醒其使用者未来是很遥远的。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为E。

　　51.H

　　解析：题干意为，各个国家的国民储蓄率也受到语言的影响。注意抓住题干中的关键信息national savings ratesofcountries和influencedbylanguage。文中第H段论述了语言对国民储蓄率的影响，该段第二句提到，语言同样也影响着一个国家的国民储蓄率。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为H。

　　52.D

　　解析：题干意为，在Chen最近的研究中，那些使用不明显区分现在和未来的语言的人能够更好地为将来做好准备。注意抓住题干中的关键信息Chen’s recent research、weakly distinguished和more prepared forthefuture。文章D段介绍了Chert的最新研究成果，该段第四句提到，使用不太区分现在和未来的语言的人对未来准备得更充分。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为D。

　　53.I

　　解析：题干意为，最近的研究发现，通过让未来显得离现在更近也许可以改善人们针对未来的表现。注意抓住题干中的关键信息recent findings、improve future—oriented behavior和feel closer。文章的l段论述了科学家们试图寻找方法，使人们更多地考虑长远利益。该段第二句提到，近期的研究发现，让未来显得离现在更近也许可以改善人们针对未来的行为表现。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为I。

　　54.J

　　解析：题干意为，通过简单的干预，EllenLanger和同事们让老年人的身体健康状况得到改善。注意抓住题干中的关键信息simple interventions、Ellen Langer and colleagues和physical health。涉及通过简单干预改善老人身体健康的内容出现在J段，该段第三句提到，EllenLanger和她的同事们通过简单的干预极大地改善了老年人的身体健康。这些干预手段包括让他们谈论20年前的事情，就像那些事情现在正在发生一样。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为J。

　　55.F

　　解析：题干意为，Chen对来自76个发达国家和发展中国家的个人层面的数据进行了分析。注意抓住题干中的关键信息analysis of individual—level statistics和76 developed and developing nations。文中涉及Chen所分析的数据的内容出现在F段，该段首句提到，Chen分析了来自76个发达国家和发展中国家的个人层面的数据。由此可见，题干是对原文的同义转述，故答案为F。