You’re out to dinner. The food is delicious and the service is fine. You decide to leave a big fat tip. Why? The answer may not be as simple as you think.
Tipping, psychologists have found, is not just about service. Instead, studies have shown that tipping can be affected by psychological reactions to a series of different factors from the waiter’s choice of words to how they carry themselves while taking orders to the bill’s total.
“Studies before have shown that mimicry (模仿) brings into positive feelings for the mimicker,” wrote Rick van Baaren, a social psychology professor. “These studies show that people who are being mimicked become more generous toward the person who mimics them.”
So Rick van Baren divided 59 waiters into two groups. He requested that half serve with a phrase such as, “Coming up!” Those in the other half were instructed to repeat the orders and preferences back to the customers. Rick van Baaren then compared their take-home(实得收入). The results were clear---it pays to mimic your customer. The copycat waiters earned almost double the amount of tips to the other group.
Leonard Green and Joel Myerson, psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis, found the generosity of a tipper may be limited by his bill. After research on the 1,000 tips left for waiters, cab drivers, hair stylists, they found tip percentages in these three areas dropped as customers’ bills went up.
“That’s also a point of tipping,” Green says. “You have to give a little extra to the cab driver for being there to pick you up and something to the waiter for being there to serve you. If they weren’t there you’d never get any service. So part of the idea of a tip is for just being there.”According to the passage, a customer gives the cab driver a tip for ____.
| A．driver’s politeness | B．being there | C．driver’s attitudes | D．driver’s mimicry |
According to the passage, which of the following will be likely to show the right change of the tip percentages for the three areas researched?
According to the passage, we know the writer seems to _________.
| A．oppose Mr. Green’s idea about tipping |
| B．support the opinions of Mr. Green and Rick van Baaren about tipping |
| C．give his generous tip to the waiters very often |
| D．think part of Mr. Green’s explanation is reasonable |
Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia(痴呆) in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones, U.S. reseachers reported on Thursday.
Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s(早老痴呆症). University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.
“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy are protecting the brain, including estrogen(雌激素), which we know has many neuroprotective effects,” Kinsley said.
“It’s rat data but human
s are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”
Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline.
“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.
“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations(改变) to the brain.” How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?
| A．Some researchers have told them. |
| B．Many women say so. |
| C．They know it by experimenting on rats. |
| D．They know it through their own experience. |
What does the phrase “litters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?
| A．Baby rats. | B．Animals. | C．Old rats. | D．Grown-up rats. |
What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage?
| A．Estrogen. | B．The hormones of pregnancy. |
C．More  exercise. |
D．Taking care of children. |
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals.” What does the sentence suggest?
| A．The experiments on the rats have nothing to do with humans. |
| B．The experiments on the rats are very important for animals. |
| C．The experiments on the rats are much the same on humans. |
| D．The experiments on the rats are much the same on other animals. |
Which title is the best for this passage?
| A．Do You Want to Be Smarter? |
| B．Motherhood Makes Women Smarter |
| C．Mysterious Hormones |
| D．An Important Study |
Beijing, June 10 (Xinhua) --- Torrential (倾泻的) rains that troubled southern China for days have killed 66 people and resulted in 12 missing by 6:00 p.m. (Beijing time) on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. “Floods caused by heavy rains have affected about 294,800 hectares of crops, completely destroying 53,000 hectares of them,” said an official with the ministry. The floods have torn down 48,000 and damaged 94,000 houses in southern China, and forced about 591,000 people to move from their homes, the official said.
From Wednesday to Saturday, continuous torrential rains, mudslides and floods hit Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Fujian, affecting more than 8.97 million people. The disasters have caused an overall economic loss of more than 2.9 billion yuan, according to the ministry. The ministry has sent rescue teams to the disaster areas to assist relief work. In Guangdong, heavy rains have killed 18 people and left four missing by 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, according to local authorities. A total of 1.72 million people were affected in the province.
Floods have damaged 49 roads in the seriously affected Meizhou City, of which 29 remained closed to traffic by 7:00 p.m. The number of people who died in floods in Guangxi has reached 13 and one remained missing by Sunday, according to local civil affairs authority. More than 1.97 million people have bee
n affected after the floods caused by continuous heavy rains hit some 40 counties since Wednesday.
According to the local civil affairs bureau, 9,200 houses were knocked down and 75,181 hectares of crops were affected, resulting in 529 million yuan in direct economic losses. There are fewer rainstorms and the rain belt is moving out of Guangxi, but the water levels in major rivers will keep rising in next few days, according to the latest forecast of the region’s meteorological bureau on Sunday afternoon. The underlined phrase “torn down” (para. 1) is closest in meaning to _______.
| A．knocked down | B．placed down | C．set down | D．torn open |
In Meizhou city, 49 roads were damaged and by 7:00 p.m. only _______ roads can be used again after the repair work.
| A．66 | B．29 | C．20 | D．19 |
Which of the following statements is true according to the news?
| A．Hubei is one of the provinces struck by the torrential rains. |
| B．The floods have caused a total loss of nearly 3 billion yuan. |
| C．13 people died in Guangdong province as a result of the floods. |
D．The rain belt will remain in Guangxi in the next fe w days. |
What’s the best title for this n
ews story?
| A．A Disaster. | B．Heavy rains. | C．A Flood. | D．Heavy rains in Southern China. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．The rainstorms are becoming stronger. |
| B．The water levels in major rivers are to go down soon. |
| C．The rainstorms are becoming less powerful. |
| D．In the next few days, rainstorms will stay in Guangxi. |
Findings from a new study were presented at a recent meeting of the American Psychosomatic(身心的) Society. Researchers in the United States studied 100,000 women during an eight-year period, beginning in 1994. All of the women were fifty or older. The study was part of the Women’s Health Initiative organized by the Nation
al Institutes of Health.
The women were asked questions measuring their beliefs or ideas about the future. The res
earchers attempted to identify each woman’s personality eight years after gathering the information.
The study found that hopeful individuals were 14% less likely than other women to have died from any cause. The hopeful women were also 30% less likely to have died from hear
t disease after the eight years.
Hilary Tindle from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania was the lead author of the report. She said the study confirmed earlier research that linked optimistic feelings to longer life.
The researchers also gathered information about people’s education, financial earnings, physical activity and use of alcohol or cigarettes. Independent of those things, the findings still showed that optimists had less of a chance of dying during the eight-year period.
Some women who answered the questions were found to be hostile (怀敌意的), or highly untrusting of others. These women were 16% more likely to die than the others. They also were 23% more likely to die of cancer.
The study also found women who were not optimistic were more likely to smoke and have high blood pressure or diabetes. They were also more likely not to exercise.
Tindle says the study did not confirm whether optimism leads to healthier choices, or if it actually affects a person’s physical health. She also says the study does not prove that negative (消极的) emotions or distrust lead to bad health effects and shorter life. Yet there does appear to be a link that calls for more research. In which part of a newspaper can you read the above passage?
| A．Nation | B．Opinion | C．Science | D．Business |
Researchers carry out the study to ________.
| A．decide who is more likely to enjoy a happier life |
| B．find out the link between personality and health |
| C．gather information for the National Institutes of Health |
| D．compare each woman’s personality changes |
What can be inferred from the text?
| A．Negative emotions cause a shorter life indeed. |
| B．There may be some link between personality and health. |
| C．It’s uncertain whether optimism affects one’s health. |
| D．The more optimistic you are, the longer life you may enjoy. |
Who is more likely to die of cancer according to the text?
| A．A woman who always doubts what others say. | B．A woman who doesn’t exercise. |
| C．A woman with high blood pressure. | D．A woman with poor physical health. |
What’s Hilary Tindle’s opinion of the study?
| A．Unfair. | B．Useless. | C．Necessary. | D．Reliable. |
All schoolchildren should have "happiness" lessons up to the age of 18 to combat(fight) growing levels of depression, according to a senior Government adviser.
Pupils should study subjects such as how to manage feelings, attitudes to work and money, channeling (引导) negative emotions and even how to take a critical view of the media, said Lord Layard, a professor of economics at the London School of Economics.
The proposal comes only days after the Government said that lessons in manners—including respect for the elderly and how to say "please" and "thank you" should be taught in secondary schools to combat bad behavior.
Lord Layard said, "Learning hard things takes an enormous amount of practice. To play the violin well takes10,000 hours of practice. How can we expect people to learn to be happy without massive amounts of practice and repetition?"
It is believed that at least two percent of British children under 12 now struggle with significant depression. Among teenagers, the figure rises to five percent. AUNICEF study involving 21 developed countries showed that British children were the least satisfied with their lives, while the World Health Organization predicts that childhood psychiatric (精神)disorders will rise by 50 percent by 2020.
In a speech at Cambridge University, Lord Layard said the Government's lessons in manners did not go far enough. "We need a commitment to producing a major specialism in this area, with a serious teacher training program," he said.
However, happiness lessons have been criticized by academics. Frank Furedi, a sociolog
y professor at Kent University and author of Therapy Culture, said, "In pushing emotional literacy, what some teachers are really doing is abandoning teaching. They are giving up and talking about emotions instead, so that children value all this non-discipline-led activity more than math, English or science. What is amazing about this is that time and time again, research says that it does not work. " Frank Furedi believes that ______.
| A．happiness lessons should be taught to children |
| B．happiness lessons are just a waste of time |
| C．formal teaching can go side by side with happiness lessons |
| D．formal teaching should not give way to happiness lessons |
We can conclude from the passage that _______.
| A．the British Government hasn't fully realized the problems with British students |
| B．Lord Layard thinks little of the Government's lessons in manners |
| C．British students are not well-behaved enough |
| D．lessons in manners have brought about positive changes in British students |
Which of the following methods does Lord Layard use to show learning to be happy takes practice?
| A．Comparison. | B．Description. | C．Argument. | D．Analysis. |
What does Lord Layard think of the Government's lessons in manners?
| A．They are quite enough to solve the present problem. |
| B．They can hardly meet the special demands of education. |
| C．They are only focused on a major specialism. |
| D．They will probably end up in failure. |
What do we know about British children from the passage?
| A．They are the least happy among 21 developed countries. |
| B．They suffer depression at an earlier age. |
| C．They are the easiest to suffer childhood psychiatric disorders. |
| D．Their standard of living is the lowest among 21 developed countries. |
JAKARTA, INDONESIA - Walking with long steps and his smile lighting up a rainy afternoon, Barack Obama seems to have arrived to visit a school he attended as a boy. But wait. He's not real Obama. The US president is back in Washington, D. C.
So who is this guy? He's llham Anas, 34, a magazine photographer who has taken advantage of his perfect resemblance(相像) to Obama and turned it into his own wealth.
When his sister first mentioned the resemblance, Anas dismissed it. Then a friend asked him to pose as Obama in front of a US flag. He also refused. "I'm a photographer, not an object for the camera," he said.
However, as soon as he accepted the idea, his career took off. Recently a group of reporters followed him on a tour of the school Obama once attended. Anas sat in the classroom where the present US president once studied. He spoke a few lines in English. The moment he opened his mouth, however, the differences became clear. “Obama is a baritone (男中音) ,” Anas said. “I'm not. I sound like a little boy.” He is also shorter than the president, but he makes up for that by practicing Obama's actions.
He says he has made a request to meet President Obama when he arrives, but he hasn't heard back from the president' s schedules. Now he no longer sees an average guy. Now he sees a superstar.
Now, Anas hopes that Obama will win a second term in the White H
ouse. “The longer he's in office, the longer my fame will last,” he said. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Anas also thought he looked like Obama. |
| B．Anas was satisfied with his sister's comment. |
| C．Anas didn't think about the resemblance seriously. |
| D．Anas didn' t understand what his sister talked about. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Obama has met Anas once in Indonesia. |
| B．Anas didn't become rich until he got to know Obama. |
| C．Obama studied in Indonesia when he was young. |
| D．Anas is a baritone but he can sound like a little boy. |
We can learn from the passage that Anas now ______ .
| A．longs for a simple life | B．is proud of his appearance |
| C．keeps in touch with Obama | D．wants to become a politician |
Why does Anas hope Obama will be president in
the next term？
| A．He is a supporter of Obama. | B．He hopes Obama will see him. |
| C．He wants to be famous for longer. | D．He thinks Obama is a great politician. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．An Obama Lookalike Becomes Popular in Asia |
| B．Obama Visits His Old School in Indonesia |
| C．A Man Practices Obama’s Typical Actions |
| D．Obama’s Face and Smile to Be Seen on TV |
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