Question

People often view the “l(fā)ast” moments of an event positively simply because they signal the end of an experience, say experts.

University of Michigan researchers found that even if an experience is painful or negative, but ends on a good note, people will consider it to be positive.

“Endings are powerful,” said Ed O’Brien, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan.

O’Brien and colleague Phoebe Ellsworth, the Frank Murphy Distinguished Professor of Law and Psychology, conducted a chocolate tasting experiment with 52 college students to test the theory.

Volunteers could taste five different Hershey’s Kisses chocolates—milk, dark, cream, caramel and almond – but did not know in advance how many pieces they would eat or the type. Participants rated how much they enjoyed the chocolate and described each flavor so that the researchers could record the order in which the randomly (隨機的) selected treats were eaten.

Volunteers were assigned to the “next” or the “l(fā)ast ” condition by chance.

In the “next” condition, the experimenter said “Here is your next chocolate” before offering each chocolate, including the fifth.

For the “l(fā)ast” condition, the experimenter said “Here is your last chocolate” before offering  the fifth chocolate.

These participants rated the fifth chocolate more enjoyable than volunteers in the “next” condition.

As predicted, participants who knew they were eating the final chocolate of a taste test enjoyed it more.

In fact, when asked to pick their favorite chocolate, the majority of “l(fā)ast” participants chose the fifth – even though the flavor of the fifth was randomly chosen.

They also rated the overall experience as more enjoyable than volunteers who thought they were just eating one more chocolate in a series.

O’Brien says these findings may have far-reaching implications. For example, the last book or film in a series or the last speaker in a symposium (研討會) may receive unwarranted praise.

The last job applicant, meanwhile, may look more qualified.

1.Which of the following is TRUE about the experiment?

A．The majority of “l(fā)ast” participants chose the almond flavor as their favorite.

B．Some participants enjoyed the experiment more because the last flavor tasted better.

C．The result would be different if researchers had used another brand of chocolate.

D．Some participants didn’t know it was their last chocolate when offered the fifth one.

2.What does the underlined word “unwarranted” in the second-to-last paragraph mean?

A．Fake.             B．Unwanted.         C．Unreasonable.      D．Insincere.

3.Which of the following is the best title for the article?

A．“Last” is the best.

B．Why “l(fā)ast” matters most.

C．It is the last step that is the hardest.

D．He who laughs last laughs best.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.D

2.C

3.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文分析了為什么最后一個事物往往會給人留下最好的印象？文章具體講述了一個與此相關(guān)的科學(xué)研究。

1.D 推理題。根據(jù)文章第五段Volunteers were assigned to the “next” or the “l(fā)ast ” condition by chance. In the “next” condition, the experimenter said “Here is your next chocolate” before offering each chocolate, including the fifth. 可知參與者搞不清楚究竟那一顆巧克力是最后一顆，是由分發(fā)的人來確定的。故D項正確。

2.C 推理題。根據(jù)本句For example, the last book or film in a series or the last speaker in a symposium (研討會) may receive unwarranted praise.可知人們經(jīng)常會認(rèn)為最后的東西都是好的，使用最后一本書或者連續(xù)劇里的最后一集都會受到不知道是什么原因的贊揚。故該詞表示C項含義。

3.A 主旨大意題。根據(jù)文章主題段第一段People often view the “l(fā)ast” moments of an event positively simply because they signal the end of an experience, say experts.可知人們經(jīng)常會認(rèn)為最后的一個東西往往是最好的東西。接下來討論的就是這個內(nèi)容。故A正確。

考點：考察人生百態(tài)類短文閱讀

點評：本文分析了為什么最后一個事物往往會給人留下最好的印象？推理題要求在理解原文表面文字信息的基礎(chǔ)上，做出一定判斷和推論，從而得到文章的隱含意義和深層意義。推理題所涉及的內(nèi)容可能是文中某一句話，也可是某幾句話，但做題的指導(dǎo)思想都是以文字信息為依據(jù)，既不能做出在原文中找不到文字根據(jù)的推理，也不能根據(jù)表面文字信息做多步推理，要根據(jù)原文表面文字信息一步推出的答案。