Question

【題目】 Kevin Adkins admits that when he lacks confidence, he uses big words to appear smarter, of which most people don’t know the meaning. “Only when I need to impress the person. I prefer using big words,” says the 45-year-old.

Adkins is not alone. Many people use longer words in place of shorter ones because they know, consciously or unconsciously, that when others form impressions of them after a glance or a short conversation, they often work harder to give the “right” impression. “People think, if I can show that I have a good vocabulary, I’ll sound smarter says Daniel Oppenheimer, PhD, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. However, if the listeners do not understand those long words, he adds, it will leave a bad impression instead.

The truth is that it can easily go wrong. “It’s almost a game that two people are playing,” says Eric Igou, PhD, a social psychologist at Ireland’s University of Limerick. “If the observer, person B, doesn’t have the same theory, it can backfire.” Person A may be regarded as showing off instead of being intelligent.

Using big words may also confuse listeners, which is definitely moving in the wrong direction, “People associate intelligence with clearness of expressions,” says Oppenheimer. That’s especially true when it comes to the written word. A small study in Applied Cognitive Psychology (應(yīng)用認(rèn)知心理學(xué)) found that the more writers tried to sound smart, the less intelligent they were considered to be.

So what can you do to sound smarter? Speak clearly and directly. Leave the dictionary at your desk.

【1】Why does Kevin Adkins prefer saying big words sometimes?

A.He wants to make himself more easily understood.

B.He believes that it is cool.

C.He enjoys the feelings of being mysterious.

D.He hopes that what he says sounds smart.

【2】What is Professor Oppenheimer’s attitude towards the behavior of using big words?

A.Disapproving.B.Favorable.

C.Indifferent.D.Cautious.

【3】What does Eric Igou mean by saying “it can backfire” in paragraph 3?

A.It can catch fire.B.Person B can fire person A.

C.It can deliver an opposite effect.D.The observer can also fight back.

【4】What can we learn from the small study in Applied Cognitive Psychology?

A.The writer who never uses big words is more intelligent.

B.The writer who uses big words the most is the most intelligent.

C.People like the writers who only use short and clear expressions.

D.The writers should avoid using big words often in their writings.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】C

【4】D

【解析】

本文是一篇說明文。文章講述的是人們將智慧和清晰的表達(dá)聯(lián)系在一起，因此給人留下聰明印象的說話技巧在于你能夠讓對方很容易地理解你的意思。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段中的“Kevin Adkins admits that when he lacks confidence, he uses big words to appear smarter, of which most people don’t know the meaning.”可知，Kevin Adkins承認(rèn)，當(dāng)他缺乏信心時，他會說一些人們不經(jīng)常使用的詞使自己顯得更聰明，而大多數(shù)人卻不知道其中的含義。因此Kevin Adkins有時喜歡說一些人們不經(jīng)常使用的詞的原因是他希望他所說的話聽起來充滿智慧。故選D。

【2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段中的“However, if the listeners do not understand those long words, he adds, it will leave a bad impression instead.”和第四段中的“Using big words may also confuse listeners, which is definitely moving in the wrong direction, “People associate intelligence with clearness of expressions,” says Oppenheimer.”可知，Oppenheimer教授認(rèn)為，如果聽者不懂說話者的那些長話，這會給聽者留下不好的印象。說人們不經(jīng)常使用的詞可能會使聽眾感到困惑，這會引起人們的誤解，人們將智慧與表達(dá)的清晰性聯(lián)系在一起。因此Oppenheimer教授對說話者使用人們不熟悉的詞的行為持不贊成態(tài)度。故選A。

【3】句意猜測題。根據(jù)第三段中的“Person A may be regarded as showing off instead of being intelligent.”可知，說長話的人A可能被認(rèn)為是在炫耀而不能體現(xiàn)其聰明。因此劃線句子的意思是“它起到了相反的作用”，即說長話的人達(dá)到的效果與預(yù)想中的讓別人看起來很聰明的效果是相反的。故選C。

【4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第四段中的“A small study in Applied Cognitive Psychology found that the more writers tried to sound smart, the less intelligent they were considered to be.”可知，一項(xiàng)關(guān)于應(yīng)用認(rèn)知心理學(xué)的小型研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，作家越是要讓自己聽起來聰明，他們就越被認(rèn)為不那么聰明。因此我們可以從應(yīng)用認(rèn)知心理學(xué)的小型研究了解到作家應(yīng)避免在寫作中經(jīng)常使用人們不熟悉的詞。故選D。