(C)

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 less 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.(2012 北京卷)

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

三.单词拼写

1.Last Wednesday, Chinese President Hu Jintao flew to France f________ a state visit to Australia to attend the sixth summit of G20.

2.I would appreciate it very much if you could a_________ our plan.

3.During the summer vacation, he attended an English training course and now he can speak English f_______.

4.They are the best team in their country and they d_________ to win the match.

5.Obviously it is your fault. There is no need for you to d_________ yourself.

6.I’m quite c__________. I really can’t decide which answer is correct.

7.When she was lying in hospital, she r_________ not having taken her mother’s advice.

8.Regular exercise helps the film star get into shape and keep a slim f_________.

9.It is a bad habit to s_______ breakfast, for your body needs the energy it provides.

10.They made so loud noises that I couldn’t c_________ on my study in the classroom.

考生只要在全面复习的基础上，抓住重点、难点、易错点，各个击破，夯实基础，规范答题，一定会稳中求进，取得优异的成绩。精品学习网高考频道为大家整理了全新高三年级英语暑假作业练习试题

相关推荐

2013第一学期英语暑假作业检测练习