Question

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 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.

1.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

2. 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

3.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

Answer

1.A

2.A

3.D

【解析】

试题分析：文章介绍了在压力之下人们作出决定时的考虑是不一样的，并通过实验说明人们在有压力的时候通常想到的是积极的一面比较多，同时也介绍了男人和女人在面对不同的压力时反映也是不同的。

1.A细节理解题“People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.” 句意为：人们在压力之下记住更多的是积极方面而不是消极后果。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.句意为：在以上两个案例中，受到压力的这些参与者相对于那些没有经历压力的人来说记得更多更清楚的是奖励的物资而不是惩罚。由此可知答案应为A。

2.A综合理解题。由文章的标题及第一自然段的总结可知压力影响的是人们做出决定的方式，即如何作出选择。第一自然段为文章的中心，大意为：一项新的研究表明压力影响了人们对有利条件和不利条件的考虑方式，导致了人们更多的去思考好的一面而忽视了消极的一面。由此可知答案为A。

3.D细节理解题。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.实验中，在受到冰冷的水的压力之下男士趋向于冒更大的险，而女士的反映则相反。故答案应为D。

考点:社会现象类文章的阅读理解。