Question

We know that hugs make us feel cosy inside. And this feeling could actually ward off stress and protect the immune (免疫) system, according to a new research from Carnegie Mellon University.

It’s a well-known fact that stress can weaken the immune system. In this study, the researchers sought to determine whether hugs could protect individuals from the increased sensitivity to illness brought on by the particular stress that comes with interpersonal conflict.

“We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety, ” the study’s lead author, psychologist Dr. Sheldon Cohen , said in a statement. “We have tested whether awareness of social support is equally effective in protecting us from sensitivity to infection caused by stress and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and thus protect a person against infection.”

In the experiment, over 400 healthy adults filled out a questionnaire about their perceived (感知到的) social support and also participated in a nightly phone interview for two weeks. They were asked about the frequency that they engaged in interpersonal conflict and received hugs that day.

Then, the researchers exposed the participants to a common cold virus, and monitored them to assess signs of infection. They found that both perceived social support and more frequent hugs reduced the risk of infection associated with experiencing interpersonal conflict. Regardless of whether or not they experienced social conflicts, infected participants with greater perceived social support and more frequent hugs had less severe illness symptoms.

“This suggests that being hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an effective means of reducing the effects of stress,” Cohen said. “The apparent protective effect of hugs may result from the physical contact itself or hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and closeness. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection.”

If you need any more reason to wrap your arms around someone special, consider this: hugs also lower blood pressure, reduce fears, improve heart health and decrease feelings of loneliness.

1.In Paragraph 1, the underlined words “ward off “can be replaced by ____.

A. produce           B. increase         C. prevent          D. support

2.Dr. Sheldon Cohen’s experiment shows that ____.

A. hugs can hide serious illness symptoms

B. social conflicts can monitor signs of infection

C. social support can reduce the risk of having a cold

D. depression and anxiety result from less social support

3.The passage aims to convey that ____.

A. hugs can have protective effects

B. social support can cure diseases

C. interpersonal conflicts cause infections

D. stress can weaken our immune system

4.The passage is most likely to be found in ____.

A. a social science magazine

B. a commercial brochure

C. a medical report

D. an academic essay

Answer

1.C

2.C

3.A

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：文章主要讲述了社会支持和经常拥抱的作用，可以减少人际冲突和少得病。

1.C猜测词义题。此处指拥抱这种温暖的感觉能避开压力保护免疫系统。划线词语ward off是“避开，阻挡”之意，与C项同义故选C.

2.C细节推理题。根据第五段段尾infected participants with greater perceived social support and more frequent hugs had less severe illness symptoms.可知Sheldon Cohen的实验表明社会支持和经常的拥抱可以使人减少得病，故选C.

3.A主旨大意题。文章主要告诉我们社会支持和经常的拥抱可以减少人际冲突和少得病，故选A.

4.推理判断题。根据文章内容可知讲的是拥抱的作用，此类文章可能会出现在社会科学杂志上，不会出现在商业手册、医学报告和学术论文上，故选A.

考点：考查社会生活类短文阅读。

【名师点睛】

关于词义猜测题

做这种类型的题，要根据词、词组、句子所在的语境上下文来判断其意义。因此熟练掌握一些猜词技巧是做好这类题的关键。命题者在出这类题时惯用常规词义来麻痹考生，我们要特别注意熟词生义，切不可脱离语境主观臆断。

下面结合文本及近几年高考试题，对词义猜测的技巧加以解读。

1.根据定义或上下文解释进行猜测

有时短文中出现一个需要猜测其意义的词或短语，下面接着出现其定义或解释，这就是判断该词或短语意义的主要依据。例如：It will be very hard but also very brittle—that is, it will break easily.从后面that is(也就是说)的解释中我们可以了解到brittle 是“脆”的意思。如文章第28小题此处指拥抱这种温暖的感觉能避开压力保护免疫系统。划线词语ward off是“避开，阻挡”之意，与C项同义故选C.

2.根据同位关系进行猜测

阅读中出现的难词有时后面紧跟一个同位语，对前面的词进行解释，这时可利用同位关系对前面或后面的词义或句意进行猜测。例如：The “Chunnel”, a tunnel(隧道) connecting England and France, is now complete.此句中a tunnel connecting England and France是Chunnel的同位语。因此，The “Chunnel”就是英法之间的海底隧道。

3.根据构词法(前缀、后缀、复合、派生等)进行猜测

在英语中，有很多词可以在前面加前缀，在后面加后缀，从而构成一个词，乍看起来，这个词可能是新词，但掌握了一定的构词知识，就不难猜出它的词义。例如：“Our parties are aimed for children 2 to 10,” Anaclerio said, “and they’re very interactive and creative in that they built a sense of drama based on a subject.”文中interactive是由前缀inter-(相互的)和active(活动的，活跃的)而构成的，同时根据上下文的意思可以判断，该词的含义应是“互动的”。

4.根据转折或对比关系进行猜测

根据上下句的连接词，如but, however, otherwise等就可以看到前后句在意义上的差别，从而依据某一句的含义，来确定另一句的含义。另外，分号也可以表示转折、对比或不相干的意义。例如：A child’s birthday party doesn’t have to be a hassle; it can be a basket of fun.从前后两句的意思可以看出，hassle和a basket of fun肯定是近乎相反的意义。所以不难判断hassle的意思是“困难，麻烦”。