Question

Regrets are often painful. A study suggests that some people can overcome them, said Jia Wei Zhang, a psychology graduate at the University of California. But this isn’t the case for everyone, he said.

The researchers wondered why some people report feeling improvement from regrets but others don’t. Does it lie in how people approach their regrets?

In the study, the researchers focused on self-compassion (自我同情) as a potential factor in why some people have an easier lime leaving their regrets behind them.

400 people attended an experiment. First, they were asked to write about their biggest regret. Half wrote something they did but wish they hadn’t done; the other half wrote something they didn’t do but wish they had. Then, the participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: self compassion, self-esteem and a control group. The self-esteem group was asked to respond by “talking to yourself about this regret from the aspect of confirming your positive qualities”.

The control group was asked to write about their favorite hobby rather than their regret. Then, they were asked about their feelings of forgiveness, acceptance and personal improvement following the exercise.

They found that the self-compassion group reported greater feelings of acceptance, forgiveness and personal improvement, compared with the control group and the self esteem group. In other words, focusing on your best qualities is not what helps you feel better about a regret. Rather, being compassionate toward yourself is what may make a difference, the researchers found.

It’s possible that people who practice self-compassion are able to confront their regrets and see what went wrong, so they can make a better choice in the future, Zhang told Live Science. Self-compassion pushes people to accept their regret instead of running away from it.

The researchers used an example of this from a previous study on breast cancer patients who were asked to try thinking about their treatment in a positive light before it began. The women who did so reported greater feelings of personal growth later on.

1.What does the underlined word “confront” in Paragraph 7 mean?

A. Handle    B. Forget.

C. Ignore    D. Show.

2.What were the students in the self-esteem group asked to do?

A. Think of a way out.    B. Write about their regrets.

C. Record their favorite hobbies.    D. Treat their regrets in positive ways.

3.Why were the participants asked about their good qualities?

A. To cover up their regrets.

B. To see if they have weaknesses.

C. To see if they have self compassion.

D. To help them feel better about their regrets.

4.What was the aim of mentioning the researchers’ study on breast cancer patients?

A. To show the method of the research.

B. To show the value of the acceptance.

C. To show the truth of people’s feeling.

D. To show the difficulty of the research.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.D

4.B

【解析】这是一篇科普说明类文章。研究发现，自我同情有助于人们更好地处理自己“后悔”这种感受。

1.词义猜测题。文章第二段最后一句Does it lie in how people approach their regrets?提出问题：原因在于人们如何处理他们的后悔吗？下文通过实验回答了这个问题。故第七段中的It’s possible that people who practice self-compassion are able to confront their regrets and see what went wrong意思应为“练习自我同情的人们能够处理他们的后悔，看到什么地方出现了问题”。故划线单词意思应和approach一致，意为“处理”，故A选项正确。

【名师点睛】语境既上下文。由于上下文中的生词不是孤立存在的，其词义与句中其它词的词义或具体的语境有着密切的联系。因此在阅读过程中，许多生词的词义可以充分利用上下文中相关的词汇，短语并结合具体的语境来推测。在该题中，可以参照第二段中的最后一句“Does it lie in how people approach their regrets?”，在联系第七段中的“It’s possible that people who practice self-compassion are able to confront their regrets and see what went wrong”可知，该划线单词意思应和approach一致，意为“处理”，故A选项正确。

2.细节理解题。由第四段的The self-esteem group was asked to respond by “talking to yourself about this regret from the aspect of confirming your positive qualities”可知，该组人被要求从肯定自己好的品质这个角度来和自己谈一谈自己的后悔。由此可知，他们被要求用积极的态度来对待自己后悔的事。故D选项正确。

3.推理判断题。由倒数第二段中的In other words, focusing on your best qualities is not what helps you feel better about a regret. Rather, being compassionate toward yourself is what may make a difference, the researchers found可知，该研究最终发现，专注于你的好品质并不能帮助你感觉更好。相反的，自我同情才可以发挥作用，使你感觉更好。由此可以推知，在试验中，参与者被要求关注自己的好品质，其目的是想使他们感觉好点。D选项正确。

4.推理判断题。由最后一段可知，这些乳癌患者被要求在治疗开始之前就从积极的角度来考虑治疗。这样做的病人后来的确报告感觉好多了。由此可以推知，当你在心理上接受某种事物时，你对它的感觉确实要好很多，更容易接受它。这体现了接受的作用。故B选项正确。