Question

Psychologists take opposing views of how external (外部的) rewards, from warm praise to cold cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation between actions and their consequences, argue that rewards can improve performance at work and school. Some other researchers who study various aspects of mental life, state that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on approval and gifts from others.

The latter view has gained many supporters, especially among educators. But the careful use of small monetary rewards inspires creativity in grade-school children, according to a study in the June Journal Personality and Social Psychology.

“If they know they're working for a reward and can focus on a relatively challenging task, they show the most creativity,” says Robert Esenberger of the University of Delaware in Newark. “But it's easy to kill creativity by giving rewards for poor performance or creating too much expectation for rewards.”

Esenberger holds the view that a teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands out high grades for ordinary achievement ends up with uninspired students. As an example of the latter point, he notes growing efforts to tighten grading standards and restore falling grades at major universities.

In earlier grades, the use of so-called token economics, in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points towards valued rewards, shows promise in raising effort and creativity, the Delaware psychologist claims. （235 words）

1.Psychologists are divided about their attitudes toward ________.

A. the choice between moral encouragement and monetary rewards

B. the appropriate amount of external rewards

C. the study of relationship between actions and consequences

D. the effects of external rewards on students' performance

2.Which of the following can best raise students' creativity according to Robert Esenberger?

A. Assigning them tasks they have not dealt with before.

B. Assigning them tasks which require inventiveness.

C. Giving them rewards they really deserve.

D. Giving them rewards they expect.

3.The phrase “token economics” in Para 5 probably refers to ________.

A. ways to develop economics    B. systems of rewarding students

C. approaches to solving complex problems    D. methods of improving performance

4.What is the author’s attitude towards the topic?

A. Opposed.    B. Supportive.    C. Objective.    D. Doubtful.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.C

【解析】针对外部奖励对学生动机和创造力的影响，作者介绍了专家们不同的观点。

1.D

细节推理题。根据第一段的内容可知，心理学家们对外部奖励对学生动机和创造力的影响持有两种完全相反的观点，故选D。

2.C

推理判断题。根据第三段Robert Esenberger 的观点“If they know they're working for a reward and can focus on a relatively challenging task, they show the most creativity,” “But it's easy to kill creativity by giving rewards for poor performance or creating too much expectation for rewards.”可知，对于表现好的学生奖励会激发他们的创造力，对表现不好的学生奖励容易扼杀创造力。所以要给学生应得的奖励，故选C。

3.B

猜测词义题。根据句中In earlier grades和修饰划线词语的定语从句in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points towards valued rewards（学生处理具有挑战性的问题并获得基于表现的分数，以获得有价值的奖励）可推知，token economics是用于低年级的一种奖励系统，故选B。

4.C

推理判断题。根据文中Psychologists take opposing views… The latter view has gained many supporters, Esenberger holds the view that…, the Delaware psychologist claims等信息可知，作者只是如实介绍人们的不同观点，并未掺杂个人观点。作者对这个话题是客观的态度。故选C。

【名师点睛】

词义猜测题要根据词、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。小题3根据句中In earlier grades和修饰划线词语的定语从句in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points towards valued rewards（学生处理具有挑战性的问题并获得基于表现的分数，以获得有价值的奖励）可推知，token economics是用于低年级的一种奖励系统，而不太可能是“发展经济学的途径”、“解决复杂问题的方法”，也不可能是“提高表现的方法”，因为根据后文shows promise in raising effort and creativity可知，不仅仅是表现，还包括提高努力和创造力程度。

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”。