Question

You open your eyes and mouth wide if you see a live rat in your bedroom but you wrinkle your nose and narrow your eyes if you see a dead one in the road. Why is that? Facial  expressions are usually thought of as simple tools of communication. But in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin proposed that they may prepare us to react to different situations when he noticed that some expressions seemed to be used across cultures and even species. Now Joshua Susskind and his colleagues at the University of Toronto, Canada, have put that idea to the test.

Susskind’s team wondered whether the expressions of fear might improve how sensory (感官的) information is acquired and so sharpen senses. Conversely disgust (厌恶) might weaken the senses, sheltering us from unpleasant sights and smells.

The researchers asked volunteers to complete various tests while holding a fearful, disgusted or neutral expression. In one test, they had to identify when a spot entered their sight. In another they were required to shift their focus as quickly as possible between two targets on a computer screen. It was also measured how much air the volunteers breathed in while expressing fear and disgust.

In each case the wide-eyed faces let significantly more of the world in. Volunteers with wide-open eyes detected surrounding objects more quickly and performed side-to-side eye movements faster. They also took in more air with each breath without any extra effort. An MRI (核磁共振) scan showed the nasal cavity (鼻腔) was enlarged while volunteers held this expression, which could be linked with a greater ability to absorb smells.

“These changes confer the idea that fear, for example, is a posture towards sensory sharpening while disgust a posture towards sensory rejection,” says Susskind. His team is already at work on experiments to explore to what extent the brain can use this extra information to enhance performance.

1.Charles Darwin’s book proposed that facial expressions might _____.

A. act as a simple tool of communication

B. get people ready to the changes of circumstances

C. be difficult to understand in different cultures

D. equip people with the knowledge of other species

2.In Joshua Susskind’s research, the researchers _____.

A. wondered whether there existed other expressions of fear

B. wanted subjects to use facial expressions to complete tests

C. wanted to test how much air subjects breathed in normally

D. wondered whether expressions of disgust weakened our senses

3.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 means that _____.

A. wide-eyed expressions would help you understand the world better

B. facial expressions might result in faster eye movements

C. wide-eyed expressions would help people breathe in more air

D. facial expressions might help people notice more things around

4.In the last paragraph, what might be the new thinking of facial expressions?

A. They might tell the brain how to make use of the facial information.

B. They might explain why people consider fear as a posture towards sharper senses.

C. They might provide extra information to brains thus enhancing performance.

D. They might clarify the relationship between brain and environments.

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】文章讲述了面部表情被认为是简单的交流工具，但Charles Darwin提出，这些表情可能让我们准备好应对不同的情况。斯坎德与他的团队已经在进行实验，探索大脑能在多大程度上利用这些额外的信息来提高性能。

1.细节理解题。根据“Charles Darwin proposed that they may prepare us to react to different situations”Charles Darwin提出，他们可能让我们准备好应对不同的情况。故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据“The researchers asked volunteers to complete various tests while holding a fearful, disgusted or neutral expression.” 研究人员要求志愿者在保持恐惧、厌恶或中性表情的同时完成各种测试。故选B。

3.词义猜测题。根据“Volunteers with wide-open eyes detected surrounding objects more quickly and performed side-to-side eye movements faster.” 睁大眼睛的志愿者更快地检测周围物体，眼球运动更快。故选D。

4.细节理解题。根据“His team is already at work on experiments to explore to what extent the brain can use this extra information to enhance performance.”他的团队已经开始在进行试验，探索大脑能在多大程度上利用这些额外的信息来提高性能。故选D。