Question

Is losing weight as simple as doing a 15－minute writing exercise？In a new study，women who wrote about their most important values，like close relation－ships or religion，lost more weight over the next few months than women who didn’t.“We have this need to feel self－integrity，”says Christine Logel of the University of Waterloo.“When something threatens your sense that you're a good person，like failing a test，we can buffer(减缓)that self－integrity by reminding ourselves how much we love our children，for example.”

For this study，the researchers recruited 45 female undergraduates，of whom 58%were overweight.Each woman was weighed，and was then given a list of important values，like creativity，music or relationships with friends and family members.Each woman ranked the values in order of how important they were to her.Then half the women were told to write for 15 minutes about the value that was most important to her.The other half，a control group，were told to write about why a value far down on their list might be important to someone else.

The women came back months later to be weighed again.Women who had written about an important value lost an average of 3.41 pounds，while women in the control group gained an average of 2.76.

“How we feel about ourselves can have a big effect”Logel says.Maybe when one of the women who wrote about an important value went home that night，she felt good about herself and didn’t eat to make herself feel better.Over a few months，that could make a real difference in her life.

1.How can a 15－minute writing exercise of important values affect people？

A. They will feel proud of themselves and gain weight gradually.

B. They may feel good about themselves and then eat less than usual.

C. They may continue writing and decide to become a professional writer.

D. They will never have meals at night to make themselves lose weight.

2.What were the females required to do in the study？

A. The overweight women wrote about the value most important to them.

B. Only the control group was given a list of important values.

C. Both groups ranked the values in order of importance to them.

D. Each woman was weighed three times in the process of the study.

3.Which of the following people may lose weight according to the new study？

A. Mary who wrote about her own adventure.

B. Catherine who described her illness in her writing.

C. Shirley who wrote how much she loved her children.

D. Alice who complained her boss in her diary.

4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage？

A. Women Values Losing Weight

B. Losing Weight Is Very Simple

C. Writing Benefits Women a Lot

D. Writing Contributes to Losing Weight

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.C

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章讲了最新研究表明，十五分钟重要价值的写作练习可以让女性自我感觉良好，而不是靠吃东西来让自己满足，从而达到减肥的目的。

1.细节理解题。答案定位在最后一段she felt good about herself and didn’t eat to make herself feel better.可知十五分钟重要价值的写作练习可以让她自我感觉良好，而不是靠吃东西来让自己满足，故选B。

2.细节理解题。答案定位在第二段Each woman ranked the values in order of how important they were to her.可知两组女性都被要求把这些事物的重要性进行排列，故选C。

3.推理判断题。答案定位在第三段Women who had written about an important value lost an average of 3.41 pounds，while women in the control group gained an average of 2.76.可知有好的价值观的女性体重会减轻。C项中Shirley是写她有多么爱孩子，这是她的价值观里好的一面，对自己感觉好，就会少吃一点以维持这样的感觉，就会瘦得多一点，故选C。

4.主旨大意题。第一段In a new study，women who wrote about their most important values，like close relation－ships or religion，lost more weight over the next few months than women who didn’t.是全文的主题句。结合全文内容，可知这篇文章是一项研究——写东西有助于减肥，故选D。