Question

Why do some people live to be older than others? You know the standard explanations: keeping a moderate diet, engaging in regular exercise, etc. But what effect does your personality have on your longevity(长寿)? Do some kinds of personalities lead to longer lives? A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality characteristics of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100.

The study shows that those living the longest are more outgoing, more active and less neurotic (神经质的) than other people. Long-living women are also more likely to be sympathetic and cooperative than women with a normal life span. These findings are in agreement with what you would expect from the evolutionary theory: those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to make it through tough times.

Interestingly, however, other characteristics that you might consider advantageous had no impact on whether study participants were likely to live longer. Those who were more self-disciplined, for instance, were no more likely to live to be very old. Also, being open to new ideas had no relationship to long life, which might explain all those bad-tempered old people who are fixed in their ways.

Whether you can successfully change your personality as an adult is the subject of a longstanding psychological debate. But the new paper suggests that if you want long life, you should strive to be as outgoing as possible.

Unfortunately, another recent study shows that your mother’s personality may also help determine your longevity. That study looked at nearly 28,000 Norwegian mothers and found that those moms who were more anxious, depressed and angry were more likely to feed their kids unhealthy diets. Patterns of childhood eating can be hard to break when we’re adults, which may mean that kids of depressed moms end up dying younger.

Personality isn’t destiny, and everyone knows that individuals can learn to change. But both studies show that long life isn’t just a matter of your physical health but of your mental health.

1.The aim of the study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is ________.

A. to see whether people’s personality affects their life span

B. to find out if one’s lifestyle has any effect on their health

C. to investigate the role of exercise in living a long life

D. to examine all the factors contributing to longevity

2.What does the author imply about outgoing and sympathetic people?

A. They have a good understanding of evolution.

B. They are better at negotiating an agreement.

C. They generally appear more resourceful.

D. They are more likely to get over hardship.

3.What finding of the study might prove somewhat out of our expectation?

A. Easy-going people can also live a relatively long life.

B. Personality characteristics that prove advantageous actually vary with times.

C. Such personality characteristics as self-discipline have no effect on longevity.

D. Readiness to accept new ideas helps one enjoy longevity.

4.What does the recent study of Norwegian mothers show?

A. Children’s personality characteristics are invariably determined by their mothers.

B. People with unhealthy eating habits are likely to die sooner.

C. Mothers’ influence on children may last longer than fathers.

D. Mothers’ negative personality characteristics may affect their children’s life spans.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.C

4.D

【解析】

本文是一篇议论文。研究表明长寿不仅是身体健康问题而且也是精神健康的问题，研究还发现长寿的人更开朗，生活更积极，而母亲的性格也会影响孩子的寿命。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句“A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality characteristics of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100.”可知，《美国老年病学会杂志》上的一项新研究通过测试246名百岁老人的子女的性格特征来研究这一问题。该句中的“this question”即此项研究的目的，指代的是第一段第三、四两句“But what effect does your personality have on your longevity(长寿)? Do some kinds of personalities lead to longer lives?”（性格对长寿有什么影响呢?某些性格是否会使人更加长寿呢?），因此可知，研究的目的就是看看人们的性格特征是否影响他们的寿命。A项是对这两个问题的同义转述。故选A项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段后两句“Long-living women are also more likely to be sympathetic and cooperative than women with a normal life span. These findings are in agreement with what you would expect from the evolutionary theory: those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to make it through tough times.”可知，开朗的有同情心的人喜欢交朋友和帮助别人，能够聚集足够的资源成功度过困难时期。故选D项正确。

3.细节理解题。根据第三段倒数第二、三句“Interestingly, however, other characteristics that you might consider advantageous had no impact on whether study participants were likely to live longer. Those who were more self-disciplined, for instance, were no more likely to live to be very old.”可知，一些你认为对长寿有利的性格对研究参与者来说，并没有起到延长寿命的作用。例如自律的人并不会更加长寿。C项是对这两句话同义转述。故选C项正确。

4.细节理解题。第5段最后两句提到，该研究调查了将近两万八千名挪威母亲，并发现较为焦虑、抑郁和愤怒的母亲更容易给孩子提供不健康的饮食。儿童时期的饮食习惯在成年后很难改变，而这意味着母亲精神抑郁的人寿命会较短。选项D为原文kids of depressed moms end up dying younger的同义转述。故选D项正确。