中山市2012年高中英语读写能力竞赛高三试题(6)

C. are often influenced by previous generations

D. all unknowingly attract a large number of fans

22. According to Paragraph3 and Paragraph 4, which of the following statements could the author NOT agree to?

A. A hero is usually famous.

B. A hero must be a lover of adventure.

C. A hero should be one who is more willing to serve others more than himself.

D. A hero should not only be thoughtful but also brave.

23. Madonna and Michael Jackson are not considered heroes because ________.

A. they are popular only among certain groups of people

B. their performances do not improve their fans morally

C. their primary concern is their own financial interests

D. they are not clear about the principles they should follow

24. Gandhi and Martin Luther King are typical examples of outstanding leaders who ________.

A. are good at demonstrating their charming characters

B. can bring changes to society in their times

C. are capable of meeting all challenges and hardships

D. can provide an answer to the problems of their people

25. The author concludes that historical changes would ________.

A. be delayed without leaders with inspiring personal qualities

B. not happen without heroes making the necessary sacrifices

C. take place if there were heroes to lead the people

D. produce leaders with attractive personalities

Passage 6

A new study shows that stress affects how the brain thinks about the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative consequences of a decision.

The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.

―Stress affects how people learn,‖ says Professor Mara Mather. ―People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.‖

For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress.

This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.

The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different.

Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in more, however, women will win.

This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are