英語四級長篇閱讀專項練習題原文

　　How Your Language Affects Your Wealth and Health

　　A. Does the language we speak determine how healthy and rich we will be? New research by Keith Chen of Yale Business School suggests so. The structure of languages affects our judgments and decisions about the future and this might have dramatic long-term consequences.

　　B. There has been a lot of research into how we deal with the future. For example, the famous marshmallow ( 棉 花糖)studies of Walter Mischel and colleagues showed that being able to resist temptation is predictive of future success. Four-year-old kids were given a marshmallow and were told that if they do not eat that marshmallow and wait for the experimenter to come back, they will get two marshmallows instead of one. Follow-up studies showed that the kids who were able to wait for the bigger future reward became more successful young adults.

　　C. Resisting our impulses for immediate pleasure is often the only way to attain the outcomes that are important to us. We want to keep a slim figure but we also want that last slice of pizza. We want a comfortable retirement, but we also want to drive that dazzling car, go on that dream vacation, or get those gorgeous shoes.

　　Some people are better at delaying gratification ( 滿足 ) than others. Those people have a better chance of accumulating wealth and keeping a healthy life style. They are less likely to be impulse buyers or smokers, or to engage in unsafe sex.

　　D. Chen's recent findings suggest that an unlikely factor, language, strongly affects our future-oriented behavior. Some languages strongly distinguish the present and the future. Other languages only weakly distinguish the present and the future. Chen's recent research suggests that people who speak languages that weakly distinguish the present and the future are better prepared for the future. They accumulate more wealth and they are better able to maintain their health. The way these people conceptualize the future is similar to the way they conceptualize the present. As a result, the future does not feel very distant and it is easier for them to act in accordance with their future interestS.

　　E. Different languages have different ways of talking about the future. Some languages, such as English, Korean, and Russian, require their speakers to refer to the future explicitly ( 明確地). Every time English-speakers tall about the future, they have to use future markers such as "will" or "going to." In other languages, such as Mandarin, Japanese, and German, future markers are not obligatory (強制性的). The future is often talked about similar to the way present is talked about and the meaning is understood from the context. A Mandarin speaker who is going to go to a seminar might say "Wo qu ting jiangzuo," which translates to "I go listen seminar." Languages such as English constantly remind their speakers that future events are distant. For speakers of languages such as Mandarin future feels closer. As a consequence, resisting immediate impulses and investing for the future is easier for Mandarin speakers.

　　F.Chert analyzed individual-level data from 76 developed and developing countries. This data includes people's economic decisions, such as whether they saved any money last year, the languages they speak at home, demographics (人口統計資料 ), and cultural factors such as "saving is an important cultural value for me."

　　He also analyzed individual-level data on people's retirement assets, smoking and exercising habits, and general health in older age. Lastly, he analyzed national-level data that inchides national savings rates, country GDP and GDP growth rates, country demographics, and proportions of people speaking different languages.

　　G. People's savings rates are affected by various factors such as their income, education level, age, religious connection, their countries' legal systems, and their cultural values. After those factors were accounted for, the effect of language on people's savings rates turned out to be big. Speaking a language that has obligatory future markers, such as English, makes people 30 percent less likely to save money for the future. This effect is as large as the effect of unemployment. Being unemployed decreases the likelihood of saving by about 30 percent as well.

　　H. Similar analyses showed that speaking a language that does not have obligatory future markers, such as Mandarin, makes people accumulate more retirement assets, smoke less, exercise more, and generally be healthier in older age. Countries' national savings rates are also affected by language. Having a larger proportion of people speaking languages that does not have obligatory future markers makes national savings rates higher.

　　I.At a more practical level, researchers have been looking for ways to help people act in accordance with their long-term interests. Recent, findings suggest that making the future feel closer to the present might improve future-oriented behavior. For instance, researchers recently presented people with renderings of their future selves made using age-progression algorithms (算法) that forecast how physical appearances would change over time. One group of participants saw a digital representation of their current selves in a virtual mirror, and the other group saw an age-morphed version of their future selves. Those participants who saw the age- morphed version of their future selves allocated more money toward a hypothetical savings account. The intervention brought people's future to the present and as a result they saved more for the future.

　　J.Chen's research shows that language structures our future-related thoughts. Language has been used before to alter time perception with surprising effects. Ellen Langer and colleagues famously improved older people's physical health by simple interventions including asking them to talk about the events of twenty years ago as if it they were happening now. Talking about the past as if it were the present changed people's mindsets and their mindsets affected their physical states. Chen's research points at the possibility that the way we talk about the future can shape our mindsets. Language can move the future back and forth in our mental space and this might have dramatic influences on our judgments and decisions.

　　英語四級長篇閱讀專項練習題選項

　　46. Usually, preventing ourselves from enjoying immediate pleasure impulsively is the only way to achieve the outcomes that are important to us.

　　47. The structure of languages influences us when we are making a judgment or decision about the future.

　　48. Speaking a language that has obligatory future markers and being unemployed nearly share the same percentage of decreasing the likelihood of saving.

　　49. According to the well-known marshmallow studies, people who can resist temptation tend to be successful in the future.

　　50. People who speak languages like English are more likely to feel that the future events are distant.

　　51. National savings rates of countries are influenced by language as well.

　　52. In Chen's recent research, people who speak languages in which the present and the future are weakly distinguished are more prepared for the future.

　　53. Recent findings show that it is possible to improve future-oriented behavior through making the future feel closer to the present.

　　54. Through simple interventions, Ellen Langer and colleagues made the physical health of the older people changed for the better.

　　55. Chen made an analysis of individual-level statistics from 76 developed and developing nations.

　　英語四級長篇閱讀專項練習題答案

　　46.C

　　解析：題干意為，讓自己不要沖動地貪圖一時之樂通常是獲得那些對我們來說非常重要的成果的唯一辦法。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息enjoying immediate pleasure、the only way和outcomes that are important to us。文中論及克制沖動、推遲滿足感的內容出現在C段，該段首句提到，我們要想獲取一些 對自己來說非常重要的成果，抵制住眼前的一時痛快往往是唯一的辦法。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為C。

　　47.A

　　解析：題干意為，語言結構會在我們做出一個關乎未來的判斷或決定時對我們產生影響。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息the structure of languages、judgement or decision和the furore。文中A段即提出本文論題：語言是否會決定我們未來的健康和財富?該段接下來的內容則對此論題給予了肯定陳述，該段末句提到，語言結構會影響我們對未來的判斷和決定，而這可能會產生極其長遠的影響。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為A。

　　48.G

　　解析：題干意為，使用必須明確表明未來的語言和失業在降低人們為將來儲蓄的可能性方面的作用近乎相同。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息a language that has obligatory future markers、being unemployed和 decreasing the likelihood of saving。文中論述語言和失業與個人儲蓄率之間關系的內容出現在G段，該段第三句和第四句提到.使用像英語這種必須明確表明“未來”的語言使得人們為未來儲蓄的可能性降低了三成，這樣一種影響跟失業的影響差不多。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為G。

　　49.B

　　解析：題干意為，依據著名的棉花糖實驗，能夠抵御誘惑的人趨向于在未來取得成功。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息marshmallow studies、resist temptation和to be successful in the future。文章的8段描述了著名的棉花糖實驗，該段第二句提到，由WalterMischel和他的同事們一起進行的著名的“棉花糖實驗”表明：能夠抵御誘惑預示著未來的成功。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為B。

　　50.E

　　解析：題干意為，使用英語之類的語言的人很容易認為未來的事情很遙遠。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息languageslikeEnglish和thefuture events are distant。文中涉及英語等不同語種對人感知未來遠近產生影響的內容出現在E段，該段倒數第三句提到，諸如英語這樣的語言會不斷地提醒其使用者未來是很遙遠的。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為E。

　　51.H

　　解析：題干意為，各個國家的國民儲蓄率也受到語言的影響。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息national savings ratesofcountries和influencedbylanguage。文中第H段論述了語言對國民儲蓄率的影響，該段第二句提到，語言同樣也影響著一個國家的國民儲蓄率。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為H。

　　52.D

　　解析：題干意為，在Chen最近的研究中，那些使用不明顯區分現在和未來的語言的人能夠更好地為將來做好準備。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息Chen’s recent research、weakly distinguished和more prepared forthefuture。文章D段介紹了Chert的最新研究成果，該段第四句提到，使用不太區分現在和未來的語言的人對未來準備得更充分。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為D。

　　53.I

　　解析：題干意為，最近的研究發現，通過讓未來顯得離現在更近也許可以改善人們針對未來的表現。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息recent findings、improve future—oriented behavior和feel closer。文章的l段論述了科學家們試圖尋找方法，使人們更多地考慮長遠利益。該段第二句提到，近期的研究發現，讓未來顯得離現在更近也許可以改善人們針對未來的行為表現。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為I。

　　54.J

　　解析：題干意為，通過簡單的干預，EllenLanger和同事們讓老年人的身體健康狀況得到改善。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息simple interventions、Ellen Langer and colleagues和physical health。涉及通過簡單干預改善老人身體健康的內容出現在J段，該段第三句提到，EllenLanger和她的同事們通過簡單的干預極大地改善了老年人的身體健康。這些干預手段包括讓他們談論20年前的事情，就像那些事情現在正在發生一樣。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為J。

　　55.F

　　解析：題干意為，Chen對來自76個發達國家和發展中國家的個人層面的數據進行了分析。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息analysis of individual—level statistics和76 developed and developing nations。文中涉及Chen所分析的數據的內容出現在F段，該段首句提到，Chen分析了來自76個發達國家和發展中國家的個人層面的數據。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為F。