An article in Scientific America has pointed out that empirical research says that, actually, you think you’re more beautiful than you are. We have a deep-seated need to feel good about ourselves and we naturally employ a number of self-enhancing strategies to achieve this. Social psychologists have amassed oceans of research into what they call the “above average effect”,or “illusory superiority”,and shown that, for example, 70% of us rate ourselves as above average in leadership, 93% in driving and 85% at getting on well with others—all obviously statistical impossibilities.
We rose-tint our memories and put ourselves into self-affirming situations. We become defensive when criti-cized, and apply negative stereotypes to others to boost our own esteem. We stalk around thinking we’re hot stuff.
Psychologist and behavioural scientist Nicholas Epley oversaw a key study into self-enhancement and attrac-tiveness. Rather than have people simply rate their beauty compared with others, he asked them to identify an original photograph of themselves from a lineup including versions that had been altered to appear more and less attractive. Visual recognition, reads the study, is “an automatic psychological process, occurring rapidly and intuitively with little or no apparent conscious deliberation”. If the subjects quickly chose a falsely flattering image—which most did—they genuinely believed it was really how they looked.
Epley found no significant gender difference in responses. Nor was there any evidence that those who self-en-hanced the most (that is, the participants who thought the most positively doctored pictures were real) were doing so to make up for profound insecurities. In fact, those who thought that the images higher up the attractiveness scale were real directly corresponded with those who showed other markers for having higher self-esteem. “I don’t think the findings that we have are any evidence of personal delusion”, says Epley. “It’s a reflection simply of people generally thinking well of themselves." If you are depressed, you won’t be self-enhancing.
Knowing the results of Epley’s study, it makes sense that many people hate photographs of themselves vis- cerally—on one level, they don’t even recognize the person in the picture as themselves. Facebook, therefore, is a self-enhancer’s paradise, where people can share only the most flattering photos, the cream of their wit, style, beauty, intellect and lifestyles. “It’s not that people’s profiles are dishonest”, says Catalina Toma of Wisconsin-Madison University, “but they portray an idealized version of themselves."
1.According to the first paragraph, social psychologists have found that ( ).
2.Visual recognition is believed to be people’s ( ).
3.Epley found that people with higher self-esteem tended to ( ).
4.The word “viscerally” ( Para. 5) is closest in meaning to ( ).
5.It can be inferred that Facebook is a self-enhancer’s paradise because people can( ).
问题1选项
A.our self-ratings are unrealistically high
B.illusory superiority is a baseless effect
C.our need for leadership is unnatural
D.self-enhancing strategies are ineffective
问题2选项
A.rapid watching
B.conscious choice
C.intuitive response
D.automatic self-defence
问题3选项
A.underestimate their insecurities
B.believe in their attractiveness
C.cover up their depressions
D.oversimplify their illusions
问题4选项
A.instinctively
B.occasionally
C.particularly
D.aggressively
问题5选项
A.present their dishonest profiles
B.define their traditional lifestyles
C.share their intellectual pursuits
D.withhold their unflattering sides
第1题:A
第2题:C
第3题:B
第4题:A
第5题:D
第1题:
【选项释义】
According to the first paragraph, social psychologists have found that _____. 根据第一段,社会心理学家发现_____。
A. our self-ratings are unrealistically high A. 我们的自我评价高得不符合实际
B. illusory superiority is a baseless effect B. 虚幻的优越感是无根据的效应
C. our need for leadership is unnatural C. 我们对领导力的需求是不正常的
D. self-enhancing strategies are ineffective D. 自我拉抬策略是无效的
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到原文首段第三句“社会心理学家(Social psychologists)就其所称的‘高于均数效应’(above average effect)或‘虚幻的优越感’(illusory superiority)收集了大量的研究……这些显然都是统计学上不可能的事件(statistical impossibilities)”,由此可知,社会心理学家认为自我评价往往过高,不切实际,选项A正确。
【干扰项排除】
B、C选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有;
D选项“自我拉抬策略是无效的”,与原文第一段第三句提到的数据所表达的“人们确实自我感觉良好”不符,属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
Visual recognition is believed to be people’s _____. 视觉识别被认为是人们的_____。
A. rapid watching A. 迅速匹配
B. conscious choice B. 刻意选择
C. intuitive response C. 直觉反应
D. automatic self-defence D. 无意识的自我防护
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第三段第三句“‘视觉识别’(Visual recognition)是自动心理过程,这一过程依靠直觉快速发生(occurring rapidly and intuitively),几乎没有或者没有明显的刻意考虑”,由此可知,选项C符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A、D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有;
B选项“刻意选择”,与原文“几乎没有或者没有明显的刻意考虑”不符,属于反向干扰。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Epley found that people with higher self-esteem tended to _____. 艾普里发现自尊心较强的人往往_____。
A. underestimate their insecurities A. 低估自身的不安全感
B. believe in their attractiveness B. 相信自身的吸引力
C. cover up their depressions C. 掩饰自身抑郁情绪
D. oversimplify their illusions D. 过于简化自己的错觉
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第四段第三句“事实上,那些认为自身形象(images)在吸引力量表上位置较高,与那些从其他方面表现出更强自尊心的人正好一致(directly corresponded)”,也就是说,自尊心较强(higher self-esteem)的人往往对自身吸引力坚信不移,选项B正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“低估自身的不安全感”,与原文第四段第二句“自我拉抬并非是为了弥补自身不安全感”不符,属于曲解原文;
C、D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The word “viscerally” (Para. 5) is closest in meaning to _____. 第五段“viscerally”一词最接近的含义是_____。
A. instinctively A. 本能地
B. occasionally B. 偶尔地
C. particularly C. 特别地
D. aggressively D. 极力地
【考查点】词义推测题。
【解题思路】该词是修饰hate photographs of themselves,说明人们“不喜欢自己照片的”方式。结合“Knowing the results of Epley’s study”可知,该词与上文艾普里研究结果直接相关,上文提到“人们往往高估自己外貌的心理,是无意识的本能反应”,其次,下文提到“他们甚至根本没意识到照片中的人正是自己”,因此viscerally表示“本能地,无意识地”,选项A正确。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项不符合词义,属于曲解原文。
第5题:
【选项释义】
It can be inferred that Facebook is a self-enhancer’s paradise because people can _____. 从文中可以推知,Facebook之所以是自我拉抬者的天堂,是因为人们可以_____。
A. present their dishonest profiles A. 展示具有欺骗性的个人形象
B. define their traditional lifestyles B. 定义传统生活方式
C. share their intellectual pursuits C. 分享他们对知识的追求
D. withhold their unflattering sides D. 掩藏不吸引人的一面
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第五段第二句“因此(therefore),Facebook就成为了自我拉抬者的乐园,用户们可以只在上面分享自己最美的照片(most flattering photos)以及他们的风趣、风格、美丽、才智和生活方式的精华部分”,也就是说人们可以掩饰自己不吸引人的一面,该句也是上文“人们不愿意承认自己的真实照片”的原因,选项D正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“展示具有欺骗性的个人形象”,与“自我拉抬并非是在个人形象上不诚实”不符,属于反向干扰;
B、C选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。