Teenagers are paradoxical. That’s a mild and detached way of saying something that parents often express with considerably stronger language. But the paradox is scientific as well as personal. In adolescence, helpless and dependent children who have relied on grown-ups for just about everything become independent people who can take care of themselves and help each other. At the same time, once cheerful and compliant children become rebellious teenage risk-takers, often to the point of self-destruction. Accidental deaths go up dramatically in adolescence.
A new study published in the journal Child Development, by Eveline Crone of the University of London and colleagues, suggests that the positive and negative sides of teenagers go hand in hand. The study is part of a new wave of thinking about adolescence. For a long time, scientists and policy makers concentrated on the idea that teenagers were a problem that needed to be solved. The new work emphasizes that adolescence is a time of opportunity as well as risk.
The researchers studied “prosocial” and rebellious traits in more than 200 children and young adults, ranging from 11 to 28 years old. The participants filled out questionnaires about how often they did things that were altruistic and positive, like sacrificing their own interests to help a friend, or rebellious and negative, like getting drunk or staying out late.
Other studies have shown that rebellious behavior increases as you become a teenager and then fades away as you grow older. But the new study shows that, interestingly, the same pattern holds for prosocial behavior. Teenagers were more likely than younger children or adults to report that they did things like unselfishly help a friend.
Most significantly, there was a positive correlation between prosociality and rebelliousness. The teenagers who were more rebellious were also more likely to help others. The good and bad sides of adolescence seem to develop together.
Is there some common factor that underlies these apparently contradictory developments? One idea is that teenage behavior is related to what researchers call “reward sensitivity”. Decision-making always involves balancing rewards and risks, benefits and costs. “Reward sensitivity” measures how much reward it takes to outweigh risk.
Teenagers are particularly sensitive to social rewards—winning the game, impressing a new friend, getting that boy to notice you. Reward sensitivity, like prosocial behavior and risk-taking, seems to go up in adolescence and then down again as we age. Somehow, when you hit 30, the chance that something exciting and new will happen at that party just doesn’t seem to outweigh the effort of getting up off the couch.
1. According to paragraph 1 children growing into adolescence tend to ________.
2. It can be learned from paragraph 2 that Crone’s study ________.
3. What does Crone’s study find about prosocial behavior?
4. It can be learned from the last two paragraphs that teenagers ________.
5. What is the text mainly about?
问题1选项
A.develop opposite personality traits
B.see the world in an unreasonable way
C.have fond memories of their past
D.show affection for their parent
问题2选项
A.explores teenagers’ social responsibilities
B.examines teenagers’ emotional problems
C.provides a new insight into adolescence
D.highlights negative adolescent behavior
问题3选项
A.It results from the wish to cooperate.
B.It is cultivated through education.
C.It is subject to family influence.
D.It tends to peak in adolescence.
问题4选项
A.overstress their influence on others
B.care a lot about social recognition
C.become anxious about their future
D.endeavor to live a joyful life
问题5选项
A.Why teenagers are self-contradictory?
B.Why teenagers are risk-sensitive?
C.How teenagers develop prosociality?
D.How teenagers become independent?
第1题:A
第2题:C
第3题:D
第4题:B
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
According to paragraph 1 children growing into adolescence tend to ________. 根据第一段可知,进入青春期的孩子倾向于________。
A. develop opposite personality traits A. 发展相反的性格特征
B. see the world in an unreasonable way B. 用不合理的方式看待世界
C. have fond memories of their past C. 对过去有美好的回忆
D. show affection for their parent D. 向父母表达爱意
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词paragraph 1及adolescence可以定位到文章第一段,其中第四、五句提到“在青春期,无助和依赖成年人的孩子成为独立的人;快乐顺从的孩子变成了叛逆的冒险家”,说明孩子们在青春期发展了相反的性格特征,因此A选项“发展相反的性格特征”正确。
【干扰项排除】B选项“用不合理的方式看待世界”,C选项“对过去有美好的回忆”和D选项“向父母表达爱意”在文中均不能体现,属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
It can be learned from paragraph 2 that Crone’s study________. 从第二段中可知,Crone的研究________。
A. explores teenagers’ social responsibilities A. 探讨青少年的社会责任
B. examines teenagers’ emotional problems B. 研究青少年的情感问题
C. provides a new insight into adolescence C. 让人们对青春期有了新的认识
D. highlights negative adolescent behavior D. 突出了青少年的消极行为
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词paragraph 2及Crone’s study可以定位到文章第二段第二句“这项研究是对青春期新浪潮思考的一部分(The study is part of a new wave of thinking about adolescence)”,因此C选项“让人们对青春期有了新的认识”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“探讨青少年的社会责任”,B选项“研究青少年的情感问题”在文中均没有提及,属于无中生有;
D选项“突出青少年的消极行为”,文章第二段第一句提到“青少年的积极和消极方面是同时存在的(suggests that the positive and negative sides of teenagers go hand in hand)”,属于以偏概全。
第3题:
【选项释义】
What does Crone’s study find about prosocial behavior? Crone的研究发现了亲社会行为的什么?
A. It results from the wish to cooperate. A. 它产生于合作的愿望。
B. It is cultivated through education. B. 它是通过教育培养出来的。
C. It is subject to family influence. C. 它受家庭影响。
D. It tends to peak in adolescence. D. 它往往在青春期达到顶峰。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词Crone’s study及prosocial behavior可以定位到文章第四段最后一句“青少年比年幼的儿童或成年人更有可能报告他们做过无私地帮助朋友等事情(Teenagers were more likely than younger children or adults to report that they did things like unselfishly help a friend)”,说明亲社会行为在青少年时期是最明显的,因此D选项“它往往在青春期达到顶峰”正确。
【干扰项排除】A选项“它产生于合作的愿望。”,B选项“它是通过教育培养出来的。”和C选项“它受家庭影响。”在文中均没有提及,属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
It can be learned from the last two paragraphs that teenagers ________. 从最后两段可知青少年________。
A. overstress their influence on others A. 过分强调自己对他人的影响
B. care a lot about social recognition B. 非常在意社会认可
C. become anxious about their future C. 对自己的未来感到焦虑
D. endeavor to live a joyful life D. 努力过快乐的生活
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词last two paragraphs可以定位到文章最后两段,文章倒数第二段提到“奖励敏感性(reward sensitivity)”,最后一段提到“青少年对社会奖励特别敏感——赢得比赛,给新朋友留下深刻印象,让那个男孩注意到你(Teenagers are particularly sensitive to social rewards)”,这些都说明青少年在乎“社会奖励”,即社会认可,因此B选项“非常在意社会认可”正确。
【干扰项排除】A选项“过分强调自己对他人的影响”,C选项“对自己的未来感到焦虑”和D选项“努力过快乐的生活”在文中均不能体现,属于无中生有。
第5题:
40. 【选项释义】
What is the text mainly about? 这篇文章主要讲了什么?
A. Why teenagers are self-contradictory. A. 为什么青少年自相矛盾。
B. Why teenagers are risk-sensitive. B. 为什么青少年对风险敏感。
C. How teenagers develop prosociality. C. 青少年如何发展亲社会行为。
D. How teenagers become independent. D. 青少年如何变得独立。
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】文章第一段第一句话是文章主题句:“青少年是矛盾的(Teenagers are paradoxical)”,中间段落通过实验研究探讨青少年自相矛盾的表现,最后阐述了自相矛盾产生的原因,因此A选项“为什么青少年自相矛盾”正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“为什么青少年对风险敏感”;C选项“青少年如何发展亲社会行为”和D选项“青少年如何变得独立”在文中均没有提及,属于无中生有。