Question

Do you believe that things are connected for no scientific reason at all? For example, do you avoid saying the word “four” to avoid bad luck? If so, you have a superstition (迷信). And you’re not alone — all kinds of people have them.

For example, Portugal’s soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo always steps onto the pitch (球场) with his right foot first, according to The Telegraph. And sports players are not alone in having superstitions. A visitor once asked the Nobel Prize winning scientist Niels Bohr whether he really believed that the horseshoe he’d hung at his country home was lucky. “Of course not,” the Danish physicist said. “But I understand it’s lucky whether you believe in it or not.”

One recent study found that even scientists at MIT and other top US schools tended to look for a meaning in natural events, similar to the connection between stepping on the pitch and playing soccer well, according to The Atlantic. When the researchers gave the scientists little time to answer questions, they were twice as likely to agree with statements such as “Trees produce oxygen so that animals can breathe” as they were when they had more time to think about their reply.

It seems that fear can make people think differently in this way, too. In a British study, students imagined meeting a “witch” who said she would cast (施魔法) an evil spell(符咒) on them. About half said a scientist should not be worried about the spell. Yet each of them said that, personally, they wouldn’t let the witch do it to them.

So why are so many of us superstitious? Well, it seems to be our way of dealing with the unknown. “Many people quite simply just want to believe,” Brian Cronk, a professor of psychology at Missouri Western State University, said in a 2008 interview. “The human brain is always trying to work out why things happen, and when the reason is not clear, we tend to make up some pretty bizarre (古怪的) explanations.”

And these explanations aren’t completely unhelpful. In fact, superstitions can sometimes work and bring real luck, according to psychologists at the University of Cologne in Germany in the May 2010 issue of the journal Psychological Science. They found that believing in something can improve performance on a task like an exam.

So, what about you? What superstitions do you follow to keep you safe and successful?

1.The author mentions avoiding saying the word "four" in the opening paragraph to ________.

A. show how foolish it is to believe in superstitions

B. introduce the readers to the topic of superstitions

C. discuss the scientific reasons behind superstitions

D. prove that it is reasonable to be superstitious

2.How many superstitious practices are mentioned in the passage?

A. 3    B. 2    C. 4    D. 5

3.What’s the author’s attitude to superstitions?

A. Unknown.    B. Positive.    C. Negative.    D. Neutral.

4.What is the best title of the article?

A. Why superstitions are common

B. How superstitions affect our daily lives

C. How some common superstitions came into being

D. How to get rid of superstitions

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.A

【解析】本文是一篇生活类文章，通过几个迷信现象和研究说明了我们生活中的迷信行为为何如此普遍。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段中的“…If so, you have a superstition. And you’re not alone — all kinds of people have them.”可知，作者提到避免提到象征着不好运气的“四”就是为了引出迷信这个话题，故B项正确。

2.细节理解题。第一段中提到了人们避免提到“四”，第二段中提到了葡萄牙球星克里斯蒂亚诺罗纳尔多进入球场是总是先迈右脚及诺贝尔奖获得者Niels Bohr认为马掌吉祥物象征着好运，由此可知，文章一共提到了三种迷信行为，故A项正确。

3.观点态度题。根据文章内容可知，作者只是客观地陈述几种迷信现象，并没有表明自己相信或者反对迷信，由此可见作者对迷信的态度是中立的，故D项正确。

4.主旨大意题。根据文章内容，特别是第五段中的“So why are so many of us superstitious? Well, it seems to be our way of dealing with the unknown.”可知，本文通过几个迷信现象和研究说明了我们生活中的迷信行为为何如此普遍，故A项作标题最能概括出文章内容。