Question

According to Gallup’s annual Global Emotions report, people all over the world are more stressed than ever before. Nearly 40 percent of adults from 146 countries reported having experienced worry or stress. And it isn’t just adults experiencing these high stress levels; experts have also observed a rise in the number of children and youth. According to another study published in EurekAlert, one in five students are so stressed that they’ve considered self-harm or suicide. The immense stress they face has been proven to be harmful to their health.

It’s no news that stress can trigger anxiety, depression and self-harming behaviors, and cause sleep problems, social withdrawal, angry outbursts and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. We are moving towards a society where an increasing number of us face mental health problems that stem from high stress levels. If stress increases rapidly, how can we fight it?

It might sound easier said than done but studies have shown that the best way to deal with stress is to change your perception(认识) of it.

The University of Wisconsin conducted a study of 30,000 Americans. Researchers asked them how much stress they’d experienced in the past year and whether they believed stress was harming their health. The researchers concluded that people in the study who were exposed to large amounts of stress and viewed stress as harmful had 43 percent higher risk of dying than people who viewed stress as a helpful response.

More interestingly, those with more positive perceptions of stress had the lowest risk of death out of all involved in the study, even lower than those experiencing very little stress.

A separate study conducted by researchers from King’s College London and the University of Marburg showed students with more negative beliefs about stress experienced more physical symptoms, such as headaches, tension and tiredness during a stressful end-of-semester exam period, compared with students who had more positive beliefs about stress.

These two studies have proven that stress itself is not actually bad. It is the belief that stress is bad that is bad.

1.According to the passage, we can learn that ________.

A. more and more people suffer from higher stress levels

B. one in five adults in America has considered self-harm

C. 30,000 children have experienced stress in the past year

D. youth are more likely to believe stress is helpful than adults

2.The research by the University of Wisconsin concludes ________.

A. stress generally benefits us

B. stress leads to a higher risk of death

C. people under stress often perform better

D. optimism cuts the risk of stress-related death

3.The separate study in Paragraph 6 is mentioned to ________.

A. put forward a new idea    B. support the above findings

C. compare different findings    D. argue against the above point

4.What would be the best title for this passage?

A. Stress Affects People of All Ages

B. We Are Winning the Battle against Stress

C. Stress Damages Your Health if You Think So

D. Negative Beliefs about Stress Cause Tension

Answer

1. A

2. D

3. B

4. C

【解析】

这是一篇夹叙夹议的文章。文章主要讲了研究表明，如果你认为压力会损害你的健康，它就会损害你的健康。

1.细节理解题。答案定位在第一段According to Gallup’s annual Global Emotions report, people all over the world are more stressed than ever before.（根据盖洛普的年度全球情绪报告，世界各地的人们比以往任何时候都更紧张。）由此可知越来越多的人承受着更高的压力，故选A。

2.推理判断题。答案定位在第四段The researchers concluded that people in the study who were exposed to large amounts of stress and viewed stress as harmful had 43 percent higher risk of dying than people who viewed stress as a helpful response.（研究人员得出结论，在这项研究中，与那些认为压力是一种有益的反应的人相比，那些暴露在大量压力下并认为压力有害的人死亡的风险要高43%。）由此推断出Wisconsin大学的这项研究得出结论，乐观可以降低与压力有关的死亡风险，故选D。

3.推理判断题。第六段A separate study conducted by researchers from King’s College London and the University of Marburg showed students with more negative beliefs about stress experienced more physical symptoms, such as headaches, tension and tiredness during a stressful end-of-semester exam period, compared with students who had more positive beliefs about stress.说伦敦国王学院和马尔堡大学的研究人员进行的另一项研究显示，对压力持消极看法的学生在期末考试期间会出现更多的身体症状，比如头痛、紧张和疲劳。由此推知第六段提到的研究是为了支持上述发现，故选B。

4.主旨大意题。最后一段These two studies have proven that stress itself is not actually bad. It is the belief that stress is bad that is bad.（这两项研究证明，压力本身并不坏。认为压力不好的信念才是不好的。）是全文的主题句，结合全文内容，可知这篇文章主要讲了如果你认为压力会损害你的健康，它就会损害你的健康，故选C。