Question

    People asked to imagine how flooding or droughts would affect particular people or places were more likely to engage in environmentally friendly actions．

Many people view climate change as a distant threat． But having them imagine the tangible （有形的） consequences of resulting droughts or floods may help change this idea and encourage proenvironmental behavior， a new study suggests．

Researchers asked 93 college students to read a report on temperature anomalies （异常），floods and other climate change-related events that have affected the island． The scientists then asked 62 of the participants to write down three ways in which such phenomena might impact their future lives． Half the people in that group were instructed to imagine such situations in detail． The remaining 31 students did not complete either the writing or imagining steps， acting as a control group．

All the participants then rated their ideas of climate change risks by responding to questions such as "How likely do you think it is that climate change is having serious impacts on the world？" They used a scale from 1 （"very unlikely"） to 7 （"very likely"）． The average score was higher among subjects who had been asked to envision detailed situations than among those who had not． The results were later confirmed in a second experiment involving 102 participants．

Participants in the first experiment who had imagined the effects of climate change were more likely to say they would use air conditioning in an energy-saving manner． In the second experiment， nearly two thirds of people in the visualizing （想象） group signed up to help clean a beach， compared with 43 percent in the nonvisualizing one． And when offered a choice of a vegetarian （素食主义的）or nonvegetarian lunch box， nearly half the visualizers selected the environmentally friendlier meatless choice-compared with about 28 percent of the nonvisualizers．

The researchers did not track people to see if they behaved differently in their day-to-day lives-something further studies should examine， says study co-author Wen-Bin Chiou． Moreover， the research ''should be done again in other places with other populations，" says Robert Gifford， a professor of psychology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia， who was not involved in the work．

The findings could be applied to raise public concern about climate change， Chiou says． For example， he suggests that news reports about the phenomenon could include vivid descriptions of its effects on people，s lives and ask readers to imagine experiencing such impacts． Having virtual-reality demonstrations （展示）in local science museums of the consequences of climate change would be another way of putting the research into practice， Chiou adds．

1.Which of the following statements about the study is true？ ______

A. Only one experiment was carried out for the study．

B. Professor Robert Gifford played a key role in the study．

C. The control group only completed the writing step in the experiment．

D. Participants asked to imagine detailed effects scored higher than those who weren't．

2.Future studies will probably be about whether ______ ．

A. it is true of other populations in other places

B. more money will be donated to the people affected by climate change-related events

C. people choose vegetarian lunch boxes in their daily lives

D. climate change will cause people to think about joining in a control group

3.To put the research into practice， Wen-Bin Chiou suggests that ______ ．

A. the government call on people to live a low-carbon life

B. people use air conditioning in an energy-saving manner

C. people experience possible effects of climate change through virtual reality facilities

D. news reports provide vivid descriptions of the effects of climate change on peoples5lives

4.The passage mainly tells us that ______ ．

A. different people may have different reactions to climate change

B. different forms of climate change may affect people's ideas in different ways

C. people may change their behavior after thinking about the vivid impacts of climate change

D. college students show great concern for the people affected by climate change

Answer

1.D

2.D

3.C

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。作者在文中向我们描述了一项新的研究表明，如果让他们想象干旱或洪水的后果可能有助于改变“许多人认为气候变化是一个遥远的威胁”这个观念，并鼓励有利于环境的行为。

1.细节理解题。由第四段“ The average score was higher among subjects who had been asked to envision detailed situations than among those who had not”可知，被要求设想详细情景的受试者的平均得分高于未被要求设想详细情景的受试者的平均得分。故D选项正确。

2.推理判断题．最后一段“The findings could be applied to raise public concern about climate change， Chiou says． For example， he suggests that news reports about the phenomenon could include vivid descriptions of its effects on people， lives and ask readers to imagine experiencing such impacts．”可知，这些发现可以用来引起公众对气候变化的关注。例如，他建议关于这一现象的新闻报道可以包括对其对人们生活影响的生动描述，并要求读者想象经历这样的影响。所以判断出未来的研究可能是关于是否气候变化将使人们考虑加入一个控制组。故选D．

3.细节理解题。由最后段“Having virtual-reality demonstrations （展示）in local science museums of the consequences of climate change would be another way of putting the research into practice， Chiou adds．”Chiou 补充说，在当地的科学博物馆里进行虚拟现实演示，展示气候变化的后果，将是将这项研究付诸实践的另一种方式。所以为了将这项研究付诸实践，Chiou建议人们通过虚拟现实设施体验气候变化的可能带来的影响。故C选项正确。

4.主旨大意题。由短文第二段“But having them imagine the tangible （有形的） consequences of resulting droughts or floods may help change this idea and encourage proenvironmental behavior， a new study suggests”但一项新的研究表明，让他们想象由此产生的干旱或洪水的后果可能有助于改变“许多人认为气候变化是一个遥远的威胁”这一观念，并鼓励有利于环境的行为。可知，人们在思考了气候变化的生动影响后，可能会改变他们的行为。所以短文主要告诉我们，人们在考虑到气候变化的生动的影响后，可能会改变他们的行为。故C选项正确。