Question

Can We Stop Food Longing Through Imaginary Eating?

Are you fighting an urge to reach for chocolate? Then, let it melt in your mind, not in your mouth. According to the recent research, imagining eating a specific food reduces your interest in that food, so you eat less of it.

This reaction to repeated exposure to food—being less interested in something because you’ve experienced it too much—is called habituation. 1.

The research is the first to show that habituation can occur through the power of the mind. “If you just think about the food itself—how it tastes and smells—that will increase your appetite,” said Carey Morewedge, a well-known psychologist. “It might be better to force yourself to repeatedly think about chewing and swallowing the food in order to reduce your longing. 2. Visualizing yourself eating chocolate wouldn’t prevent you from eating lots of cheese,” he added.

Morewedge conducted an interesting experiment. 51 subjects were divided into three groups. One group was asked to imagine putting 30 coins into a laundry machine and then eating three chocolates. 3. Another group was asked to imagine putting three coins into a laundry machine and then eating 30 chocolates. Lastly, a control group imagined just putting 33 coins into the machine—with no chocolates. 4. When they said they had finished, these were taken away and weighed. The results showed the group that had imagined eating 30 chocolates each ate fewer of the chocolates than the other groups.

5. Physical signals—that full stomach feeling—are only part of what tells us we’ve finished a meal. The research suggests that psychological effects, such as habituation, also influence how much a person eats. It may lead to new behavioral techniques for people looking to eat more healthily, or have control over other habits.

A. What’s more, this only works with the specific food you’ve imagined.

B. People were advised to try different methods to perform the experiment.

C. For example, a tenth bite is desired less than the first bite, according to the study.

D. All of them then ate freely from bowls containing the same amount of chocolate each.

E. It meant those who repeatedly imagined eating would concern about some specific food.

F. This requires the same motor skills as eating small chocolates from a packet, the study says.

G. This study is part of the research looking into what makes us eat more than we actually need.

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.F

4.D

5.G

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，文章介绍了心理因素对人们饮食数量的影响，例如 “habituation”。

1.根据横线前面一句“This reaction to repeated exposure to food—being less interested in something because you’ve experienced it too much—is called habituation”可知当我们多次接触到某一食物的时候，我们对它的兴趣就会减少，因为我们已经熟悉了它。本句是对这一理论的举例说明，C项“For example, a tenth bite is desired less than the first bite, according to the study.”与前面一句相吻合，故选择C项。

2.根据横线后面一句“Visualizing yourself eating chocolate wouldn’t prevent you from eating lots of cheese”可知想象自己吃巧克力的样子不会阻止你吃奶酪。也就是说我们要想象自己吃某种具体的食物，这样才会减少你对这种食物的渴望。A项“What’s more, this only works with the specific food you’ve imagined.”恰好与此吻合，故选择A项。

3.根据本段前面两句“Morewedge conducted an interesting experiment. 51 subjects were divided into three groups.”可知研究人员对此问题进行了分组研究。第一组的研究对象被要求想象把30个硬币扔进洗衣机，然后想象吃了3个巧克力。这和从口袋里拿出巧克力来吃有类似的运动神经技巧，所以研究人员才会这样开展研究。F项“This requires the same motor skills as eating small chocolates from a packet, the study says.”与上下文语境一致，故F项正确。

4.根据本段最后一句“The results showed the group that had imagined eating 30 chocolates each ate fewer of the chocolates than the other groups.”可知在这些人吃完以后，进行称重。结果发现想象每次吃了30个巧克力的人实际上吃了最少。也就是说在他们实验结束以后，会让他们自由地吃巧克力。D项“All of them then ate freely from bowls containing the same amount of chocolate each.”符合上下文语境，故选择D项。

5.根据本段第三句“The research suggests that psychological effects, such as habituation, also influence how much a person eats.”可知本次研究说明心理方面的因素会影响人们吃的东西的量。由此可见这个研究是关于人们饮食数量的话题。G项“This study is part of the research looking into what makes us eat more than we actually need.”符合中心思想，故选择G项。