Question

    According to a new study， teens focus on rewards and have a hard time learning to avoid punishment or consider the consequences of alternative actions.

University College London researchers compared how teens and adults learn to make choices based on the available information. They tracked the way in which 18 volunteers aged 12-17 and 20 volunteers aged 18-32 completed tasks in which they had to choose between abstract symbols.

Each symbol was consistently associated with a fixed chance of a reward, punishment, or no outcome. As the trial progressed ， participants learned which symbols were likely to lead to each outcome and adjusted their choices accordingly. Teens and adults were equally good at learning to choose symbols associated with reward， but teens were less good at avoiding symbols associated with punishment. Adults also performed significantly better when they were told what would have happened if they had chosen the other symbol after each choice， while teens did not appear to take this information into account.

“From this experimental lab study we can draw conclusions about learning during the teen years. We find that teens and adults learn in different ways， something that might be relevant to education," said lead author Dr. Stefano Palminteri. " Unlike adults, teens are not so good at learning to adjust their choices to avoid punishment. This suggests that incentive systems based on reward rather than punishment may be more effective for this age group. Additionally, we found that teens did not learn from being shown what would have happened if they made alternative choices."

To interpret the results, the researchers developed computational models of learning and ran simulations （模拟）applying them to the results of the study. The first was a simple model, one that learned from rewards, and the second model added to this by also learning from the option that was not chosen. The third model was the most complete and took the full context into account, with equal weight given to punishment avoidance and reward seeking. For example, obtaining no outcome rather than losing a point is weighted equally to gaining a point rather than having no outcome.

Comparing the experimental data to the models, the team found that teens" behavior followed the simple reward-based model while adults" behavior matched the complete, contextual model. “Our study suggests that teens are more receptive to rewards than they are to punishments of equal value, ” said senior author Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. “As a result, it may be useful for parents and teachers to frame things in more positive terms.”

1.It can be learned from the study that .

A.adults made choices faster than teens

B.adults understood rewards better than teens

C.teens reacted better to reward than punishment

D.teens were aware of the outcome of each choice

2.What do we know about the three computational models?

A.They reflected people’s strong desire for punishment avoidance.

B.They gave circumstances different degrees of consideration.

C.They paid equal attention to reward and punishment.

D.They shaped the behavior of people at different ages.

3.The underlined word “receptive" in the last paragraph probably means .

A.accustomed B.opposed

C.sympathetic D.responsive

4.According to the writer, which of the following statements works best for teens?

A.“If you insist on doing things in this way， you will lose ten points. "

B.“If we had talked about this earlier， you wouldn’t have made the mistake. "

C.“ If you hand in your assignment ahead of time， you will get an extra bonus."

D.“If you want to approach a problem differently ， you can talk to your parents. "

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。介绍了一项新研究，研究表明青少年们关注回报，很难学会避免惩罚或者考虑到不同行为的结果。

1.推理判断题。根据最后一段中“Our study suggests that teens are more receptive to rewards than they are to punishments of equal value”可知，这个研究表明青少年们对于同样意义的回报和惩罚，更能接受回报而不是惩罚，意在表明青少年对于回报的回应比惩罚好，C项切题。故选C项。

2.推理判断题。根据第五段中“The first was a simple model, one that learned from rewards, and the second model added to this by also learning from the option that was not chosen. The third model was the most complete and took the full context into account, with equal weight given to punishment avoidance and reward seeking.”可知第一个是简单模型，从回报中了解到的。第二个增加了一些从未被选的选择中了解的部分。第三个模型是完全考虑到了惩罚避免和追求回报的等量关系，这部分语境意在表示研究者给了环境不同程度的考虑。B项切题。故选B项。

3.词义推测题。根据最后一段中“Our study suggests that teens are more receptive to rewards than they are to punishments of equal value”，研究表明青少年们对于同样意义的回报和惩罚，更能接受回报而不是惩罚，意在表明青少年对于回报的回应比惩罚好。A. accustomed习惯；B. opposed相反；C. sympathetic同情的；D. responsive反应积极的。结合句子结构分析和翻译语境可知， D项切合题意。故选D项。

4.推理判断题。通过阅读全文可知，本文主旨介绍了一项新研究，研究表明青少年们关注回报，很难学会避免惩罚或者考虑到不同行为的结果。C项意为“如果你提前交作业，你会得到额外奖励”，符合原文关于青少年们关注回报的表述。故选C项。