Question

    The Wall Street Journal recently published an excellent article penned by Wendy Bounds on a hot topic here at MNN: the air-purifying qualities of the common houseplant. Given that the air inside your home can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than the air outside of it, making it clean with plants like peace lily(百合花)and asparagus fern(芦笋蕨)is an economical, artistically pleasing alternative to air purifiers. So, it's been acknowledged that a bunch of pretty potted houseplants can help you maintain a healthier home, but a smarter home?

That's the question in light of a recent study published by the Journal of Environmental Psychology showing that the presence of plants in a room, particularly in an office environment, can shrink attention span(范围). Struggling directive attention (the kind of attention that takes effort) can be refreshed through exposure to naturalistic environments. Basically, taking a walk through the park can clear one's head. But can a head be refreshed simply by being surrounded by houseplants?

To test their theory, the study's authors rounded up a bunch of participants, put some of them in a room with no plants and put others in a room with four plants placed around a desk, and put them all to the same series of tests. First was a Reading Span Test, which involves reading a series of sentences aloud and remembering the last word in each sentence. This task requires that you fluently switch between attention demanding tasks: from reading and memorizing at one moment, to writing and recalling at the next. Next came a proof-reading task followed by another Reading Span Test.

The results? Participants working in the room with the plants improved their performance from the first Reading Span Test to the second while those working in the room lacking in greenery did not. Consequently, the benefits of working among plants is indeed evident.

1.What do we know from the first paragraph?

A.Staying indoors can help avoid the poorer air outdoors.

B.Houseplants can function as beautiful cheap air purifiers.

C.Planting potted flowers as decorations is very interesting.

D.Air purifiers are the most effective to create a healthy home.

2.What does the underlined part in paragraph 2 probably refer to?

A.Focus one's attention. B.Disturb one's attention.

C.Weaken one's attention. D.Turn one's attention away.

3.What does the test prove?

A.Working in nature helps increase productivity.

B.Houseplants will be in great demand in our life.

C.Greenery creates healthier naturalistic atmosphere indoors.

D.Working among houseplants improves mental functioning.

4.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.Flowers: Grand Feast to Eyes B.Greenery: Effective Air-purifier

C.Houseplants: Visual Brain Food D.Potted Plants: Great House-beautifier

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。有文章指出室内植物可以作为漂亮便宜的空气净化器，帮助你保持一个更健康的家。同时通过实验证明了室内植物还可以很好地提高人们的注意力，对大脑的工作效果起到积极作用。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中Given that the air inside your home can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than the air outside of it, making it clean with plants like peace lily(百合花)and asparagus fern(芦笋蕨)is a economical, artistically pleasing alternative to air purifiers.可知，鉴于室内空气污染比室外空气污染严重2到5倍，用百合花、芦笋蕨这些植物来取代空气净化器净化室内空气即经济实惠又美观。由此可知，室内植物可以作为漂亮便宜的空气净化器。故选B。

2.词义猜测题。根据后文Struggling directive attention (the kind of attention that takes effort) can be refreshed through exposure to naturalistic environments.可知挣扎的注意力(需要努力的注意力)可以通过置身于自然环境中来恢复。据此可推知，划线短语即指注意力得到恢复，变得更专注。故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段中Participants working in the room with the plants improved their performance from the first Reading Span Test to the second while those working in the room lacking in greenery did not. Consequently, the benefits of working among plants is indeed evident.可知在有植物的房间里工作的参与者，从第一次阅读测试到第二次阅读测试，他们的表现有所提高，而在没有植物的房间里工作的参与者则没有提高。因此，在植物间工作的好处是显而易见的。由此可知，测试证明了在室内植物间工作可以改善精神功能。故选D。

4.主旨大意题。根据第四段中Participants working in the room with the plants improved their performance from the first Reading Span Test to the second while those working in the room lacking in greenery did not. Consequently, the benefits of working among plants is indeed evident.可知在有植物的房间里工作的参与者，从第一次阅读测试到第二次阅读测试，他们的表现有所提高，而在没有植物的房间里工作的参与者则没有提高。结合全文内容可知本文介绍室内植物可以很好地提高人们的注意力，对大脑的工作效果起到积极作用。故C选项“室内植物：视觉脑食物”符合文章标题。故选C。