题目

If you’re studying English or another foreign language, you might be wondering. “How is this going to help me in my life?” As it turns out, studying and thinking in a foreign language has its own benefits!In a 2012 study, Boaz Keysar, a professor at the University of Chicago in the US, led an experiment concerning the relationship between foreign languages and people’s way of thinking. In the experiment, people were asked to make a choice: Take a guarantee of one pound or take a 50 percent chance of winning 2.50 pounds. When presented with this choice in their native language, most people took the safe option of only getting one pound. But they were more willing to make the riskier choice when asked in a foreign language, leading to more profits overall.In another study published this year, Keysar and his team did an experiment in which participants were given a series of related words like “dream”, “snooze (打盹)”, “bed” and “rest”. Later, when asked which words they remembered hearing, people were more likely to mistakenly remember “sleep”, which was not on the list, in their native language. But it was much less likely to happen if they did the test in a foreign language. As Keysar explained, people have more careful thinking when using a foreign language, leading to memories with greater accuracy.The foreign language effect may even stretch to our personality. Silvia Purpuri at the University of Trento, Italy, looked at people’s willingness to face uncertainty and enter unfamiliar situations. Being tolerant of uncertainty allows people to have more creative ideas and be more open to new things. It turns out that people naturally score more highly on this trait (特点) when they can speak or use a foreign language because speaking a foreign language requires taking risks. The evidence is clear: By learning a foreign language, you’re not just learning a language-you’re gaining a new state of mind.1. In Keysar’s experiment, when making decisions in a foreign language, people tend to be ______.A. decisiveB. hopefulC. daringD. careful2. How does using a foreign language affect memory according to Keysar?A. It improves memory accuracy.B. It increases memory recall speed.C. It strengthens long-term memory.D. It requires repeated memorization.3. What is a potential benefit of being open to uncertainty?A. Increased creativity.B. Greater tolerance.C. Better learning ability.D. Boosted adventurous spirit.4. What does the text mainly talk about?A. Challenges of learning a foreign language.B. Advantages of learning a foreign language.C. How foreign language learning influences memory.D. How foreign language learning determines one’s future.

If you’re studying English or another foreign language, you might be wondering. “How is this going to help me in my life?” As it turns out, studying and thinking in a foreign language has its own benefits!In a 2012 study, Boaz Keysar, a professor at the University of Chicago in the US, led an experiment concerning the relationship between foreign languages and people’s way of thinking. In the experiment, people were asked to make a choice: Take a guarantee of one pound or take a 50 percent chance of winning 2.50 pounds. When presented with this choice in their native language, most people took the safe option of only getting one pound. But they were more willing to make the riskier choice when asked in a foreign language, leading to more profits overall.In another study published this year, Keysar and his team did an experiment in which participants were given a series of related words like “dream”, “snooze (打盹)”, “bed” and “rest”. Later, when asked which words they remembered hearing, people were more likely to mistakenly remember “sleep”, which was not on the list, in their native language. But it was much less likely to happen if they did the test in a foreign language. As Keysar explained, people have more careful thinking when using a foreign language, leading to memories with greater accuracy.The foreign language effect may even stretch to our personality. Silvia Purpuri at the University of Trento, Italy, looked at people’s willingness to face uncertainty and enter unfamiliar situations. Being tolerant of uncertainty allows people to have more creative ideas and be more open to new things. It turns out that people naturally score more highly on this trait (特点) when they can speak or use a foreign language because speaking a foreign language requires taking risks. The evidence is clear: By learning a foreign language, you’re not just learning a language-you’re gaining a new state of mind.1. In Keysar’s experiment, when making decisions in a foreign language, people tend to be ______.A. decisiveB. hopefulC. daringD. careful2. How does using a foreign language affect memory according to Keysar?A. It improves memory accuracy.B. It increases memory recall speed.C. It strengthens long-term memory.D. It requires repeated memorization.3. What is a potential benefit of being open to uncertainty?A. Increased creativity.B. Greater tolerance.C. Better learning ability.D. Boosted adventurous spirit.4. What does the text mainly talk about?A. Challenges of learning a foreign language.B. Advantages of learning a foreign language.C. How foreign language learning influences memory.D. How foreign language learning determines one’s future.

题目解答

答案

1. C     2. A     3. A     4. B

解析

步骤 1：理解问题背景
文章讨论了学习和使用外语对人们思维方式和行为的影响。通过几个实验，文章展示了外语对决策、记忆和个性的影响。
步骤 2：分析问题1
问题1询问在Keysar的实验中，当人们用外语做决定时，他们倾向于是什么样的。根据文章，人们在用外语时更愿意冒险，这表明他们更勇敢。
步骤 3：分析问题2
问题2询问使用外语如何影响记忆。根据文章，使用外语时，人们的记忆更准确，因为他们在使用外语时会更仔细地思考。
步骤 4：分析问题3
问题3询问接受不确定性的一个潜在好处是什么。根据文章，接受不确定性可以让人有更多创意的想法，更开放地接受新事物。
步骤 5：分析问题4
问题4询问文章主要讨论了什么。文章主要讨论了学习外语的好处，包括对决策、记忆和个性的影响。