题目
Rene Descartes' explanation of pain has long been acknowledged in medicine. He proposed that pain is a purely physical phenomenon – that tissue injury makes specific nerves send a signal to the brain, causing the mind to notice pain. The phenomenon, he said, is like pulling on a rope to ring a bell in the brain. It is hard to overstate how deeply fixed this account has become. In medicine, doctors see pain in Descartes' terms— as a physical process, a sign of tissue injury.The limitations of this explanation, however, have been apparent for some time, since people with obvious injuries sometimes report feeling no pain at all. Later, researchers proposed that Descartes' model be replaced with what they called the gate control theory of pain. They argued that before pain signals reach the brain, they must first go through a gating mechanism in the spinal cord(脊髓). In some cases, this imaginary gate could simply stop pain signals from getting to the brain.Their most amazing suggestion was that what controlled the gate was not just signals from sensory nerves but also emotions and other "output" from the brain. They were saying that pulling on the rope need not make the bell ring. The bell itself—the mind— could stop it. This theory led to a great deal of research into how such factors as mood, gender, and beliefs influence the experience of pain. In a British study, for example, researchers measured pain threshold and tolerance levels in 53 ballet dancers and 53 university students by using a common measurement: after immersing your hand in body-temperature water for two minutes to establish a baseline condition, you put your hand in a bowl of ice water and start a clock running. You mark the time when it begins to hurt: that is your pain threshold. Then you mark the time when it hurts too much to keep your hand in the water: that is your pain tolerance. The test is always stopped at 120 seconds, to prevent injury.The results were striking. On average female students reported pain at 16 seconds and pulled their hands out of the ice water at 37 seconds. Female dancers were almost three times as long on both counts. Men in both groups had a higher threshold and tolerance for pain, but the difference between male dancers and male nondancers was nearly as large. What explains that difference? Probably it has something to do with the psychology of ballet dancers—a group known for self-discipline, physical fitness, and competitiveness, as well as by a high rate of chronic(慢性) injury. Their driven personalities and competitive culture evidently accustom them to pain. Other studies along these lines have shown that outgoing people have greater pain tolerance and that, with training, one can reduce one's sensitivity to pain.There is also striking evidence that very simple kinds of mental suggestion can have powerful effects on pain. In one study of 500 patients undergoing dental procedures, those who were given a placebo(安慰剂) injection and promised that it would relieve their pain had the least discomfort— not only less than the patients who got a placebo and were told nothing but also less than the patients who got actual drug without any promise that it would work.Today it is abundantly evident that the brain is actively involved in the experience of pain and is no more bell on a string. Today every medical textbook teaches the gate control theory as fact. There's a problem with it, though. It explains people who have injuries but feel no pain, but it doesn't explain the reverse, which is far more common— the millions of people who experience chronic pain, such as back pain, with no signs of injury whatsoever. So where does the pain come from? The rope and clapper are gone, but the bell is still ringing.(1).The primary purpose of the passage is to . A.describe how modern research has updated an old explanationB.support a traditional view with new dataC.promote a particular attitude towards physical experienceD.suggest a creative treatment for a medical condition(2).Which statement best describes Descartes theory of pain presented in paragraph 1? A.The brain can shut pain off at will.B.The brain plays no part in the body's experience of pain.C.Pain can be caused in many different ways.D.Pain is an automatic response to bodily injury.(3).The author implies that the reason why the gate control was "amazing" was that it . A.offered an extremely new and original explanationB.was just opposite to people's everyday experiencesC.was grounded in an ridiculous logicD.was so sensible it should have been proposed centuries before(4).The author refers to "chronic back pain" as an example of something that is . A.costly, because it troubles millions of peopleB.puzzling, because it sometimes has no obvious causeC.disappointing, because it does not improve with treatmentD.worrying, because it lies beyond the reach of medicine(5).The last sentence of the passage serves mainly to express that . A.scientific judgments are difficult to understandB.theoretical investigations are generally uselessC.researchers still have a long way to go before the puzzle is made clearD.there is always something puzzling at the heart of science
Rene Descartes' explanation of pain has long been acknowledged in medicine. He proposed that pain is a purely physical phenomenon – that tissue injury makes specific nerves send a signal to the brain, causing the mind to notice pain. The phenomenon, he said, is like pulling on a rope to ring a bell in the brain. It is hard to overstate how deeply fixed this account has become. In medicine, doctors see pain in Descartes' terms— as a physical process, a sign of tissue injury.
The limitations of this explanation, however, have been apparent for some time, since people with obvious injuries sometimes report feeling no pain at all. Later, researchers proposed that Descartes' model be replaced with what they called the gate control theory of pain. They argued that before pain signals reach the brain, they must first go through a gating mechanism in the spinal cord(脊髓). In some cases, this imaginary gate could simply stop pain signals from getting to the brain.
Their most amazing suggestion was that what controlled the gate was not just signals from sensory nerves but also emotions and other "output" from the brain. They were saying that pulling on the rope need not make the bell ring. The bell itself—the mind— could stop it. This theory led to a great deal of research into how such factors as mood, gender, and beliefs influence the experience of pain. In a British study, for example, researchers measured pain threshold and tolerance levels in 53 ballet dancers and 53 university students by using a common measurement: after immersing your hand in body-temperature water for two minutes to establish a baseline condition, you put your hand in a bowl of ice water and start a clock running. You mark the time when it begins to hurt: that is your pain threshold. Then you mark the time when it hurts too much to keep your hand in the water: that is your pain tolerance. The test is always stopped at 120 seconds, to prevent injury.
The results were striking. On average female students reported pain at 16 seconds and pulled their hands out of the ice water at 37 seconds. Female dancers were almost three times as long on both counts. Men in both groups had a higher threshold and tolerance for pain, but the difference between male dancers and male nondancers was nearly as large. What explains that difference? Probably it has something to do with the psychology of ballet dancers—a group known for self-discipline, physical fitness, and competitiveness, as well as by a high rate of chronic(慢性) injury. Their driven personalities and competitive culture evidently accustom them to pain. Other studies along these lines have shown that outgoing people have greater pain tolerance and that, with training, one can reduce one's sensitivity to pain.
There is also striking evidence that very simple kinds of mental suggestion can have powerful effects on pain. In one study of 500 patients undergoing dental procedures, those who were given a placebo(安慰剂) injection and promised that it would relieve their pain had the least discomfort— not only less than the patients who got a placebo and were told nothing but also less than the patients who got actual drug without any promise that it would work.
Today it is abundantly evident that the brain is actively involved in the experience of pain and is no more bell on a string. Today every medical textbook teaches the gate control theory as fact. There's a problem with it, though. It explains people who have injuries but feel no pain, but it doesn't explain the reverse, which is far more common— the millions of people who experience chronic pain, such as back pain, with no signs of injury whatsoever. So where does the pain come from? The rope and clapper are gone, but the bell is still ringing.
The limitations of this explanation, however, have been apparent for some time, since people with obvious injuries sometimes report feeling no pain at all. Later, researchers proposed that Descartes' model be replaced with what they called the gate control theory of pain. They argued that before pain signals reach the brain, they must first go through a gating mechanism in the spinal cord(脊髓). In some cases, this imaginary gate could simply stop pain signals from getting to the brain.
Their most amazing suggestion was that what controlled the gate was not just signals from sensory nerves but also emotions and other "output" from the brain. They were saying that pulling on the rope need not make the bell ring. The bell itself—the mind— could stop it. This theory led to a great deal of research into how such factors as mood, gender, and beliefs influence the experience of pain. In a British study, for example, researchers measured pain threshold and tolerance levels in 53 ballet dancers and 53 university students by using a common measurement: after immersing your hand in body-temperature water for two minutes to establish a baseline condition, you put your hand in a bowl of ice water and start a clock running. You mark the time when it begins to hurt: that is your pain threshold. Then you mark the time when it hurts too much to keep your hand in the water: that is your pain tolerance. The test is always stopped at 120 seconds, to prevent injury.
The results were striking. On average female students reported pain at 16 seconds and pulled their hands out of the ice water at 37 seconds. Female dancers were almost three times as long on both counts. Men in both groups had a higher threshold and tolerance for pain, but the difference between male dancers and male nondancers was nearly as large. What explains that difference? Probably it has something to do with the psychology of ballet dancers—a group known for self-discipline, physical fitness, and competitiveness, as well as by a high rate of chronic(慢性) injury. Their driven personalities and competitive culture evidently accustom them to pain. Other studies along these lines have shown that outgoing people have greater pain tolerance and that, with training, one can reduce one's sensitivity to pain.
There is also striking evidence that very simple kinds of mental suggestion can have powerful effects on pain. In one study of 500 patients undergoing dental procedures, those who were given a placebo(安慰剂) injection and promised that it would relieve their pain had the least discomfort— not only less than the patients who got a placebo and were told nothing but also less than the patients who got actual drug without any promise that it would work.
Today it is abundantly evident that the brain is actively involved in the experience of pain and is no more bell on a string. Today every medical textbook teaches the gate control theory as fact. There's a problem with it, though. It explains people who have injuries but feel no pain, but it doesn't explain the reverse, which is far more common— the millions of people who experience chronic pain, such as back pain, with no signs of injury whatsoever. So where does the pain come from? The rope and clapper are gone, but the bell is still ringing.
(1).
The primary purpose of the passage is to .
- A.describe how modern research has updated an old explanation
- B.support a traditional view with new data
- C.promote a particular attitude towards physical experience
- D.suggest a creative treatment for a medical condition
(2).
Which statement best describes Descartes theory of pain presented in paragraph 1?
- A.The brain can shut pain off at will.
- B.The brain plays no part in the body's experience of pain.
- C.Pain can be caused in many different ways.
- D.Pain is an automatic response to bodily injury.
(3).
The author implies that the reason why the gate control was "amazing" was that it .
- A.offered an extremely new and original explanation
- B.was just opposite to people's everyday experiences
- C.was grounded in an ridiculous logic
- D.was so sensible it should have been proposed centuries before
(4).
The author refers to "chronic back pain" as an example of something that is .
- A.costly, because it troubles millions of people
- B.puzzling, because it sometimes has no obvious cause
- C.disappointing, because it does not improve with treatment
- D.worrying, because it lies beyond the reach of medicine
(5).
The last sentence of the passage serves mainly to express that .
- A.scientific judgments are difficult to understand
- B.theoretical investigations are generally useless
- C.researchers still have a long way to go before the puzzle is made clear
- D.there is always something puzzling at the heart of science
题目解答
答案
(1).A
(2).D
(3).A
(4).B
(5).C
解析
步骤 1：理解文章内容
文章主要讨论了关于疼痛的两种理论：笛卡尔的理论和门控理论。笛卡尔认为疼痛是身体受伤后神经向大脑发送信号的结果。门控理论则认为疼痛信号在到达大脑之前会经过脊髓中的一个门控机制，这个机制可以被大脑的其他输出（如情绪）控制。
步骤 2：分析问题
问题(1)要求确定文章的主要目的。文章主要描述了现代研究如何更新了笛卡尔的疼痛理论。
问题(2)要求描述笛卡尔的疼痛理论。根据文章，笛卡尔认为疼痛是身体受伤后神经向大脑发送信号的结果。
问题(3)要求解释为什么门控理论被认为是“惊人的”。根据文章，门控理论提供了一个全新的解释，因为它认为大脑可以控制疼痛信号。
问题(4)要求解释为什么作者提到“慢性背痛”。根据文章，慢性背痛是一个没有明显原因的令人困惑的例子。
问题(5)要求解释文章最后一句话的主要表达。根据文章，最后一句话表达了研究人员还有很长的路要走，才能解决疼痛的谜团。
文章主要讨论了关于疼痛的两种理论：笛卡尔的理论和门控理论。笛卡尔认为疼痛是身体受伤后神经向大脑发送信号的结果。门控理论则认为疼痛信号在到达大脑之前会经过脊髓中的一个门控机制，这个机制可以被大脑的其他输出（如情绪）控制。
步骤 2：分析问题
问题(1)要求确定文章的主要目的。文章主要描述了现代研究如何更新了笛卡尔的疼痛理论。
问题(2)要求描述笛卡尔的疼痛理论。根据文章，笛卡尔认为疼痛是身体受伤后神经向大脑发送信号的结果。
问题(3)要求解释为什么门控理论被认为是“惊人的”。根据文章，门控理论提供了一个全新的解释，因为它认为大脑可以控制疼痛信号。
问题(4)要求解释为什么作者提到“慢性背痛”。根据文章，慢性背痛是一个没有明显原因的令人困惑的例子。
问题(5)要求解释文章最后一句话的主要表达。根据文章，最后一句话表达了研究人员还有很长的路要走，才能解决疼痛的谜团。