题目

Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to “think and concentrate.” Spilich put young non-smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived (被剥夺) of cigarettes through a series of tests.In the first test, each subject (试验对象) sat before a computer screen and pressed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and nonsmokers performed equally well.The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers were faster， but under the stimulation of nicotine (尼古丁), active smokers were faster than deprived smokers.In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers.The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it. Non-smokers remembered 19 percent more of the most important information than active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before testing. Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but also had trouble separating important information from insignificant details.“As our tests became more complex.” Sums up Spilich, “non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins” He predicts, “smokers might perform adequately at many jobs until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity.”1.The purpose of George Spilich’s experiments is _______.A. to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokersB. to show how smoking damages people’s mental capacityC. to prove that smoking affects people’s regular performanceD. to find out whether smoking helps people’s short-term memory2.Which of the following statements is true?A. Active smokers in general performed better than deprived smokers.B. Active smokers responded more quickly than the other subjects.C. Non-smokers were not better than other subjects in performing simple tasks.D. Deprived smokers gave the slowest responses to the various tasks.3.We can infer from the last paragraph that _______.A. smokers should not expect to become airline pilotsB. smoking in emergency cases causes mental illnessC. no airline pilots smoke during flightsD. smokers may prove unequal to handing emergency cases

Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to “think and concentrate.” Spilich put young non-smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived (被剥夺) of cigarettes through a series of tests.

In the first test, each subject (试验对象) sat before a computer screen and pressed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and nonsmokers performed equally well.

The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers were faster， but under the stimulation of nicotine (尼古丁), active smokers were faster than deprived smokers.

In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers.

The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it. Non-smokers remembered 19 percent more of the most important information than active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before testing. Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but also had trouble separating important information from insignificant details.

“As our tests became more complex.” Sums up Spilich, “non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins” He predicts, “smokers might perform adequately at many jobs until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity.”

1.The purpose of George Spilich’s experiments is _______.

A. to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokers

B. to show how smoking damages people’s mental capacity

C. to prove that smoking affects people’s regular performance

D. to find out whether smoking helps people’s short-term memory

2.Which of the following statements is true?

A. Active smokers in general performed better than deprived smokers.

B. Active smokers responded more quickly than the other subjects.

C. Non-smokers were not better than other subjects in performing simple tasks.

D. Deprived smokers gave the slowest responses to the various tasks.

3.We can infer from the last paragraph that _______.

A. smokers should not expect to become airline pilots

B. smoking in emergency cases causes mental illness

C. no airline pilots smoke during flights

D. smokers may prove unequal to handing emergency cases

题目解答

答案

1.A

2.C

3.D

解析

考查要点：本题为阅读理解题，主要考查学生对实验类文章的整体理解、细节判断及推理能力。
解题核心：

  1. 实验目的需结合文章首尾段落，明确研究者对比吸烟者与非吸烟者认知能力的意图；
  2. 细节判断需紧扣实验数据，注意不同测试中各组表现的差异；
  3. 推理题需结合最后一段结论，联系吸烟者在复杂情境下的潜在风险。

破题关键：

  • 实验设计：通过四组测试逐步增加难度，对比吸烟状态对认知的影响；
  • 数据对比：非吸烟者在复杂任务中优势明显，吸烟者在记忆和筛选信息能力上存在短板；
  • 结论推断：吸烟可能削弱处理紧急情况的能力。

第1题

问题：实验的目的是什么？
关键信息：

  • 首段首句明确实验目的：“测试吸烟是否帮助吸烟者‘思考和集中注意力’”；
  • 选项A“测试吸烟是否对心理能力有积极影响”直接对应实验设计（对比吸烟者与非吸烟者在不同任务中的表现）。
    错误选项排除：
  • B、C、D均未全面概括实验目标，仅聚焦单一维度（如“损害能力”或“短期记忆”）。

第2题

问题：以下哪项陈述正确？
关键信息：

  • 第一测试结果：所有组在简单任务中表现相同（非吸烟者不比吸烟者差）；
  • 选项C“非吸烟者在简单任务中不比其他组差”与实验数据一致；
  • 其他选项均与实验结果矛盾（如A、B夸大吸烟者表现，D错误描述剥夺组表现）。

第3题

问题：最后一段能推断出什么？
关键信息：

  • Spilich总结：吸烟者在复杂任务中表现差距扩大；
  • 最后一句隐含吸烟飞行员在紧急情况下的风险；
  • 选项D“吸烟者无法有效处理紧急情况”符合实验结论的延伸。