A 70-year study of personality suggests that pessimism is a risk factor for early death, especially among men.
　　The study results also indicate that pessimism can be linked to increased risk for sudden death from accidents or violence, according to the report published in the March issue of Psychological Science.
　　Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan and his colleagues analyzed data from the Terman Life-Cycle Study, which began by studying California public-school children with high IQs in 1921 and followed them through their life. Most of the 1,528 children were teenagers when the study began. Those still living are now in their 80s. In 1936 and 1940, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to obtain information about difficult life events and their effect on overall outlook. One such question was, “What do you regard as your most serious fault of personality or character?”
　　Pessimists were defined as fatalistic(宿命論的)people who tend to blame themselves when things go wrong and who believe that one bad event can ruin the rest of their life. They also tend to expect bad things to happen to them and feel that they have little or no ability to change their situation.
　　Males were more likely than females to be classified as pessimistic. Compared with individuals with a more cheerful and optimistic outlook, pessimists were more likely to die from accidents and violence (including suicide).
　　A pessimistic personality may lead to poor problem-solving ability, social difficulties and risky decision-making. Taken together, these variables put the pessimist at higher risk of untimely(不適時的) death, say the researchers. Such a person is less likely to avoid or escape potentially dangerous situations, the researchers concluded. “A pessimistic way of thinking in which people worry too much about bad events, predicts untimely death decades later,” according to Peterson.
小題1:According to the passage, you may be a pessimistic person, if one failure makes you feel________.
A．other people have been unfair to you.
B．other people will help you.
C．you cannot change a bad situation.
D．you can do better next time.
小題2:According to the passage, pessimists may feel all of the following EXCEPT________
A．helpless when faced with difficulties.
B．cheerful when faced with troubles.
C．hopeless when one bad event occurs.
D．guilty when things go wrong.
小題3:Which of the following statements is true, according to the passage?
A．Pessimists believe that everything in life depends on fate.
B．There are more pessimists among women than among men.
C．Most pessimists will end up committing suicide.
D．All pessimists will eventually die from accidents.
小題4:The Terman Life-Cycle Study is a research program that studies________.
A．people over 70 years old.
B．people since their childhood.
C．pessimistic people over 80 years old.
D．only younger people.
小題5:The analysis made by Christopher Peterson and his colleagues shows that pessimistic people________
A．will die from violence if they learn to be optimistic.
B．will more likely die from violence than optimistic people.
C．will die from violence because their IQs are low.
D．will die untimely if they are not able to learn to be cheerful and optimistic.

小題1:C
小題2:B
小題3:A
小題4:B
小題5:D

試題分析：本文講述的是悲觀主義者很容易過早去世，主要是因為他們有宿命論，認為對于生活中的一切他們都無能為力。
小題1:C 推理題。根據(jù)第四段2,3行They also tend to expect bad things to happen to them and feel that they have little or no ability to change their situation.說明如果壞的事情發(fā)生了，他們感覺自己沒有能力改變這一切，這樣的人就是悲觀主義者，故C正確。
小題2:B 常識題。當人們遇見困難的時候情緒高漲，這樣的人肯定不是悲觀主義者。故B項符合要求。
小題3:A 推理題。根據(jù)第四段Pessimists were defined as fatalistic(宿命論的)people who tend to blame themselves when things go wrong and who believe that one bad event can ruin the rest of their life.說明悲觀主義者往往持有宿命論，認為一切都是命中注定的。故A正確。
小題4:B 細節(jié)題。根據(jù)第三段前四行　Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan and his colleagues analyzed data from the Terman Life-Cycle Study, which began by studying California public-school children with high IQs in 1921 and followed them through their life. Most of the 1,528 children were teenagers when the study began.說明這些研究都在研究對象小的時候就開始的，故B正確。
小題5:D 細節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章最后一句“A pessimistic way of thinking in which people worry too much about bad events, predicts untimely death decades later,” according to Peterson.說明這樣的人可能會過早去世。故D正確。
點評：本文研究的是悲觀主義者，屬于科普類短文，此類文章的最大的障礙是詞匯以及考生對閱讀內(nèi)容的不熟悉，需要考生在閱讀的時候有足夠的耐心。要養(yǎng)成在上下文串聯(lián)中猜測詞義的能力，根據(jù)上下文中出現(xiàn)的同義詞，近義詞，反義詞，以及詞義的解釋來理解生詞。同時要抓住文章的中心，不要受其他信息的影響。要根據(jù)題目及選項以及文章的上下文串聯(lián)合理的判斷推理。
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