Question

If you lose your wallet, how often do you think someone will be kind enough to return it to you, with cash and credit cards?

Some people may be greedy, and others are simply too lazy to bother(打攪) with the trip to the post office to send back a wallet to a stranger. But according to a psychology study by Dr. Richard Wiseman, there’s one thing that’ll greatly increase your odds of being reunited with a lost wallet: a photograph of a cute baby.

In the study, hundreds of wallets were scattered(分散) around the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland. The psychologists wanted to see how many strangers would take the trouble to return them to the addresses listed on the drivers’ licenses inside—but more than that, they wanted to find out what would make a person more likely to help out a stranger.

To finish this, they included personal things in most of the wallets: some included a photo of a happy elderly couple, some contained a cute puppy, some contained a family portrait, and some held a photo of a lovely baby. Others had receipts(發票) showing that the wallet’s owner had recently donated to a charity（慈善）. Some contained no personal details.

As the psychologists soon discovered, the sight of a smiling baby is enough to warm nearly any heart: only one in ten of the strangers who retrieved such wallets did not return them. In contrast, the second most successful image, the puppy, had a 53% return rate. When the wallet included no photograph, it stood only a one in seven chance of being returned to the owner.

The success of the baby photograph shows a human compassion(同情) for the young that’s been passed down through the ages, according to Dr. Wiseman. “The baby kicked off a caring feeling in people, which is not surprising from an evolutionary perspective(進化的角度),” he told the Times.

To ensure our species’ survival, scientists think that we must feel empathy and compassion for our young. Scientists say that this study supports the argument that we won’t feel compassion only for our own babies, but for any that we see—hence, the strong desire a stranger would feel to return a wallet to the baby’s parent.

On a more basic level, the study also provides a great tip to help ensure that if your wallet is ever lost, you’re more likely to get it back. “If you want to increase the chances of your wallet being returned if lost, gain a photograph of the cutest baby you can find and ensure that it is clearly displayed,” said Dr. Wiseman.

1.The main purpose of the psychologists’ leaving hundreds of wallets around was to find out________.

A．whether people were as honest as before

B．what made people willing to help strangers

C．what kind of feelings could be caused by a smiling baby

D．how evolution influenced human beings

2.The underlined word “retrieved” in Para. 5 probably means “________”.

A．picked up         B．spread out         C．found out         D．looked for

3.Why did people return a wallet with a photograph of a cute baby in it?

A．Because the wallet was not attractive enough to keep.

B．Because the sight of a baby could cause a caring feeling in them.

C．Because they were curious to know the parents of the baby

D．Because the sight of a cute baby reminded them of their own children.

4.If there are 30 lost wallets with a photograph of a cute baby, how many of them will probably be returned?

A．Only 3.           B．About 15.         C．20 or so.          D．About 27.

5.We can learn from the last two paragraphs that________.

A．humans usually have compassion for the young

B．the caring feeling in people is gone during evolution

C．scientists believed that people only feel compassion for their own babies

D．a wallet with a cute baby’s picture in it cannot be lost

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.A

3.B

4.D

5.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述的是一個調查報告：掉了錢包以后，有多少錢包還能被還回來？

1.B 推理題。根據文章第二段But according to a psychology study by Dr. Richard Wiseman, there’s one thing that’ll greatly increase your odds of being reunited with a lost wallet: a photograph of a cute baby.

In the study, hundreds of wallets were scattered(分散) around the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland. The psychologists wanted to see how many strangers would take the trouble to return them to the addresses listed on the drivers’ licenses inside—but more than that, they wanted to find out what would make a person more likely to help out a stranger.可知這個研究的目的就是為查明究竟是什么讓人們愿意把錢包還給別人。故B正確。

2.A 推理題。根據本句only one in ten of the strangers who retrieved such wallets did not return them.說明這里的 retrieved 是指撿起錢包這件事情，故A正確。

3.B 推理題。根據文章最后一段前4行To ensure our species’ survival, scientists think that we must feel empathy and compassion for our young. Scientists say that this study supports the argument that we won’t feel compassion only for our own babies, but for any that we see—hence, the strong desire a stranger would feel to return a wallet to the baby’s parent.可知這樣的照片讓人們想起了自己的孩子，所以才會更有同情心，故B正確。

4.D 細節題。根據As the psychologists soon discovered, the sight of a smiling baby is enough to warm nearly any heart: only one in ten of the strangers who retrieved such wallets did not return them.只有十分之一的沒有換，故30個這樣的錢包大約有27個被還了過來。故D正確。

5.A 推理題。根據文章最后一段1,2行To ensure our species’ survival, scientists think that we must feel empathy and compassion for our young.可知A正確。

考點：考查社會現象類短文閱讀

點評：本文講述的是一個調查報告：掉了錢包以后，有多少錢包還能被還回來？測試考生在閱讀基礎上的邏輯推理能力，要求考生根據文章所述事件的邏輯關系，對未說明的趨勢或結局作出合理的推斷；或根據作者所闡述的觀點理論，對文章未涉及的現象、事例給以解釋。考生首先要仔細閱讀短文，完整了解信息，準確把握作者觀點。