英语每日一练
What did you study at university? If it was something along the lines of law or business, you might want to look away now. That‘s because according to new research, which has found a link between our university subjects and our personalities, you have selfish, uncooperative tendencies and are not very in touch with your feelings. On the plus side, you’re probably the life and soul of a party, the findings suggest.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 13,000 university students who were involved in 12 separate studies. From this, they discovered a correlation between the “Big Five” major personality traits and the subjects they were enrolled on.
For example, those studying law, economics, political science and medicine tended to be much more outgoing than those taking other subjects, the study found. But when it came to “agreeableness”—the tendency towards being helpful, generous and considerate—the lawyers scored particularly low, as did business and economics students.
Arts and humanities students, as well as those studying psychology and politics scored highly for openness, meaning they were curious, imaginative and in touch with their inner feelings, while economists, engineers, lawyers and scientists scored comparatively low. However, the arts and humanities students also tended to be less conscientious and more nervous, typically exhibiting signs of anxiety and moodiness. Psychology students were not far behind arts and humanities students for these traits.
Study author Anna Vedel, from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, said she was surprised by the results. “The effect sizes show that the differences found are not trivial, far from,” she said. “On the more humorous side they do confirm our more or less prejudicial stereotypes of the disturbed psychologist, the withdrawn natural scientist, the cynical economist.”
And she said that the findings could help those school pupils who currently have no idea what to study at university, as well as helping academics to plan their lectures. “I’m not arguing that these results should play a major role in either guidance or selection, but it might provide some inspiration for students that are in doubt about study choices and want to make a choice based on more than abilities, for example,” said Dr Vedel. “Or teachers might better understand their student population.”
1. The first paragraph implies that law or business students may _______.
A. be amused by the research
B. be interested in the research
C. dislike the research
D. enjoy the research
2. According to the research, law students scored particularly low in the trait of _______.
A. generosity
B. openness
C. anxiety
D. selfishness
3. The word “conscientious” (Para. 4) probably means “________”.
A. moody
B. sensitive
C. curious
D. careful
4. Anna Vedel stated that the research _______.
A. confirmed the link between personality and profession
B. showed that the differences were far from significant
C. was not reliable because of its prejudicial observation
D. did not have enough samples to support its findings
5. According to Anna Vedel, the research may help ______.
A. students make wise choices in finding jobs
B. teachers understand their students better
C. students make presentations more academically
D. school pupils go to better universities
————————————
正确答案
1. 【答案】C
【考点】细节推断
【解析】 根据第一段，法学和商科学生对这项研究的态度是什么。
根据题干关键词，定位到第一段第二句 If it was something along the lines of law or business, you might want to look away now，如果是和法律或者金融相关的专业，你大概不太想继续看下去。关键词“look away”，“将视线从...移开”可以推出法学和商科的学生不喜欢这项研究。因此此题选C项“不喜欢这项研究”，【误项排除】A项“被这项研究逗乐了”，B项“对这项研究感兴趣”，D项“喜欢这项研究”，这三项不符合题意。
2. 【答案】A
【考点】细节推断
【解析】 根据这项研究，法学的学生在哪些性格特征的评分中得分低。
根据题干关键词，定位到文章第三段第二句，但从乐于助人和宽容友善的宜人性特质方面来看，学习法律、商务和经济的学生的表现不尽人意。因此选A项“慷慨，大方”。
【误项排除】B项“公开，率真”，C项“焦虑，忧虑”，D项“自私，任性”，这三项不符合题意。
3. 【答案】D
【考点】考察词汇
【解析】本题问的单词“conscientious”的含义。
题干中“conscientious”含义为“认真负责的，谨慎的”和D项careful “认真细心的，办事周到的” 意思相近。
【误项排除】A项“喜怒无常的”，B 项 sensitive是“敏感的”，C 项curious“好奇的” ，这三项不符合题意。
4. 【答案】A
【考点】细节推断
【解析】 安娜·韦德尔对这项研究的看法。
根据题干关键词，定位到文章第五段：有趣的是，这些不同也证实了我们对不同专业那些或多或少的偏见，比如精神错乱的心理学家、沉默寡言的自然科学家以及见利忘义的经济学家。所以A项证实了性格与专业之间的关系符合题意。
【误项排除】B项“研究表明性格对专业的影响不明显”，C项“由于观察带有偏见，研究不可信”，D项“研究结论还需要更多的例证”，这三项不符合题意。
5. 【答案】B
【考点】细节推断
【解析】 安娜·韦德尔认为这项研究可以帮助我们什么。
根据题干关键词，定位到文章第六段最后一句安娜·韦德尔：“老师也可以有更好的机会来了解学生。”所以B选项“教师更好的了解学生”正确。
【误项排除】A项“能帮助学生选择职业”，C项“使学生的报告更具有学术性”，D项“在校学生进入更好的大学”，这三项不符合题意。
