Question

Mothers can still offer comfort, even from a distance, a new study has found. The results show that simply hearing their mothers’ voice over the phone works just as well at calming the nerves of stressed children as a real-life pat on the shoulder.

The soothing（撫慰的）effect is most likely due to the release of the hormone（荷爾蒙）, oxytocin（催生素）, in the brain, the researchers say. This “l(fā)ove hormone” is known to quell stress and is likely to be involved in social connections, including those between a mother and a child.

Previous work has revealed that this hormone is released during physical contact with a mother. “But it’s clear from these results that a mother’s voice can have the same effect as a hug, even if she isn’t actually standing there,” said the researcher, Leslie Seltzer, a biological scientist.

Seltzer tested a group of 61 girls, aged 7 to 12, by having them make an unprepared speech and solve a series of maths problems in front of a group of strangers, sending their hearts racing and levels of cortisol—a hormone associated with stress—soaring.

Facing a challenge like that raises stress levels of a lot of people. Once stressed, a third of the girls were comforted in person by their mothers with hugs. A third of the girls watched an emotionally neutral 75-minute video. The rest were handed a telephone with their mothers on the line.

For the girls who interacted in person or over the phone with their mothers, the levels of the “l(fā)ove hormone” rose significantly, and the stress-marking hormone was washed away. This effect didn’t show up for participants who watched the video.

Seltzer is now testing the amount of oxytocin released with other communication methods—like text messaging—and hopes to see the research spread out from human subjects. “It’s not just us, of course. Lots of very social species have voices,” she said. “on the one hand, we are curious to see if this effect is unique to humans. On the other, we’re hoping researchers who study vocal communication will consider looking at oxytocin release in other animals and apply it to broader questions of social behavior and evolutionary biology.

1.Mothers’ voice over the phone can reduce children’s nerves according to the study, because           .

A．children can imagine their mothers’ hugs on the line

B．children enjoy their mothers’ voice and forget their worries

C．mothers are good at comforting their children, even on the phone

D．mothers’ voice can promote the release of the love hormone

2.The underlined word “quell” in the second paragraph probably means “         ”.

A．cause or bring	B．delay or direct
C．stop or reduce	D．develop or train

3. From the study, we know that                .

A．the level of cortisol determines how stressed a person is

B．the 61 girls were divided into two groups in the research

C．the recent study had the same results as the previous one

D．watching a video is the best way to reduce one’s stress

4.From the last paragraph, we can conclude that          .

A．text messaging has the same effect on oxytocin release as telephoning

B．the effect of a mother's voice on oxytocin in animals is still not known

C．the effect of communication on stress is unique to humans

D．the research has been applied to social behavior and evolutionary biology

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：

1.D 細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第二段1,2行The soothing（撫慰的）effect is most likely due to the release of the hormone（荷爾蒙）, oxytocin（催生素）, in the brain, the researchers say.說明原因是在于一種荷爾蒙的分泌，故D正確。

2.C 推理題。根據(jù)本句This “l(fā)ove hormone” is known to quell stress and is likely to be involved in social connections說明這種荷爾蒙能分解壓力，也有可能與人與人之間的聯(lián)系有關(guān)，故C正確。

3.A 推理題。根據(jù)文章第四段2,3行sending their hearts racing and levels of cortisol—a hormone associated with stress—soaring.和第六段內(nèi)容For the girls who interacted in person or over the phone with their mothers, the levels of the “l(fā)ove hormone” rose significantly, and the stress-marking hormone was washed away. This effect didn’t show up for participants who watched the video.說明cortisol 的水平?jīng)Q定了人的壓力情況，故A正確。

4.B 細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章最后4行. On the other, we’re hoping researchers who study vocal communication will consider looking at oxytocin release in other animals and apply it to broader questions of social behavior and evolutionary biology.說明這樣的研究將在動物生身上進(jìn)行，故結(jié)果還不清楚，故B正確。

考點：考查科普類短文閱讀

點評：文章介紹了媽媽的聲音能讓孩子鎮(zhèn)定，分析了原因，原來是大腦中催生素的釋放。本文要求考生有較好的耐心，因為文章中有部分生詞可能會影響閱讀，要求考生有較好的上下文猜測詞義的能力。