Question

Some students get so nervous before a test; they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious test­takers.

Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry，it actually uses up attention and memory resources. I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”

Professor Beilock and another researcher，Gerardo Ramirez，have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam，highly anxious test­takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.

Sian Beilock: “What we think happens is when students put it down on paper，they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it's not as bad as they might think it was before and，in essence(本質上)，it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they're actually taking a test.”

The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.

The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.

Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.

Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.

Prefessor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B＋，compared to a B－ for those who did not.

Sian Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly test­anxious，who'd done our writing intervention(排解)，all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most likely to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don't normally get nervous in these testing situations.”

But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.

1.Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The result in the math test agrees with that in the biology test.

B．In the first math test, students who sat quietly performed better.

C．In the second math test, students who wrote about their feelings did worse.

D．Some college students are highly anxious test­takers while others are not in the tests.

2.What may happen if students have the problem of test anxiety?

A．Test anxiety is sure to cause students to fail the test.

B．Test anxiety can improve students' performance to some degree.

C．Students' attention and memory resources run out when worried.

D．Students may not be admitted into their favorite college if worried.

3.The result of the research suggests that ________.

A．proper amount of burden may turn out to be a good thing

B．facing the fears bravely may help one to achieve more

C．avoiding facing the problem may contribute to relaxation

D．taking no action before difficulty may result in success

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A．It is important for students to overcome test anxiety.

B．Anxious students overcome test anxiety by writing down fears.

C．It is a common practice for students being worried before a test.

D．Being worried before tests does harm to students' performance.

 

Answer 1

1.A

2.C

3.B

4.B

【解析】

文章大意：本文主要介紹考前寫出緊張感有助于緩解壓力，從而獲得良好的表現(xiàn)。

1.A　細節(jié)理解題。通過閱讀第五至第九段內容，特別是第七段和第九段可知，研究人員對20位有考試焦慮的大學生的數(shù)學測試和學生生物課的表現(xiàn)的兩項研究結果一致：學生寫下有關考前焦慮的狀況有助于提高自己的表現(xiàn)，故選A項。

2.2】C　細節(jié)理解題。由第二段第三句話“And when we worry，it actually uses up attention and memory resources.”可知，C項正確。

3.3】B　推理判斷題。由最后一段可知，應對學生考試焦慮的一種方法，即考試前把自己的焦慮寫出來，能有效減緩焦慮的程度，學生在考試中表現(xiàn)得會更好。所以B項正確。

4.4】B　主旨大意題。本文主要介紹應對學生考試焦慮的一種方法，即考試前把自己的焦慮寫出來，能有效減緩焦慮的程度，學生在考試中表現(xiàn)得會更好。所以B項正確。