Question

(2013·高考北京卷，D)People who multitask all the time may be the worst at doing two things at once，a new research suggests.The findings，based on performances and self?evaluations by about 275 college students，indicate that many people multitask not out of a desire to increase productivity，but because they are easily distracted (分心) and can’t focus on one activity.And “those people turn out to be the worst at handling different things，”said David Sanbonmatsu，a psychologist at the University of Utah.

Sanbonmatsu and his colleagues gave the students a set of tests and asked them to report how often they multitasked，how good they thought they were at it，and how sensation?seeking (尋求刺激) or impulsive (沖動)they were.They then evaluated the participants’multitasking ability with a tricky mental task that required the students to do simple mathematical calculations while remembering a set of letters.

Not surprisingly，the scientists said，most people thought they were better than average at multitasking，and those who thought they were better at it were more likely to report using a cellphone while driving or viewing multiple kinds of media at once.But those who frequently deal with many things at the same time were found to perform the worst at the actual multitasking test.They also were more likely to admit to sensation?seeking and impulsive behavior，which connects with how easily people get bored and distracted.

“People multitask not because it’s going to lead to greater productivity，but because they’re distractible，and they get sucked into things that are not as important，”Sanbonmatsu said.

Adam Gazzaley，a researcher at the University of California，San Francisco，who was not a member of the research group，said one limitation of the study was that it couldn’t find out whether people who start out less focused tend toward multitasking or whether people’s recognizing and understanding abilities change as a result of multitasking.

The findings do suggest，however，why the sensation?seekers who multitask the most may enjoy risky distracted driving.“People who are multitasking are generally less sensitive to risky situations.”said Paul Atchley，another researcher not in the group.“This may partly explain why people go in for these situations even though they’re dangerous.”

1.The research led by Sanbonmatsu indicates that people who multitask________.

A．seek high productivity constantly

B．prefer handling different things when getting bored

C．are more focused when doing many things at a time

D．have the poorest results in doing various things at the same time

2.When Sanbonmatsu and his colleagues conducted their research，they________.

A．assessed the multitasking ability of the students

B．evaluated the academic achievements of the students

C．analyzed the effects of the participants’tricky mental

tasks

D．measured the changes of the students’understanding ability

3.According to Sanbonmatsu，people multitask because of their________.

A．limited power in calculation

B．interests in doing things differently

C．inability to concentrate on one task

D．impulsive desire to try new things

4.From the last paragraph，we can learn that multitaskers usually________.

A．drive very skillfully

B．go in for difficult tasks

C．fail to react quickly to potential dangers

D．refuse to explain the reasons for their behavior

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.C

【解析】　本文為一篇科普文，介紹了Sanbonmatsu與他的同事們的一項研究結(jié)果：同時做很多事情的人往往會有最糟糕的結(jié)果，這是因為這些人做事情不專心，他們不能對潛在的危險作出迅速的反應(yīng)。

1.

2.2】解析：選A。細節(jié)理解題。文章第二段提到他們讓參與實驗的學(xué)生做這做那，然后他們“evaluated the participants’ multitasking ability with a tricky mental task...”，由此可知，Sanbonmatsu和他的同事們在實驗中評估了學(xué)生們的多任務(wù)處理能力。

3.3】解析：選C。細節(jié)理解題。由文章第四段Sanbonmatsu所說的話“People multitask not because it’s going to lead to greater productivity，but because they’re distractible，and they get sucked into things that are not as important”可知答案。distractible意為“不專心的，分心的”，因此正確答案為C項。

4.4】解析：選C。推理判斷題。文章最后一段提到的研究結(jié)果表明：這些尋求刺激的人(sensation?seekers)往往會“multitask the most”，但是卻有“enjoy risky distracted driving”的結(jié)果，這是因為這些人往往“l(fā)ess sensitive to risky situations”，即：對潛在的危險不能迅速作出反應(yīng)，故C項為正確答案。