专八阅读：喜怒形于色

　　2012英语专业八级阅读理解模拟题(6)

　　Joy and sadness are experienced by people in all cultures around the world, but how can we tell when other people are happy or despondent? It turns out that the expression of many emotions may be universal. Smiling is apparently a universal sign of friendliness and approval. Baring the teeth in a hostile way, asnoted by Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century, may be a universe sign of anger. As the originator of the theory of evolution, Darwin believed that the universal recognition of facial expressions would have survival value. For example, facial expressions could signal the approach of enemies (or friends) in the absence of language.

　　Most investigators concur that certain facial expressions suggest the same emotions in a people. Moreover, people in diverse cultures recognize the emotions manifested by the facial expressions. In classic research Paul Ekman took photographs of people exhibiting the emotions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness. He then asked people around the world to indicate what emotions were being depicted in them. Those queried ranged from European college students to members of the Fore, a tribe that dwells in the New Guinea highlands. All groups including the Fore, who had almost no contact with Western culture, agreed on the portrayed emotions. The Fore also displayed familiar facial expressions when asked how they would respond if they were the characters in stories that called for basic emotional responses. Ekman and his colleagues morerecently obtained similar results in a study of ten cultures in which participants were permitted to report that multiple emotions were shown by facial expressions. The participants generally agreed on which two emotions were being shown and which emotion was more intense.

　　Psychological researchers generally recognize that facial expressions reflect emotional states. Infact, various emotional states give rise to certain patterns of electrical activity in the facial muscles and in the brain. The facial-feedback hypothesis argues, however, that the causal relationship between emotions and facial expressions can also work in the opposite direction. According to this hypothesis, signals from the facial muscles (feedback) are sent back to emotion centers of the brain, and so a persons facial expression can influence that persons emotional state.

　　ConsiderDarwins words: The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it. On the otherhand, the repression, as far as possible, of all outward signs softens our emotions. Can smiling giverise to feelings of good will, for example, and frowning to anger?

　　Psychological research has given rise to some interesting findings concerning the facial-feedback hypothesis. Causing participants in experiments to smile, for example, leads them to report morepositive feelings and to rate cartoons (humorous drawings of people or situations) as being morehumorous. When they are caused to frown, they rate cartoons as being more aggressive.

　　What are the possible links between facial expressions and emotion? One link is arousal, which is the level of activity or preparedness for activity in an organism. Intense contraction of facial muscles,such as those used in signifying fear, heightens arousal. Self-perception of heightened arousal then leads to heightened emotional activity. Other links may involve changes in brain temperature and the release of neurotransmitters (substances that transmit nerve impulses.) The contraction of facial muscles both influences the internal emotional state and reflects it. Ekman has found that theso-called Duchenne smile, which is characterized by crows feet wrinkles around the eyes and asubtle drop in the eye cover fold so that the skin above the eye moves down slightly toward theeyeball, can lead to pleasant feelings.

　　Ekmans observation may be relevant to the British expression keep a stiff upper lip as are commendation for handling stress. It might be that a stiff lip suppresses emotional response-as long as the lip is not quivering with fear or tension. But when the emotion that leads to stiffening the lip is more intense, and involves strong muscle tension, facial feedback may heighten emotional response.

　　1. The word despondent in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　A curious

　　B unhappy

　　C thoughtful

　　D uncertain

　　2. The author mentions Baring the teeth in a hostile way in order to

　　A differentiate one possible meaning of a particular facial expression from other meanings of it

　　B upport Darwins theory of evolution

　　C provide an example of a facial expression whose meaning is widely understood

　　D contrast a facial expression that is easily understood with other facial expressions

　　3. The word concur in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　A estimate

　　B agree

　　C expect

　　D understand

　　4. According to paragraph 2, which of the following was true of the Fore people of

　　New Guinea?

　　A They did not want to be shown photographs.

　　B They were famous for their story-telling skills.

　　C They knew very little about Western　culture.

　　D They did not encourage the expression of　emotions.

　　5. According to the passage, what did Darwin believe would happen to human emotions that werenot expressed?

　　A They would become less intense.

　　B They would last longer than usual.

　　C They would cause problems later.

　　D They would become more negative.

　　参考答案：

　　B C B C A