Question

A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.
The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.
Survey respondents (受訪者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.
The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.
“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.
“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (預(yù)防措施),” the authors wrote.
Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.
However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.
【小題1】According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

A．Optimistic adults.	B．Middle-aged adults.
C．Adults in poor health.	D．Adults of lower income.

【小題2】Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.

A．to fully enjoy their present life

B．to estimate their contribution accurately

C．to take measures against potential risks

D．to value health more highly than wealth

【小題3】How do people of higher income see their future?

A．They will earn less money.

B．They will become pessimistic.

C．They will suffer mental illness.

D．They will have less time to enjoy life.

【小題4】 What is the clear conclusion of the study?

A．Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.

B．Good financial condition leads to good health.

C．Medical treatment determines health outcomes.

D．Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.

Answer 1

【小題1】B
【小題2】D
【小題3】A
【小題4】C

解析文章大意：議論文。通過(guò)調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)：隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)，對(duì)生活的期望也就下降。
【小題1】根據(jù)文章中第二段第一句后半部分：while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. 可知。
【小題2】根據(jù)文章第七段：Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions。可直接得出。關(guān)鍵詞：taking improved precautions。
【小題3】根據(jù)文章第八段：respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.享有良好的健康和收入的人對(duì)他們的生活的預(yù)期大大的下降。
【小題4】根據(jù)文章的意思。特別是文章最后一段：We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，從早期到成年后期，個(gè)人適應(yīng)其預(yù)期的未來(lái)生活滿意度從樂(lè)觀，準(zhǔn)確的說(shuō)，到悲觀�？芍�，隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)，對(duì)生活的期望也就下降。