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（抚慰的）effect is most likely due to the release of the hormone（荷尔蒙）, oxytocin（催生素）, in the brain, the researchers say. This “love 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 “love 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】

试题分析：

1.D 细节题。根据第二段1,2行The soothing（抚慰的）effect is most likely due to the release of the hormone（荷尔蒙）, oxytocin（催生素）, in the brain, the researchers say.说明原因是在于一种荷尔蒙的分泌，故D正确。

2.C 推理题。根据本句This “love hormone” is known to quell stress and is likely to be involved in social connections说明这种荷尔蒙能分解压力，也有可能与人与人之间的联系有关，故C正确。

3.A 推理题。根据文章第四段2,3行sending their hearts racing and levels of cortisol—a hormone associated with stress—soaring.和第六段内容For the girls who interacted in person or over the phone with their mothers, the levels of the “love hormone” rose significantly, and the stress-marking hormone was washed away. This effect didn’t show up for participants who watched the video.说明cortisol 的水平决定了人的压力情况，故A正确。

4.B 细节题。根据文章最后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.说明这样的研究将在动物生身上进行，故结果还不清楚，故B正确。

考点：考查科普类短文阅读

点评：文章介绍了妈妈的声音能让孩子镇定，分析了原因，原来是大脑中催生素的释放。本文要求考生有较好的耐心，因为文章中有部分生词可能会影响阅读，要求考生有较好的上下文猜测词义的能力。