17.Feeling good about our actions-not guilt or pity-motivates giving,according to the latest research.
(51)Bseeing or hearing about suffering children makes most people uncomfortable,that grief is not what drives them to dig into their pockets and donate.The reasons people decide to be selfless,it turns out,may be slightly more (52)D.
In the study,published in the Journal of Neuroscience,researchers found that people are more likely to give when they think it will make them feel better.They donate,(53)A,when they feel hope about putting smiles on those expectant and suffering faces.And that hope,or similar feel-good sensations,are driven by the brain's reward systems.
Researchers-and charities-have long known that putting a(n) (54)C face on an abstract problem opens hearts and wallets.Josef Stalin once said that while one death is a(n) (55)D,a million is merely a number.Studies have since found that quantifying the size of a disaster or particular need actually (56)C giving,while presenting a single story is more likely to cause a desire to help.
But it wasn't clear whether this"identifiable victim"effect resulted from people's (57)Bover their own privilege and resources-or from a sense of connection with the (58)C and an urge to feel good about making a difference.
To find out,researchers led by Alexander Genevsky,a graduate student in psychology at Stanford,imaged the brains of 22young adults.In the scanner,they saw either a silhouette (剪影) or a head shot of a young African child.As in previous studies,participants were far more likely to give if they saw a face than a blank silhouette-donating almost twice as much in photo trials than in the others.However,this decision was related strongly to their (59)D.If they showed little activity in their nucleus accumbens-a brain region linked to every type of pleasurable experience-they were actually less likely to give.But if there is a sharp (60)Bof activity in this reward area,they felt good and gave more.And the photos of the children were more likely to (61)C this reward center.Activity in the accumbens,in fact,completely (62)C the difference in giving seen between the silhouette-based requests and the photo-based ones.
While the findings point to the feel-good(63)A behind giving,other research will have to address the question of why givers get that positive emotional boost.Do people feel rewarded when they give because they think about the happiness of the recipient-or do they feel good because they see themselves as (64)D and that self-esteem boost (自信心增強(qiáng)) is mood-enhancing?Such information could help charities (65)B their messages to maximize their effectiveness.
51.A.Since | B.Although | C.If | D.As |
52.A.passive | B.earnest | C.impersonal | D.selfish |
53.A.for example | B.on the contrary | C.a(chǎn)s a result | D.on the other hand |
54.A.plain | B.ugly | C.specific | D.frightened |
55.A.a(chǎn)ccident | B.threat | C.solution | D.tragedy |
56.A.ruins | B.stimulates | C.lowers | D.skips |
57.A.a(chǎn)nger | B.guilt | C.regret | D.joy |
58.A.desire | B.mind | C.victim | D.stuff |
59.A.a(chǎn)ctions | B.beliefs | C.images | D.emotions |
60.A.edge | B.rise | C.turn | D.division |
61.A.monitor | B.target | C.a(chǎn)ctivate | D.interrupt |
62.A.resulted from | B.counted on | C.a(chǎn)ccounted for | D.subjected to |
63.A.motivations | B.compliments | C.a(chǎn)mbitions | D.requests |
64.A.executive | B.justified | C.innocent | D.generous |
65.A.conceal | B.tailor | C.obtain | D.delete |