学位英语

Optimists Really Do Live Longer, Say Scientists

1. For the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer optimism was fundamentally wrong, banal and corrupting, while the father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Frend simply declared it to be neurotic.

2. Experience shows that looking on the bright side of life does have advantages and recent scientific evidence points to the positive mindset as being beneficial to health. In other words optimists live longer.

3. That was the conclusion reached by experts at the Mayo Clinic in the U. S. State of Minnesota who evaluated answers given by people to a set of questions in the 1960s. Of the 729 candidates, 200 had died and according to scientists, there were a disproportionate number of pessimists among them.

4. Ten points more on the pessimism scale—that was the difference between “slightly pessimistic” and “averagely pessimistic” — were enough to boost a person’s chances of dying by 19 percent, according to the study by prominent psychologist Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania.

5. The study does not say why pessimists die but an older survey taken among children in San Francisco and Los Angeles makes it clear that personal attitude towards the world is a key factor in the longevity equation.

6. The latest evidence to support the theory that optimists tend to cope better with illness of all kinds has been provided by Professor Ralf Schwarzer of Berlin's Free University who questioned 600 heart and lung patients. His conclusion: Optimists recover more swiftly from operations than their pessimistic counterparts; tend to be happier after treatment and return to work more swiftly.

7. There have been suggestions that optimists do not stay healthier but rather turn into optimists later because they enjoy good health. Numerous surveys have taken into account a person's state of health at the outset and the effect remains the same.

8. Studies have shown that optimists do not blind themselves to reality either. They thus interpret it in a positive way. “Sublimating and denying things tend to alter reality but illusions are a way of seeing reality in the best light.” said Californian psychology professor Shelley Taylor.

9. German science journal “Bild der Wissenschaft”, which carries a major article on the topic in its current March issue, commented on “the right attitude” to having a tumor.

10. It seems psychotherapy can go some way towards extending the life span and life quality of a sick person although a complete recovery using psychological technique alone is unlikely.

11. Doctors like, however, to point to the example of U. S. cycling professional Lance Armstrong, who was seriously ill with cancer, but whose unshakable optimism helped him to take the top trophy twice at cycling's premier Tour de France.

12. The magazine also quoted a study by Sheldon Cohens of the Carnegie-Mellon-University in Pittsburgh:420 volunteers were deliberately infected with strains of various common cold viruses. A day later checks were carried out to see who had caught a cold.

13. The results showed that in the case of people who had satisfactory, long-term relations with friends neighbors or colleagues, the virus was less likely to trigger a cold. Of people with three or fewer firm relationships 62 percent became ill compared with only 35 percent of those who had six or more close human links.

词汇：

banal 平庸的，陈腐的 mindset 思想倾向

disproportionate 不成比例的 sublimate 升华，理想化

neurotic 神经过敏的 boot 提高，增加

trigger 激起，引起 prominent 著名的，杰出的

注释：

1.Experience shows that looking on the bright side of life does have advantages and recent scientific evidence points to the positive mindset as being beneficial to health.经验表明，看到生活光明的一面确有好处，最近的科学证据也表明积极的思维方式有益健康。

2.a key factor in the longevity equation：长寿方程式上的一个关键因素。

3.There have been suggestions that optimists do not stay healthier but rather turn into optimists later because they enjoy good health.有意见认为，乐观者并不会变得更健康，而是由于拥有健康他们后来才变成了乐观者。

4.at the outset：当初，起先

5.“Sublimating and denying things tend to alter reality but illusions are a way of seeing reality in the best light.…：美化事物和否定事物都有助于改变现实，而幻觉却是看到现实最光明一面的方法……

6.go some way：有一定帮助。这个词组是仿照“go a long way”的用法，其意为“大有帮助，大有作用”。

练习：

1. Paragraph 2 ______________

2. Paragraph 6 ______________

3. Paragraph 7 ______________

4. Paragraph 8 ______________

A. Quicker recovery from illness

B. A longer life

C. From good health to optimism

D. A positive way of understanding reality

E. Optimism and pessimism

F. Optimists with illusions

5. Some scholars did not believe ______________.

6. How long one can live partly depends on ______________.

7. An optimist does not necessarily try ______________.

8. An experiment showed that optimists were ______________.

A. to avoid unpleasant things in life

B. in looking on the bright side of life

C. less likely to catch cold

D. how one looks on life

E. to be unhappy all the time

F. more likely to get cancer

答案与题解：

1.B本段点出了本文的中心思想：乐观者往往活得更长。

2.A本段说明乐观者病好得快。

3.C本段侧重强调良好的健康状况对保持乐观的作用。

4.D本段肯定了乐观者对待现实的态度，选项F的口吻是否定的，所以应选选项D。

5.B答案的根据在第一段：叔本华和弗洛伊德都不赞成乐观态度。

6.D此选项与全文中心思想吻合。

7.A答案的根据是第八段的第一句话：乐观不等于无视现实;关键是如何看待现实。

8.C答案的根据是文章的结尾部分描述的一项实验。

译文：科学家认为乐观派能长寿

亚瑟·叔本华认为，乐观主义从根本上是错误的、陈腐的、堕落的;而心理分析之父弗洛伊德则认为，乐观纯粹与神经有关。

经验表明，看到生活光明的一面的确有好处。最近的科学证据也表明，积极的思维方式有益健康。换句话说，乐观主义者能长寿。

实际上，这个结论是20世纪60年代美国明尼苏达州梅奥诊所的专家们做出的。他们在分析了人们对于问卷的答案之后得出了这个结论。在调查的729人当中，200人已经去世，而根据科学家的计算，去世的人中相当一部分人属于悲观主义者。

根据宾夕法尼亚大学心理学家Martin Seligman的研究，只要在悲观主义的衡量尺度上增加10个百分点，比如说从”轻微悲观“到”一般悲观”，就足以使人的死亡概率增长19个百分点。

虽然这个研究并没有说明为什么悲观主义者死亡概率高，但早些时候在旧金山和洛杉矶的儿童中进行的一次调查清楚地表明：个人对于世界的态度是长寿方程式上的一个关键因素。

乐观主义者能更好地应付各种各样的疾病这一理论现在有了最近的证据。柏林自由大学的Ralf Schwarzer教授通过调查600名心脏病和肺部患者为该理论提供了新的证据。他的结论是：乐观的患者相对于悲观的患者来说手术后恢复得更快，而且治疗后更倾向于变得心情愉快并能较快地返回工作岗位。

有的意见认为，乐观者并不会变得更健康，相反是由于拥有了健康后他们才变成乐观者。所以很多的调查首先把一个人的健康状况考虑在内，使影响因素保持一致。

研究 同时也表明，乐观者更能勇敢地面对现实，因此也就能以一种积极的方式来解释现实。加利福尼亚心理学教授Shelley Taylor说：“美化事物和否定事物都有助于改变现实，而幻觉却是看到现实最光明一面的方法。

德国科学期刊Bild der Wissenschaft在今年3月份的一期上登载了一篇关于这个话题的文章，认为人们对于肿瘤应该有一个”正确“的态度。

尽管大胆使用心理疗法来达到完全的康复的目的是不可能的，但是它确实在延长一个病人的生命、提高其生活质量方面有一定的帮助。

但是，很多医生都喜欢引用美国职业自行车运动员Lance Armstrong的例子。他身患癌症，而他的乐观态度使他在法国自行车锦标赛上两次夺冠。

这本杂志还引用了匹兹堡内基-梅隆大学Sheldon Cohens的研究：420名志愿者故意感染了各种普通的感冒病毒，第二天通过检测来看谁得了感冒。

结果表明，对于那些和朋友、邻居和同事有着长期友好关系的人来说，病毒很难被诱发从而引起感冒;有3个或3个以下的友好人际关系的人当中，620%的人病倒;而有6个或更多的友好人际关系的人当中只有35%的人病倒。

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