单选题 The desire for achievements is one of life's great mysteries. Social scientists have devoted lifetimes to studying the drives that spur us out of bed in the morning, compel us to work or study hard and spark all manner of human endeavor. Indeed, a 1992 textbook actually documents 32 distinct theories of human motivation.
Given this diversity of thought, it's easy to forget that for a half century, American society has been dominated by the psychological school known as behaviorism, or Skinnerian psychology. Although behaviorism and its fundamental principle of "positive reinforcement" have long since lost their way in academic circles, the Skinnerian legacy remains powerful in every realm of trash out. Do it, and you can go to the movies Friday night. Not in the mood for work? Keep plugging away, and you might get a bonus. Not interest in calculus? Strive for an A in the class, and you will make the honor roll. The theory may be bankrupt, but incentives and rewards are so much a part of American culture that it's hard to imagine life without them.
Yet that's exactly what a growing group of researchers are advocating today. A steady stream of research has found that rather than encouraging and diminishing performance, "our society is caught in a whopping paradox," asserts Alfie Kohn, author of the new book published by Rewards (Houghton Mifflin), which surveys recent research on the effectiveness of rewards. "We complain loudly about declining productivity, the crisis of our school and the distorted values of our children. But the very strategy we use to solve those problems--damaging rewards like incentive plans and grade and candy bars in front of people--is partly responsible for the fix we're in."
It's a tough argument to make in a culture that celebrates the spoils of success. Yet study after study shows that people tend to perform worse, to give up more easily and to lose interest more quickly when a reward is involved. Children who are given treats for doing artwork, for example, lose their initial love of art within weeks. Teenagers who are promised a reward for tutoring youngsters don't teach as enthusiastically as tutors offered nothing. And chief executive officers who have been awarded long term incentive plans have often steered their companies toward lower returns.

单选题 According to behaviorism, we can promote human actions by means of______.
A. rewards and incentives
B. human motivation
C. enthusiasm
D. success

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干关键词behaviorism，promote human actions，means定位到原文第二段第二句：Although behaviorism and its fundamental principle of“positive reinforcement”have long since lost their way in academic circles，the Skinnerian legacy remains powerful in every realm of trash out．可知，行为主义的基本原理是“正面强化”，即通过奖励和激励来加强某种行为，在行为主义者看来，只有通过奖励和刺激才可以提升人们的行为，所以A) 项正确。
[避错点拨] B)项“人类动机”，C)项“激情”，D)项“成功”都不是行为主义所侧重的提升人类行为的方式。

单选题 Skinnerian psychology advocates______.
A. performance
B. stimulus and rewards
C. human factors
D. effectiveness

单选题 From the passage, it can be inferred that______.
A. rewards are quite effective in America
B. rewards can promote productivity in America
C. Americans attach great importance to rewards
D. rewards are not so popular in American society

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干关键词rewards，Amcrica定位到原文第二段末句：The theory may be bankrupt，but incentives and rewards are so much a part of mmerican culture that it's hard to imagine life without them．可知，奖励和刺激体制在美国文化中占有重要地位，很难想象没有这种机制生活会是什么样子，即美国人认为奖励很重要。故C)项正确。
[避错点拨] A)项和B)项与原文意思相反，文中提到奖励并未像预想的那样有效，人们反而抱怨由于奖励机制的使用而导致生产力下降、学校存在危机和孩子价值观扭曲等问题；D)项与原文不符，根据第二段可知奖励机制在美国仍占有很重要的地位。

单选题 The author mentions children's behavior in the last paragraph to______.
A. improve the effectiveness of rewards
B. explain what is behaviorism
C. show rewards may not achieve the expected purpose
D. provide evidence to rewarding system

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干关键词children's behavior，the last paragraph定位到原文最后一段。作者在最后一段列举了几个例子来说明运用奖励的结果往往不如没有使用任何奖励机制好，其目的是说明奖励机制并没有达到预期的效果，故C)项正确。
[避错点拨] A)项“为了证明奖励机制的有效性”，B)项“为了解释什么是行为主义”，D)项“为了给奖励机制提供证据”均不符合原文。