单选题 It's seven weeks into the new year. Do you know where your resolution is? If you're like millions of Americans, you probably vowed to lose weight, quit smoking and drink less in the new year. You kicked off January with a commitment to long-term well-being--until you came face-to-face with a cheeseburger. You spent a bundle on a shiny new gym pass. Turns out, it wasn't reason enough for you to actually use the gym.
People can make poor decisions when it comes to health--despite their best intentions. It's not easy abiding by wholesome choices (giving up French fries) when the consequences of not doing so (heart disease) seem so far in the future. Most people are bad at judging their health risks: smokers generally know cigarettes cause cancer, but they also tend to believe they're less likely than other smokers to get it. And as any snack-loving dieter can attest, people can be comically inept at predicting their future .behavior. You swear you will eat just one potato chip but don't stop until the bag is empty.
So, what does it take to motivate people to stick to the path set by their conscious brain? How can good choices be made to seem more appealing than bad ones? The problem stumps doctors, public-health officials and weight-loss experts, but one solution may spring from an unlikely source. Meet your new personal trainer: your boss.
American businesses have a particular interest in personal health, since worker illness costs them billions each year in insurance claims, sick days and high staff turnover. A 2008 survey of major US employers found that 64% consider their employees' poor health decisions a serious barrier to affordable insurance coverage. Now some companies are tackling the motivation problem head on, using tactics drawn from behavioral psychology to nudge their employees to get healthy.
"It's a bit paradoxical that employers need to provide incentives for people to improve their own health," says Michael Follick, a behavioral psychologist at Brown University and president of the consultancy Abacus Employer Health Solutions.
Paradoxical, maybe, but effective. Consider Amica Mutual Insurance, based in Rhode Island. Arnica seemed to be doing everything right: it boasts an on-site fitness center at its headquarters. It pays toward Weight Watchers and smoking-cessation help, gives gift cards to reward proper prenatal care and offers free flu shots each year. Still, in the mid-2000s, about 7% of the company's insured population, including roughly 3 100 employees and their dependents, had diabetes. "We manage risk. That's our core business," says Scott Boyd, Amica's director of compensation and benefits. But diabetes-related claims from Arnica employees had doubled in four years. "We thought, OK," Boyd says now, "we have to manage these high-risk groups a little better. /

单选题 In the first paragraph, we can infer that the Americans ______.
[A] vow to diet in the new year [B] fear to lose weight
[C] have poor decision in keeping healthy diet [D] succeed in losing weight

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解题思路] 文章第一段第三句提出一个假设“如果你像美国人一样，你会发誓减肥”而引出主题，然后指明你会“恪守长期幸福健康的承诺——直到你见到了奶酪汉堡包”，即抵制不了奶酪汉堡包的诱惑而抛弃之前的誓言，所以[C]正确。[A]是文章中直接指出的信息，不是推断出的信息，所以排除。文章中提到“你会发誓减肥”，既然如此，就不会害怕减肥，所以[B]不符合文意。既然意志不够坚定，很难想象会减肥成功，所以排除[D]。

单选题 Why can people make poor decision when it comes to health?
[A] Because they have no intention of being healthy.
[B] Because they are bad at judging their health risks.
[C] Because it is not easy abiding by impractical commitments.
[D] Because they can not resist the temptation of delicious food.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解题思路] 本题考查的是在健康问题上人们意志不坚定的原因。第二段的首句为中心句，下面几句都是对中心句的解释说明。第三句提到“大多数人不善于判断他们的健康风险”，并且用吸烟者和爱吃零食的人为例证明这一观点，所以正确答案为[B]。该段第一句的后半部分提到“尽管有着最好的意愿”，也就是说人们都想健康，所以[A]排除。文中并没有说人们的承诺不现实，所以排除[C]本段倒数第二句提到爱吃零食的人很容易意志不坚定，由此推断爱吃零食的人会抵制不住美食的诱惑，但这个不是大部分人意志不坚定的原因，所以排除[D]。

单选题 Who play an important role in motivating people to stick to health?
[A] Doctors. [B] Public-health officials.
[C] Weight-loss experts. [D] Bosses.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解题思路] 本题考查在激励人们保持健康的方面谁起着重要作用。文章第三段末句明确提到“见一下你的新私人教练：你的老板”。而且最后一段也提到互助保险公司的老板为员工在减肥中心和辅助戒烟上缴费，每年提供免费的流感疫苗等做法，所以正确答案为[D]。第三段提到，在激励人们坚持沿着有意识设立的道路前进和坚持好的选择方面，医生、公共健康官员和减肥专家都犯了难，所以医生、公共健康官员和减肥专家都没有起到重要作用，故[A]、[B]和[C]都排除。

单选题 Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
[A] If you want to keep healthy, you have to meet your personal trainer.
[B] The diabetes-related claims from Arnica employees have been increased.
[C] The American business doesn't do anything concerned with personal health.
[D] Abiding by healthy choices is facile.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解题思路] 在文章末段倒数第二句提到diabetes-related claims from Amica employees had doubled in four years(阿米卡公司的员工对与糖尿病有关的索赔在四年内翻了一番)，所以[B]正确。[A]是针对文章第三段末句Meet your new personal trainer(见一下你的新私人教练)设置的干扰项。文章第四段明确提出美国企业所做的贡献，因此[C]不符合原文。文章第二段People can make poor decisions when it comes to health-despite their best intentions(尽管有着最好的意愿，但是他们很难下定决心)，因此[D]不正确。