(1) College students are more stressed out than ever before—at least according to the latest findings of a large, national survey that has been conducted annually for the last 25 years. The survey includes more than 200,000 students attending nearly 300 colleges and asks them to rate how their own mental health stacks up with their classmates'—for example, is it "above average" or in the "highest 10％"?
(2) This somewhat unusual methodology typically results in the statistical Lake Woebegon effect in which most people tend to overestimate themselves in relation to others (it refers to the fictional Lake Woebegon, where "all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the children are above average"). But the most recent results indicate that fewer and fewer freshmen feel like they are in top form in terms of coping with stress.
(3) A quarter century ago, nearly 70％ of freshmen put themselves in the top 10％ of mentally stable people in their class; today only 52％ rate themselves that highly, down 3 points since last year. Students' self-esteem, however, is still strong: a full 71％ of freshmen put themselves in the top 10％ in terms of academic abilities. It's hard to know what these numbers actually mean: obviously, it's not mathematically possible for 52％ or 71％ of people to be in the top 10％ of anything. And, as I explored earlier, people's attempts to compare themselves with others are skewed (倾斜) in various ways. Nevertheless, the finding is in line with previous research, which found that almost half of all college students who seek counseling now have a major mental illness. That's more than double the rate seen 10 years ago.
(4) So what's going on? Obviously, the economy and high unemployment rate make for a scary time to be in college, potentially facing terrifying levels of debt—that alone could account for the increase in stress.
(5) Secondly, a much more rigorous large study recently found that empathy among college students had declined 40％ since 2000—and since caring relationships are essential to mental and physical health, a decline in empathy could also produce a decline in mental health and coping.
(6) My final point brings us back to my earlier post on a Stanford study that looked at the psychological effects of comparing ourselves to others. It found that the way people tend to conceal their negative emotions while broadcasting their happy ones makes the rest of us feel somehow "less than"—as though all our friends and neighbors have better lives than we do. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter seem to have made these comparisons even more harmful by providing the perfect venue through which people can continually present a perfect version of themselves.
(7) This phenomenon, too, might tie into why the new survey, "The American Freshman: National Norms," found that students are feeling less confident about their level of emotional and mental stability. If all the students around you are desperately trying to put on a happy face—and you perceive that face as a true reflection of their inner selves, even as you work to hide your own sadness—well, it's not surprising that so many students might be getting a bit stressed out.
(8) Instead, if students were encouraged to feel safe expressing their honest emotions, even about their fears and failures, everyone might feel more connected, happier—and, yes, healthier.
What is true about the result of the survey?
第2段第1句提到本次调查使用的方法可能会产生沃博艮湖效应，而下一句开头的But表明在本次调查中没有出现预料中的情况，也就是说，本次调查并没有完全显示出这个效应，因此，本题应选A。研究人员早就知道使用这种方法很可能会产生沃博艮湖效应，因此，选项B说“(他们) 没想过会产生沃博艮湖效应’’是不正确的；第2段第1句提到“沃博艮湖效应”就是受试者通常对自己给予过高的评价。既然第2句提到该调查并没有出现典型的“沃博艮湖效应”。那就是说受试者并没有“高估”自己，因此，选项C不正确；他们没有高估自己，但不能因此就得出“低估自己”这一相反的结论。选项D也不正确。
It was also found in previous research that________.
第3段最后一句开头的That指的是上一句提到的最近患上心理疾病的学生的数目，结合两句可知现在患上心理疾病的学生数目是10年前的两倍多，而根据该段倒数第2句中的in line with可知新旧研究的结论相同，新的研究发现越来越多的学生表明自己的心理不稳定，因此，本题应选C。关键在于对原文第3段倒数第2句的理解：who seek counseling是修饰students的定语从句。即“在寻求心里咨询的学生中”，故该句的意思为：在寻求心理咨询的学生中，几乎有一半的学生现在……。那么，选项A“几乎一半的学生都寻求心理咨询”和选项B“几乎一半的学生都有心理疾病”都不正确；文章没有对比学生的self-esteem。选项D的对比关系无从说起。
According to the author, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter enable people to________.
第6段第2句提到“人们往往会隐藏自己的消极情绪，而向人展示自己幸福的一面”，从最后一句的内容可知，在Facebook和Twitter这些社交网站上，人们只展现“自己完美的一面”，再结合第2句提到的内容可以推断，这些网站让使用者可以很好地隐藏自己的消极情绪，因此，本题应选B。本题比较具有干扰性的是选项C和选项D。要注意的是，原文只提到人们想将自己幸福的一面展示出来，但他们在心底里未必就都觉得。比别人优越”，事实也表明只想将自己幸福一面展现出来的人往往是没有优越感的、自卑的人。选项C不正确；根据原文，上社交网站的人是为了把自己的“幸福”生活告诉别人，原文没有提到这些人想“分享”别人的幸福生活，要注意shale one’s life with others(与别人分享自己的生活) 和share others’ lives(分享别人的生活) 是有区别的。
The author points out that, while the students are trying to hide their own sadness, they tend to believe that other students________.
第7段第2句中的you perceive that face as a true reflection of their inner selves表明人们通常愿意相信别人脸上幸福的表情就是他们内心真实的写照，也就是说，人们相信别人是幸福的。选项B就是这个意思，故为本题答案。本题最具干扰性的是选项C“很少展示自己的消极情绪”。如果人们相信别人“很少展示自己的消极情绪”，这就意味他们相信别人也有许多“消极情绪”，只是他们很少将“消极情绪”展示出来，但第7段表明人们相信别人都是幸福的，即不带什么消极情绪的，可见，选项C其实是与原文内容相反的。或者说，选项C错在reveal一词上，如果将该选项改为(other students) seldom have negative feelings，就能与原文内容相符了。