单选题
We all have first impression of someone we just met.
But why? Why do we form an opinion about someone without really knowing anything
about him or her—aside perhaps from a few remarks or readily observable
traits? The answer is related to how your brain allows you to
he aware of the world. Your brain is so sensitive in picking up facial traits.
Even very minor difference in how a person's eyes, ears, nose, or mouth are
placed in relation to each other makes you see him or her as different. In fact,
your brain continuously processes incoming sensory information—the sights and
sounds of your world. These incoming signals are compared against a host of
"memories" stored in the brain areas called the cortex (皮质) system to determine
what these new signals "mean". If you see someone you know and
like at school, your brain says "familiar and safe". If you see someone new, it
says, "new and potentially threatening". Then your brain starts to match
features of this stranger with other "known" memories. The more unfamiliar the
characteristics, the more your brain may say, "This is new, I don't like this
person." or else, "I'm intrigued (好奇的)". Or your brain may perceive a new face
but familiar clothes, ethnicity, gestures—like your other friends; so your brain
says. "I like this person". But these preliminary impressions can be dead
wrong. When we stereotype people, we use a less mature form of
thinking (not unlike the immature thinking of a very young child) that makes
simplistic and categorical impressions of others. Rather than learn about the
depth and breadth of people—their history, interest, values, strengths, and true
character—we categorize them as jocks (骗子), peeks(反常的人), or
freaks(怪人). However, if we resist initial stereotypical
impressions, we have a chance to be aware of what a person is truly like. If we
spend time with a person, hear about his or her life, hopes, dreams, and become
aware of the person's character, we use a different, more mature style of
thinking-and the most complex areas of our cortex, which allow us to be
humane.
单选题
Our first impression of someone new is influenced by his or her ______.
A. past experience
B. character
C. facial features
D. hobbies
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 第二段的第二句“Your brain is so sensitive in picking up facial traits.”大脑在接受面部特征时非常敏感。正是这些面部特征使我们对一个陌生人形成第一印象，文中也提到了人们会使用视觉和听觉，而对于A(经验)、B(性格)和D(业余爱好)等则需要经过交流才会获得，所以选C。
单选题
If you meet a stranger with familiar gestures, your brain is most
likely to say ______.
A. "He is familiar and safe."
B. "He is new and potentially threatening."
C. "I like this person."
D. "This is new, I don't like this person."
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 注意题干中的familiar gesture。第三段的中间“your brain may perceive a new face but familiar...gestures”，看到一张陌生的脸，但却有着你熟悉的手势，你的大脑会发出“我喜欢他/她”的信号，所以选C。
单选题
The word "preliminary" in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.
单选题
Our thinking is not mature enough when we stereotype people because
______.
A. we neglect their depth and breadth
B. they are not all jocks, peeks, or freaks
C. our thinking is similar to that of a very young child
D. our judgment is always wrong
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 第四段开头提到当我们对人产生刻板印象时，和不成熟的孩子思考方式相类似，对他人形成简单和类型化的第一印象。它只是一个类比，并非不成熟的原因，真正的原因在后面的句子，“Rather than learn about the depth and breadth of people”(我们不会去从深度和广度去思考)，才会把陌生人归类为骗子(jocks)、反常的人(peeks)或者怪人(freaks)，A才是真正的原因。
单选题
Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the
passage?
A. One's physical appearance can influence our first impression.
B. Our first impression is influenced by the sensitivity of our brain.
C. Stereotypical impressions can be dead wrong.
D. We should adopt mature thinking when getting to know people.