时间:2019-01-11 作者:英语课 分类:2011年VOA慢速英语(一)月


英语课

Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock, a psychology 1 professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers.


SIAN BEILOCK: "They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources. I talk about it as your cognitive 2 horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam."


Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.


SIAN BEILOCK: "What we think happens is when students put it down on paper, they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it's not as bad as they might think it was before and, in essence 3, it prevents these thoughts from popping up -- from ruminating 4 -- when they're actually taking a test."


The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.


The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.


Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.


Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.


Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.


SIAN BEILOCK: "What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who'd done our writing intervention 5, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most prone 6 to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don't normally get nervous in these testing situations."


But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.


The researchers wrote about their findings in the journal Science.


And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. Tell us if this writing intervention works for you. Or tell us how you deal with anxiety before a big event. Share your comments at voaspecialenglish.com or on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. You can also find us on YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.



n.心理,心理学,心理状态
  • She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
  • He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。
adj.认知的,认识的,有感知的
  • As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大,他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
  • The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。
n.本质,实质,精华,精粹
  • We must try to get to the essence of things.我们必须想法抓住事物的本质。
  • The two things are the same in outward form but different in essence.这两件东西外表形式一样,但实质不同。
v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 );反复考虑;反刍;倒嚼
  • He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth. 他坐在那儿沉思,轻轻地抚弄着桌布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He is ruminating on what had happened the day before. 他在沉思前一天发生的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.介入,干涉,干预
  • The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
  • Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。
adj.(to)易于…的,很可能…的;俯卧的
  • Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
  • He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。
学英语单词
academic editing
advertising expert
alfoil
alomars
antigastrin
apparent superluminal velocity
aspidium oleoresin
balance disc
bang up job
bartholian cyst
benign lipoblastoma
bezique
Bis-2-Ethyl-Hexyl-Phthalate
blanket washing machine
bunker fuel
ceilometry
centering fixture
combination variance
convergence spasm
corium erinacei
cotectic
cross removal
currency flows
Cyberdog
Dicrocoeliidae
differential-piston
direct-cut operation
dolichaster
electroanalgesia
ferricinum ion
finite observation time
flec
fluctuations in exchange
frequency booster
frequency coding
genus Argyrotaenia
geographical general name
glass faceplate
grading panel
grow up like mushrooms
herbaceous cover
hexyl group
high-temperature plasma physics
highly charged particle
horse gentians
household and population effect on aggregate consumption
hub in network
hypocrea lenta
indicator diagram, indicator card
initializing declaration
irritating gas
Kylestrome
lightwaters
low-head screen
lying around
mercury-contact switch
Meriones unguiculatus
metal-oxide-semiconductor array
metapyamine
monk's shoe
nominal rate.
non-purging type bulimia nervosa
non-volitional
nulla bona
panfrying
Paradombeya
Potier's electromotive force
probate division
proper journal
Ramus lateralis
receptor-effector system
requested dosage form
self renewal
shaving
shienarans
simple aerial cableway
sincock
sludge boat
soil sample
spastic spinal paralyses
Spurway syndrome
suite by chance
Sumarokovo
syntax error message
testicular sarcoma
the half poussette
thrust upon
transition of shots
tuclase
tutorship
two-section
unfothered
unlevel luffing
uranographia
velocity antiresonance
village forest
waiter's assistant
Wallis Warfield Windsor
well connected
without saying a word
zildes
zinc gahnite