雅思閱讀實(shí)戰(zhàn)訓(xùn)練(一)

Publishedonline:Nov9th2006

FromTheEconomistprintedition

Howshopscanexploitpeople,sherdmentalitytoincreasesales

1.ATRIPtothesupermarketmaynotseemlikeanexerciseinpsychological

warfare-butitis.Shopkeepersknowthatfillingastorewiththearomaoffreshly

bakedbreadmakespeoplefeelhungryandpersuadesthemtobuymorefoodthanthey

hadintended.Stockingthemostexpensiveproductsateyelevelmakesthemsell

fasterthancheaperbutlessvisiblecompetitors.Nowresearchersareinvestigating

how“swarmintelligence”(thatis,howants,beesoranysocialanimal,including

humans,behaveinacrowd)canbeusedtoinfluencewhatpeoplebuy.

2.AtarecentconferenceonthesimulationofadaptivebehaviourinRome,

Zeeshan-ul-hassanUsmani,acomputerscientistfromtheFloridaInstituteof

Technology,describedanewwaytoincreaseimpulsebuyingusingthisphenomenon.

Supermarketsalreadyencourageshopperstobuythingstheydidnotrealisethey

wanted:forinstance,byplacingeverydayitemssuchasmilkandeggsattheback

ofthestore,forcingshopperstowalkpastothertemptinggoodstoreachthem.

MrUsmaniandRonaldoMenezes,alsooftheFloridaInstituteofTechnology,set

outtoenhancethistendencytobuymorebyplayingontheherdinstinct.Theidea

isthat,ifacertainproductisseentobepopular,shoppersarelikelytochoose

ittoo.Thechallengeistokeepcustomersinformedaboutwhatothersarebuying.

3.Entersmart-carttechnology.InMrUsmani'ssupermarketeveryproducthas

aradiofrequencyidentificationtag,asortofbarcodethatusesradiowavesto

transmitinformation,andeverytrolleyhasascannerthatreadsthisinformation

andrelaysittoacentralcomputer.Asacustomerwalkspastashelfofgoods,

ascreenontheshelftellshimhowmanypeoplecurrentlyintheshophavechosen

thatparticularproduct.Ifthenumberishigh,heismorelikelytoselectittoo.

4.MrUsmans“swarm-moves”modelappealstosupermarketsbecauseit

increasessaleswithouttheneedtogivepeoplediscounts.Anditgivesshoppers

thesatisfactionofknowingthattheyboughtthe“right”product一thatis,the

oneeveryoneelsebought.Themodelhasnotyetbeentestedwidelyintherealworld,

mainlybecauseradiofrequencyidentificationtechnologyisnewandhasonlybeen

installedexperimentallyinsomesupermarkets.ButMrUsmanisaysthatboth

Wal-MartinAmericaandTescoinBritainareinterestedinhiswork,andtesting

willgetunderwayinthespring.

5.Anotherrecentstudyonthepowerofsocialinfluenceindicatesthatsales

could,indeed,beboostedinthisway.MatthewSalganikofColumbiaUniversityin

NewYorkandhiscolleagueshavedescribedcreatinganartificialmusicmarketin

whichsome14,000peopledownloadedpreviouslyunknownsongs.Theresearchersfound

thatwhenpeoplecouldseethesongsrankedbyhowmanytimestheyhadbeen

downloaded,theyfollowedthecrowd.Whenthesongswerenotorderedbyrank,but

thenumberoftimestheyhadbeendownloadedwasdisplayed,theeffectofsocial

influencewasstilltherebutwaslesspronounced.Peoplethusfollowtheherdwhen

itiseasyforthemtodoso.

6.InJapanachainofconvenienceshopscalledRanKingRanQueenhasbeen

orderingitsproductsaccordingtosalesdatafromdepartmentstoresandresearch

companies.Theshopssellonlythemostpopularitemsineachproductcategory,

andtherankingsareupdatedweekly.Icosystem,acompanyinCambridge,

Massachusetts,alsoaimstoexploitknowledgeofsocialnetworkingtoimprove

sales.

7.Andthepsychologythatworksinphysicalstoresisjustaspotentonthe

internet.OnlineretailerssuchasAmazonareadeptattellingshopperswhich

productsarepopularwithlike-mindedconsumers.Evenintheprivacyofyourhome,

youcanstillbepartoftheswarm.

(644words)

Questions1-6

Completethesentencesbelowwithwordstakenfromthereadingpassage.UseNOMORE

THANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.

1.Shopownersrealizethatthesmellofcanincreasesalesoffood

products.

2.Inshops,productsshelvedatamorevisiblelevelsellbetterevenifthey

aremore.

3.AccordingtoMr.Usmani,withtheuseof"swarmintelligence^phenomenon,

anewmethodcanbeappliedtoencourage.

4.Onthewaytoeverydayitemsatthebackofthestore,shoppersmightbetempted

tobuy.

5.Ifthenumberofbuyersshownontheishigh,othercustomers

tendtofollowthem.

6.Usingthe“swarm-moves“model,shopownersdonothavetogivecustomers

toincreasesales.

Questions7-12

Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninthereadingpassage?

Forquestions7-12write

YESifthestatementagreeswiththeinformation

NOifthestatementcontraictstheinformation

NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationonthisinthepassage

7.Radiofrequencyidentificationtechnologyhasbeeninstalledexperimentally

inbigsupermarketslikeWal-Mart.

8.Peopletendtodownloadmoreunknownsongsthansongstheyarefamiliarwith.

9.Songsrankedhighbythenumberoftimesbeingdownloadedarefavoredby

customers.

10.Peoplefollowtheotherstothesameextentwhetheritisconvenientornot.

11.ItemssoldinsomeJapanesestoresaresimplychosenaccordingtothesales

dataofothershops.

12.Swarmintelligencecanalsobeobservedineverydaylife.

Answerkeys:

1.答案：(freshlybaked)bread.(第1段第2彳?。篠hoppersknowthatfillingastore

withthearomaoffreshlybakedbreadmakespeoplefeelhungryandpersuadesthem

tobuymorefoodthantheyintended.)

2.答案:expensive.(第1段第4彳亍:Stockingthemostexpensiveproductsateye

levelmakesthemsellfasterthancheaperbutlessvisiblecompetitors.)

3.答案:impulsebuying.(第2段第1句:Atarecentconferenceonthesimulation

ofadaptivebehaviourinRome,Zeeshan-ul-hassanUsmani,acomputerscientistfrom

theFloridaInstituteofTechnology,describedanewwaytoincreaseimpulsebuying

usingthisphenomenon.)

4.答案：other(tempting)goods/things/products.(第2段第2句：Supermarkets

alreadyencourageshopperstobuythingstheydidnotrealisetheywanted:for

instance,byplacingeverydayitemssuchasmilkandeggsatthebackofthestore,

forcingshopperstowalkpastothertemptinggoodstoreachthem.)

5.答案:screen.(第3段第4彳亍:Asacustomerwalkspastashelfofgoods,ascreen

ontheshelftellshimhowmanypeoplecurrentlyintheshophavechosenthat

particularproduct.Ifthenumberishigh,heismorelikelytoselectittoo.)

6.答案：discounts.(第4段第第1句：MrUsmaniJs"swarm-moves”modelappeals

tosupermarketsbecauseitincreasessaleswithouttheneedtogivepeople

discounts.)

7.答案：NO.(第4段第3、4句：Themodelhasnotyetbeentestedwidelyinthe

realworld,mainlybecauseradiofrequencyidentificationtechnologyisnewand

hasonlybeeninstalledexperimentallyinsomesupermarkets.ButMrUsmanisays

thatbothWal-MartinAmericaanTescoinBritainareinterestdinhisworkd,and

testingwillgetunderwayinthespring,短語"getunderway”的意思是“開始

進(jìn)行”，在Wal-Mart的試驗(yàn)要等到春天才開始)

8.答案：NOTGIVEN.(在文中沒有提及該信息)

9.答案：YESo(第5段第3句：Thereseachersfoundthatwhenpeoplecouldsee

thesongsrankedbyhowmanytimestheyhavebeendownloaded,theyfollowedthe

crowd.)

10.答案：NOo(第5段最后兩句：Whenthesongsarenotorderedbyrank,butthe

numberoftimestheyhadbeendownloadedwasdisplayed,theeffectofsocial

influencewasstilltherebutwaslesspronounced.Peoplethusfollowtheherdwhen

itiseasyforthemtodoso.pronounced的詞義是“顯著的、明顯的”)

11.答案：YESo(第6段第1句：InJapanachainofconvenienceshopscalledRanKing

RanQueenhasbeenorderingitsproductsaccordingtosalesdatafromdepartment

storesandresearchcompanies.)

12.答案：YESo(最后一段最后一句：Evenintheprivacyofyourhome,youcanstill

bepartoftheswarm,home應(yīng)該算是everydaylife的一(部分)

雅思閱讀實(shí)戰(zhàn)訓(xùn)練（二）

★Roguetheoryofsmellgetsaboost

Publishedonline:6December2006

Roguetheoryofsmellgetsaboost

1.Acontroversialtheoryofhowwesmell,whichclaimsthatourfinesenseof

odourdependsonquantummechanics,hasbeengiventhethumbsupbyateamof

physicists.

2.CalculationsbyresearchersatUniversityCollegeLondon(UCL)showthatthe

ideathatwesmellodourmoleculesbysensingtheirmolecularvibrationsmakessense

intermsofthephysicsinvolved.

3.That'sstillsomewayfromprovingthatthetheory,proposedinthemid-1990s

bybiophysicistLucaTurin,iscorrect.Butitshouldmakeotherscientiststake

theideamoreseriously.

4.“Thisisabigstepforward,z，saysTurin,whohasnowsetuphisownperfume

companyFlexitralinVirginia.Hesaysthatsincehepublishedhistheory,〃ithas

beenignoredratherthancriticized.

5.Mostscientistshaveassumedthatoursenseofsmelldependsonreceptors

inthenosedetectingtheshapeofincomingmolecules,whichtriggersasignalto

thebrain.Thismolecular'lockandkey'processisthoughttoliebehindawide

rangeofthebody'sdetectionsystems:itishowsomepartsoftheimmunesystem

recogniseinvaders,forexample,andhowthetonguerecognizessometastes.

6.ButTurinarguedthatsmelldoesn，tseemtofitthispictureverywell.

Moleculesthatlookalmostidenticalcansmellverydifferent-suchasalcohols,

whichsmelllikespirits,andthiols,whichsmelllikerotteneggs.Andmolecules

withverydifferentstructurescansmellsimilar.Moststrikingly,somemolecules

cansmelldifferent一toanimals,ifnotnecessarilytohumans一simplybecause

theycontaindifferentisotopes(atomsthatarechemicallyidenticalbuthavea

differentmass).

7.Turin，sexplanationforthesesmellyfactsinvokestheideathatthesmell

signalinolfactoryreceptorproteinsistriggerednotbyanodourmolecule，sshape,

butbyitsvibrations,whichcanenourageanelectrontojumpbetweentwoparts

ofthereceptorinaquantum-mechanicalprocesscalledtunnelling.Thiselectron

movementcouldinitiatethesmellsignalbeingsenttothebrain.

8.Thiswouldexplainwhyisotopescansmelldifferent:theirvibration

frequenciesarechangediftheatomsareheavier.Turin，smechanism,saysMarshall

StonehamoftheUCLteam,ismorelikeswipe-cardidentificationthanakeyfitting

alock.

9.Vibration-assistedelectrontunnellingcanundoubtedlyoccur-itisused

inanexperimentaltechniqueformeasuringmolecularvibrations."Thequestionis

whetherthisispossibleinthenose,〃saysStoneham，scolleague,AndrewHorsfield.

10.StonehamsaysthatwhenhefirstheardaboutTurin，sidea,whileTurinwas

himselfbasedatUCL,〃Ididn'tbelieveit〃.But,headds,“becauseitwasan

interestingidea,IthoughtIshouldproveitcouldn'twork.Ididsomesimple

calculations,andonlythenbegantofeelLucacouldberight.〃NowStonehamand

hisco-workershavedonethejobmorethoroughly,inapapersoontobepublished

inPhysicalReviewLetters.

11.TheUCLteamcalculatedtheratesofelectronhoppinginanosereceptorthat

hasanodorantmoleculeboundtoit.Thisratedependsonvariouspropertiesof

thebiomolecularsystemthatarenotknown,buttheresearcherscouldestimatethese

parametersbasedontypicalvaluesformoleculesofthissort.

12.Thekeyissueiswhetherthehoppingratewiththeodorantinplaceis

significantlygreaterthanthatwithoutit.Thecalculationsshowthatitis一

whichmeansthatodouridentificationinthiswayseemstheoreticallypossible.

13.ButHorsfieldstressesthatthat'sdifferentfromaproofofTurin'sidea.

“Sofarthingslookplausible,butweneedproperexperimentalverification.We*re

beginningtothinkaboutwhatexperimentscouldbeperformed.z，

14.Meanwhile,Turinispressingaheadwithhishypothesis.〃AtFlexitralwehave

beendesigningodorantsexclusivelyonthebasisoftheircomputedvibrations,，z

hesays.〃0ursuccessrateatodorantdiscoveryistwoordersofmagnitudebetter

thanthecompetition.z，Attheveryleast,heisputtinghismoneywherehisnose

is.

(668wordsNature)

Questions1-4

Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninthepassage?Please

write

TRUEifthestatementagreeswiththewriter

FALSEifthestatementdoesnotagreewiththewriter

NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationaboutthisinthepassage

1.TheresultofthestudyatUCLagreeswithTurin'stheory.

2.ThestudyatUCLcouldconclusivelyprovewhatLucaTurinhashypothesized.

3.TurinlefthispostatUCLandstartedhisownbusinessbecausehistheory

wasignored.

4.Themoleculesofalcoholsandthoseofthiolslookalike.

Questions5-9

Completethesentencesbelowwithwordsfromthepassage.UseNOMORETHANTHREE

WORDSforeachanswer.

5.Thehypothesisthatwesmellbysensingthemolecularvibrationwasmadeby

6.Turin'scompanyisbasedin.

7.Mostscientistsbelievedthatournoseworksinthesamewayasour.

8.Differentisotopescansmelldifferentwhenweighdifferently.

9.AccordingtoAudrewHorsfield,itisstilltobeprovedthat______could

reallyoccurinhumannose.

Question10-12

AnswerthequestionsbelowusingNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSfromthepassageforeach

answer.

10.What'sthenameoftheresearcherwhocollaboratedwithStoneham?

11.WhatisthenextstepoftheUCLteam'sstudy?

12.WhatisthetheoreticalbasisindesigningodorantsinTurin,scompany?

AnswerKeysandExplanations

1.T見第一段?！癵ivesththethumbsup”為“接受”的意思。

2.F見第三段?！癟hat'sstillsomewayfromprovingthatthetheory,proposed

inthemid-1990sbybiophysicistLucaTurin,iscorrect."意即“現(xiàn)在尚無法證實(shí)

生物物理學(xué)家Luca在九十年代中期提出的理論是否正確?！?/p>

3.NG

4.T見第六段Moleculesthatlookalmostidenticalcansmellverydifferent

—suchasalcohols,whichsmelllikespirits,andthiols,whichsmelllikerotten

eggs.”“identical”一詞是“完全相同”的意思。這句話是說alcohols和thiols的分

子結(jié)構(gòu)看起來一樣，但是它們的味道卻相去甚遠(yuǎn)。

5.LucaTurin文章第二，三和七段均可看出Luca的理論即人類的鼻子是通過感覺

氣味分子的震動(dòng)來分辨氣味的。

6.Virginia見第四段。

7.tongue見第五段“Thismolecular'lockandkey，processisthoughttolie

behindawiderangeofthebody，sdetectionsystems:itishowsomepartsofthe

immunesystemrecogniseinvaders,forexample,andhowthetonguerecognizessome

tastes.”

8.theatoms見第八段“Thiswouldexplainwhyisotopescansmelldifferent:

theirvibrationfrequenciesarechangediftheatomsareheavier.”

9.vibration-assistedelectrontunneling見第九段"Thequestioniswhether

thisispossibleinthenose,“saysStoneham，scolleague,AndrewHorsfield.”句

中的代詞"this”指句首的“vibration-assistedelectrontunneling”。

10.AndrewHorsfield見第九段結(jié)尾。

11.properexperimentalverification見第十三段。

12.theircomputedvibrations見第十四段。

雅思閱讀實(shí)戰(zhàn)訓(xùn)練(三)

★Whydidapromisingheartdrugfail?

Doomeddrughighlightscomplicationsofmeddlingwithcholesterol.

1.Thefailureofahigh-profilecholesteroldrughasthrownaspotlightonthe

complicatedmachinerythatregulatescholesterollevels.Butmanyresearchers

remainconfidentthatdrugstoboostlevelsof'good'cholesterolarestillone

ofthemostpromisingmeanstocombatspirallingheartdisease.

2.DrugcompanyPfizerannouncedon2Decemberthatitwascancellingall

clinicaltrialsoftorcetrapib,adrugdesignedtoraiseheart-protective

high-densitylipoproteins(HDLs).Inatrialof15000patients,asafetyboardfound

thatmorepeoplediedorsufferedcardiovascularproblemsaftertakingthedrug

plusacholesterol-loweringstatinthanthoseinacontrolgroupwhotookthestatin

alone.

3.Thenewscameasakickintheteethtomanycardiologistsbecauseearlier

testsinanimalsandpeoplesuggesteditwouldlowerratesofcardiovasculardisease.

“Therehavebeennoredflagstomyknowledge,/zsaysJohnChapman,aspecialist

inlipoproteinsandatherosclerosisattheNationalInstituteforHealthand

MedicalResearch(INSERM)inPariswhohasalsostudiedtorcetrapib."This

cancellationcameasacompleteshock.〃

4.Torcetrapibisoneofthemostadvancedofanewbreedofdrugsdesignedto

raiselevelsofHDLs,whichferrycholesteroloutofartery-cloggingplaquesto

theliverforremovalfromthebody.Specifically,torcetrapibblocksaprotein

calledcholesterolestertransferprotein(CETP),whichnormallytransfersthe

cholesterolfromhigh-densitylipoproteinstolowdensity,p1aque-promotingones.

Statins,incontrast,mainlyworkbyloweringthe'bad'low-densitylipoproteins.

Underpressure

5.Researchersarenowtryingtoworkoutwhyandhowthedrugbackfired,

somethingthatwillnotbecomeclearuntiltheclinicaldetailsarereleasedby

Pfizer.Onehintliesinevidencefromearliertrialsthatitslightlyraisesblood

pressureinsomepatients.Itwasthoughtthatthismildproblemwouldbeoffset

bytheheartbenefitsofthedrug.Butitispossiblethatitactuallyprovedfatal

insomepatientswhoalreadysufferedhighbloodpressure.Ifbloodpressureis

theexplanation,itwouldactuallybegoodnewsfordrugdevelopersbecauseit

suggeststhattheproblemsarespecifictothiscompound.Otherprototypedrugs

thatarebeingdevelopedtoblockCETPworkinaslightlydifferentwayandmight

notsufferthesamedownfall.

6.ButitisalsopossiblethatthewholeideaofblockingCETPisflawed,says

MotiKashyap,whodirectsatherosclerosisresearchattheVAMedicalCenterinLong

Beach,California.WhenHDLsexcretecholesterolintheliver,theyactuallyrely

onLDLsforpartofthisprocess.SoinhibitingCETP,whichpreventsthetransfer

ofcholesterolfromHDLtoLDL,mightactuallycauseanabnormalandirreversible

accumulationofcholesterolinthebody."You'reblockingaphysiologicmechanism

toeliminatecholesterolandeffectivelyconstipatingthepathway,zzsaysKashyap.

Goingup

7.Mostresearchersremainconfidentthatelevatinghighdensitylipoproteins

levelsbyonemeansoranotherisoneofthebestroutesforhelpingheartdisease

patients.ButHDLsarecomplexandnotentirelyunderstood.Oneapproveddrug,

calledniacin,isknowntobothraiseHDLandreducecardiovascularriskbutalso

causesanunpleasantsensationofheatandtingling.Researchersareexploring

whethertheycanbypassthissideeffectandwhetherniacincanlowerdiseaserisk

morethanstatinsalone.Scientistsarealsoworkingonseveralothermeanstobump

uphigh-densitylipoproteinsby,forexample,introducingsyntheticHDLs."Theonly

thingweknowisdeadinthewateristorcetrapib,notthewholeideaofraising

HDL,〃saysMichaelMiller,directorofpreventivecardiologyattheUniversityof

MarylandMedicalCenter,Baltimore.

(613wordsnature)

Questions1-7

Thispassagehas7paragraphs1-7.

Choosethecorrectheadingforeachparagraphfromthelistofheadingsbelow.

Writethecorrectnumberi-ixinboxes1-7onyouranswersheet.

ListofHeadings

i.Howdoestorcetrapibwork?

ii.Contradictoryresultpriortothecurrenttrial

iii.Onefailuremaypossiblybringaboutfuturesuccess

iv.Thefailuredoesn,tleadtototallossofconfidence

v.Itistherightroutetofollow

vi.Whyit'sstopped

vii.Theymaycombineandtheoreticallyproduceidealresult

viii.What'swrongwiththedrug

ix.Itmightbewrongatthefirstplace

Exampleanswer

Paragraph1iv

1.Paragraph2

2.Paragraph3

3.Paragraph4

4.Paragraph5

5.Paragraph6

6.Paragraph7

Questions7-13

Matchtorcetrapib,HDLs,statinandCETPwiththeirfunctions(Questions8-13)

WritethecorrectletterA,B,CorDinboxes8-13onyouranswersheet.

NBYoumayuseanylettermorethanonce.

7.Ithasbeenadministeredtoover10,000subjectsinaclinicaltrial.

8.Itcouldhelpridhumanbodyofcholesterol.

9.Researchersareyettofindmoreaboutit.

10.Itwasusedtoreducethelevelofcholesterol.

11.AccordingtoKashyap,itmightleadtounwantedresultifit'sblocked.

12.Itproducedcontradictoryresultsindifferenttrials.

13.ItcouldinhibitLDLs.

Listofchoices

A.Torcetrapic

B.HDLS

C.Statin

D.CETP

SuggestedAnswersandExplanations

1.vi

2.ii

3.vii本段介紹了torcetrapib和statin的治病原理，但是同時(shí)短語"incontrast"

與之前第二段后半段的內(nèi)容呼應(yīng)，暗示了這兩種藥在理論上能相輔相成，是理想的搭配。

第一個(gè)選項(xiàng)無法涵蓋整段意義，故選擇i是錯(cuò)誤的。

4.iii本段分析了可能導(dǎo)致torcetrapibl臨床試驗(yàn)失敗的原因，后半段指出如果以上

推測正確，那么未來的藥物可借鑒這個(gè)試驗(yàn)，設(shè)法避免torcetrapib的缺陷，研制出有效

的藥物。viii選項(xiàng)無法涵蓋后半段的意思。

5.ix見首句。

6.v

7.A見第二段。題目中administer一詞意為“用藥”，subject一詞為“實(shí)驗(yàn)對象”

N忌o

8.B見第四段"…toraiselevelsofHDLs,whichferrycholesteroloutof

artery-cloggingplaquestotheliverforremovalfromthebody."B|JHDLs的作用

最終是將choleserol清除出人體：“…forremovalfromthebody"0

9.B見第四段“ButHDLsarecomplexandnotentirelyunderstood.??

10.C見第二段“…plusacholesterol-loweringstatin,>,即statin是可以

降低cholesterol的。

11.D見第六段“SoinhibitingCETP,???mightactuallycauseanabnormaland

irreversibleaccumulationofcholesterolinthebody.

12.A見第三段。

13.C見第四段“Statins,incontrast,mainlyworkbyloweringthe'bad'

low-densitylipoproteins.”

雅思閱讀實(shí)戰(zhàn)訓(xùn)練（四）

★TheTriumphofUnreason

A.

Neoclassicaleconomicsisbuiltontheassumptionthathumansarerationalbeingswhohavea

clearideaoftheirbestinterestsandstrivetoextractmaximumbenefit(or“utility”,in

economist-speak)fromanysituation.Neoclassicaleconomicsassumesthattheprocessof

decision-makingisrational.Butthatcontradictsgrowingevidencethatdecision-makingdraws

ontheemotions-evenwhenreasonisclearlyinvolved.

B.

Theroleofemotionsindecisionsmakesperfectsense.Forsituationsmetfrequentlyinthepast,

suchasobtainingfoodandmates,andconfrontingorfleeingfromthreats,theneural

mechanismsrequiredtoweighuptheprosandconswillhavebeenhonedbyevolutionto

produceanoptimaloutcome.Sinceemotionisthemechanismbywhichanimalsareprodded

towardssuchoutcomes,evolutionaryandeconomictheorypredictthesamepractical

consequencesforutilityinthesecases.Butdoesthisstillapplywhentheancestralmachineryhas

torespondtothestimuliofurbanmodernity?

C.

OneofthepeoplewhothinksthatitdoesnotisGeorgeLoewenstein,aneconomistatCarnegie

MellonUniversity,inPittsburgh.Inparticular,hesuspectsthatmodernshoppinghassubverted

thedecision-makingmachineryinawaythatencouragespeopletorunupdebt.Toprovethe

pointhehasteamedupwithtwopsychologists,BrianKnutsonofStanfordUniversityand

DrazenPrelecoftheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,tolookatwhathappensinthebrain

whenitisdecidingwhattobuy.

D.

Inastudy,thethreeresearchersasked26volunteerstodecidewhethertobuyaseriesofproducts

suchasaboxofchocolatesoraDVDofthetelevisionshowthatwereflashedonacomputer

screenoneafteranother.Ineachroundofthetask,theresearchersfirstpresentedtheproductand

thenitsprice,witheachsteplastingfourseconds.Inthefinalstage,whichalsolastedfour

seconds,theyaskedthevolunteerstomakeuptheirminds.Whilethevolunteersweretakingpart

intheexperiment,theresearchersscannedtheirbrainsusingatechniquecalledfunctional

magneticresonanceimaging(fMRI).Thismeasuresbloodflowandoxygenconsumptioninthe

brain,asanindicationofitsactivity.

E.

Theresearchersfoundthatdifferentpartsofthebrainwereinvolvedatdifferentstagesofthetest.

Thenucleusaccumbenswasthemostactivepartwhenaproductwasbeingdisplayed.Moreover,

thelevelofitsactivitycorrelatedwiththereporteddesirabilityoftheproductinquestion.

F.

Whenthepriceappeared,however,fMRIreportedmoreactivityinotherpartsofthebrain.

Excessivelyhighpricesincreasedactivityintheinsularcortex,abrainregionlinkedto

expectationsofpain,monetarylossandtheviewingofupsettingpictures.Theresearchersalso

foundgreateractivityinthisregionofthebrainwhenthesubjectdecidednottopurchaseanitem.

G.

Pricei