Chris Peterson was teaching a class in psychology at Virginia Tech when he told his st
Peterson followed the health of his students the following year and discovered that the pessimists had twice as many diseases and made twice as many trips to the doctor as the optimists.
Later, Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania and two of his colleagues, using interviews and blood tests, found that optimists have better immune (免疫的) activity than pessimists. Why？ One big factor is that "Pessimistic individuals," as Seligman writes, "get depressed more easily and more often."
When a person is depressed, certain brain hormones (荷尔蒙) become reduced, creating a chain of biochemical (生物化学的) events that end up slowing down the activity of the immune system.
Optimists also look at information in more depth to find out what they can do about the risk factors. In a study by Lisa Aspinwall, at the University of Maryland, subjects read health-related information on cancer and other topics. She discovered that optimists spent more time than pessimists reading the severe risk material and they recommend more of it.
"These are people," says Aspinwall, "who aren't sitting around wishing things were different. They believe in a better outcome, and that whatever measures they take will help them to heal." In other words, instead of having their heads in the clouds, optimistic people look and seek. They aren't afraid to look into the situation because they're optimistic. Thus, for yet another reason, optimists are likely to be healthier.
The best news is what research has shown repeatedly: Anyone can become more optimistic with effort. And every effort you make to keep an optimistic attitude will reward you with a stronger immune system. So you'll enjoy better health.
1. The purpose of these scientific studies is to ________.
A、pick out people who are more optimistic
B、determine a person's level of optimism and pessimism
C、prove pessimistic people get depressed more easily and more often
D、discover to what degree one's health is related to one's attitude in life
2. Seligman's research suggests that ________.
A、optimism helps people become healthier
B、interviews are the main tool used in the research
C、blood tests may not produce exact results
D、one's immune system is controlled by one's thoughts
3. According to the scientists, the reduction of immune activity is basically caused by ________.
A、some uncertain factors.
B、one's worse condition of health
C、one's depressed feeling
D、the change of biochemical events
4. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A、optimists spend more time on studying and searching
B、pessimists are more concerned with their health
C、we can tell who is a pessimist by observing his reading behavior
D、hormones are something with mysterious effects on the brain
5. Which of the following statements is NOT true？
A、Everyone can develop an optimistic attitude with effort.
B、Pessimists have no hope of making a change in their attitude.
C、Optimists have a stronger immune system.
D、A positive attitude toward life makes us healthier.
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