1. In this set of materials, the reading passage describes….. (填入阅读短文的标题)and the listening passage is a lecture by a professor on the same topic.
2. According to the reading passage….
3. In the listening passage, the professor goes on to demonstrate it by with two examples. The first one is …. And the second one is….
母题一2009/1/10
Sampling Error
Often, students or employees will be asked to draw a conclusion from a huge amount of data. That’s when a sample is introduced. When a sample is accurate, it can represent the whole group. But when it is wrong, sampling error would occur. In statistics, sampling error or estimation error is caused by observing a single sample instead of the whole population. Sampling error can be found by subtracting the value of a parameter from the value of a statistic. Generally, there are two methods of reducing sampling error: increasing the sample size, and ensuring that the sample can adequately represent the entire population.
Sample Answer:
The passage talks about a statistics term “sampling error”, which is caused by obversing a single sample instead of the whole population. If the sample is inaccurate, sampling error might appear. The lecture cited one experiment to illustrate the term. A researcher intended to conduct an experiment to calculate the amount of fish of different sizes in one pond. The researcher scooped out one net of fish to be his statistic sample. To his surprise, there were only big fish and middle sized fish in his net. Finally, he figured out that small fish has already escaped from his big-mesh fishing net.(the example best illustrates the conception " ")
母题二2009/2/14
Observational Learning
Some scientists believed that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning. Bandura’s learning theory added a social element, arguing that people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people. Known as obversational learning(or modeling), this type of learning can be used to explain a wide variety of behaviors. Observational learning takes place when an individual acquires a habit or skill through witnessing the performance of another person. Such learning often, but not always, involves imitation of the obverved activities.
Sample Answer:
Observatinal learning means that people can acquire new things through watching other’s performances. The lecture cited one experiment to illustrate the term. In 1961, Bandura conducted his famous Bobo ball experiment to support this theory. Twenty four children were divided into two playrooms where two adult models were seated. The aggressive adult model was attacking the ball while the other played the tinker toy all the time. Then both groups were put into a room of toys and those exposed to the aggressive model tend to act in more aggressive ways. This proves Bandura’s theory that children may be influenced by adults’ behavior through observational learning.
母题三2009/3/29
Fixed Action Patterns of Animal Behavior
A fixed action pattern refers to a sequence of innate behaviors that is essentially unchangeable and usually conducted to completion once started. It is triggered by a sensory stimulus called a sign stimulus. Because the animal responds to the sign stimulus, rather than the environment as a whole, it may be “tricked” by signals that are out of their usual context. Even human beings have some behaviors in fixed action patterns, such as sneezes. Understanding some fixed patterns of animal behavior can help us to look deeper into the behavior of animals.
Sample Answer:
A fixed action pattern refers to animal’s innate behaviors that are usually unchangeable and often conducted to completion once started. The professor discusses two examples to illustrate how animals behave in a fixed pattern. Male crested puffers tend to attack fish with red marks, and they will ignore those invaders without red marks on their bodies. Another case is the female goose. It is inclined to move its head around to protect its duck-lings after laying the eggs. Interestingly, it kept doing this even after the eggs are moved out of the nest.
母题四2009/5/31
Social Referencing
Scocial referencing is a process in which infants seek out and interpret the emotional responses from their parents to form their own emotional understanding of unfamiliar events, objects, or people. The concept of social referencing in children has been the subject of increasing studies over the last quarter of a century, as developmental psychologists seek to understand the formation of emotion in infants and children. Researches in this area have sought to understand how children learn to respond emotionally to various events, how they learn to interpret emotional responses of others, and how they form ideas about appropriateness if emotional displays.
Sample Answer:
Social referencing refers to a progress in which babies interpret the parents’ emotional responses to form their own understanding of unfamiliar objects. The lecture introduces two experiments to illustrate the term. The first experiment was conducted among 20 six-minth-old infants. They were separated into two groups and were asked to play dolls. The first group’s mothers smiled to the m while mothers of the second group put on an angry face. No diffiences were found between these two groups. Then, the same experiment was conducted among 20 one-year-old babies. The findings show that babies of smiling mothers continued to play and the rest babies stopped playing. This indicates that infants older than 1 year would take action according to social referencing.
母题五
Quoting out of context
Advertisers generally attempt to draw attention to their product through honest methods, such as highlighting unique features or associating it with a certain lifestyle. Thus, many advertisements will focus on a particularly attractive property of the item. However, sometimes advertisers utilize less honest techniques to generate interest. One of the more common of these unethical methods is called “quoting out of context.” When advertisers quote out of context, they display a few positive phrases from an otherwise negative review in order to misguide potential customers. These quotes, removed from the context of the larger article, appear to show that critics like the product when in fact they did not.
Sample Answer：
According to the reading, quoting out of context is one of the dishonest promotion techniques occasionally used by advertisers. It means quoting a few words from prominent reviewers’ comments in order to mislead the listeners or readers. Since quotations of this kind usually tamper with the real meaning of the reviewers. To illustrate this, the professor cites an advertisement used to promote a film. Generally, a movie store is filled with favorable quotations from famous critics, but these quotations sometimes don’t represent the critics’ original meanings. For example, an advertisement quoted famous critic’s review of a movie as delightful before the movie was released. Lots of people went to the movie because of this seemingly positive comment. However, the critic had a very low opinion of the movie and only said that the movie actress instead of the movie was delightful. This shows how quoting out of context distorts real meanings.
母题六
Self-fulfilling prophecies
Psychologists use the term “self-fulfilling prophecy” to describe the psychological phenomenon whereby a person’s assumptions about a certain outcome influence that outcome. This occurs because people will sub-consciously act in a way that encourages the outcome they have come to expect.
This phenomenon often occurs in the social sphere because society has certain expectations for people based on their background. Once people accept these expectations to be true, they behave according to the stereotypes society has placed upon them. Their level of confidence will largely be determined by how they view themselves. Their actions will in turn only strengthen the societal assumptions that initially caused the behavior.
Sample answer:
According to the reading, self-fulfilling prophecy is a process that begins with a self-belief, for example, social expectations, proceeds to actions based on the belief and ends with expectations realized. To illustrate this phenomenon, the professor in the lecture cites the findings of some researchers who explored the effect of self-fulfilling prophecies on people’s lives. The researchers sent a randomly selected sample of primary school students to a training camp. The educators in the camp didn’t know the students’ intelligence, but they were told that these students were outstanding and should be educated as gifted people. This corresponds to the self-belief in the reading. Then, the educators often encouraged the students and gave positive comments on their performance. This is equal to taking action based on self- belief in the reading. As a result, the researchers found five years later that most students educated this way showed better performance on IQ tests than most kids. This means that the expectations have come true.
母题七
Buyer’s Remorse
The phrase Buyer’s Remorse refers to the regret that consumers often feel following the decision to make a large purchase, or even after the purchase has been completed. These emotions have no obvious cause such as a defective product, and indeed affect people for no apparent reason. In practice, this phenomenon can prove a challenge for customer service, as it is their duty to insure complete satisfaction with the transaction. Therefore, several techniques have been developed by customer service in order to serve those experiencing buyer’s remorse, for example, salespeople may visit or call the customer to insure they are still satisfied with the purchase.
Sample answer:
According to the reading, buyer’s remorse is a feeling that turns up after having made a decision to purchase something or after the purchase itself. It means that the consumer regrets over the transaction for no obvious reason. The professor cites his personal experience to illustrate buyer’s remorse and techniques to handle it .one week after he had bought the car that went well, he had buyer’s remorse. He was uncertain whether he had made the right decision. Then, a salesperson used some techniques mentioned in the reading to help the professor get rid of his feeling of regret. For example, the salesperson called the professor to tell him that he had made a right decision. The salesperson even solicited complaints and feedback via email. All this made the professor feel better.
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