2015年雅思考试都出现了哪些题目?雅思考试的难度如何?
一、考试概述
本次考试三篇文章一旧两新，第一篇为旧题，人类行为研究，标题Decision making and happiness。相关真题可参考CST2P2, C9T4P2。第二篇为新题，研究的是丛林狼coyote 动物类题材可参考C7T1P1和C9T1P3。第三篇也是新题，题材为心理学，研究了一系列动物的认知能力，相关题材可参考C7T1P1和C7T3P1。
二、具体题目分析 Passage 1:
题目：Decision making and Happiness
内容：人类行为研究
题型：特殊词匹配4 +判断题5 +选择题4 参考文章
参考文章(髙壳为高频词汇)：
Decision making and Happiness
A Americans today choose among more options in more parts of life than has ever been possible before. To an extent 加 opportunity to choose enhances our lives. It is only logical to think that if some choice is good, more is better; people who care about having infinite options will benefit from them, and those who do not can always just ignore the 273 versions of cereal they have never tried. Yet recent research strongly suggests that psychologically, this assumption is wrong. Although some choice is undoubtedly better than none, more is not always better than less.
B Recent research offers insight into why many people end up unhappy rather than pleased when their options expand. We began by making a distinction between ”maximisers”(those who always aim to make the best possible choice) and *satisficers1' (those who aim for 'good enough, * whether or not better selections might be out there).
C In particular, we composed a set of statements--the Maximization Scale--to diagnose people' s propensity to maximize. Then we had several thousand people rate themselves from 1 to 7 (from 'completely disagree* to 'completely agree*) on such statements as *1 never settle for second best * We also evaluated their sense, of satisfaction with their decisions. We did not define a sharp cutoff to separate maximisers from satisficers, but in general, we think of individuals whose average scores are higher than 4 (the scale' s midpoint) as maximisers and those whose scores are lower than the midpoint as satisficers. People who score highest on the test—the greatest maximisers —engage in more product comparisons than the lowest scorers, both before and after they make purchasing decisions, and they take longer to decide what to buy. When satisficers find an item that meets their standards, they stop looking. But maximisers exert enormous e卄ort reading labels, checking out consumer magazines and trying new products. They also spend more time comparing their purchasing decisions with those of others.
D We found that the greatest maximisers are the least happy with the fruits of their efforts. When they compare themselves with others, they get little pleasure from finding out that they did better and substantial dissatisfaction from finding out that they did worse. They are more prone to experiencing regret after a purchase, and if their acquisition disappoints them, their sense of well-being takes longer to recover. They also tend to brood or ruminate more than satisficers do.
E Does it follow that maximisers are less happy in general than satisficers? We tested this by having people fill out a variety of questionnaires known to be reliable indicators of well-being. As might be expected, individuals with high maximization scores experienced less satisfaction with life and were less happy, less optimistic and more depressed than people with low maximization scores. Indeed, those with extreme maximization ratings had depression scores that placed them in the borderline clinical range.
F Several factors explain why more choice is not always better than less, especially for maximisers. High among these are ^opportunity costs. The quality of any given option cannot be assessed in isolation from its alternatives. One of the 'costs' of making a selection is losing the opportunities that a different option would have afforded. Thus an opportunity cost of vacationing on the beach in Cape Cod might be missing the fabulous restaurants in the Napa Valley. EARLY DEQSION-MAKING RESEARCH by Daniel Katmeman and Amos Tversky showed that people respond much more strongly to losses than gains. If we assume that opportunity costs reduce the overall desirability of the most preferred choice, then the more alternatives there are, the deeper our sense of loss will be and the less satisfaction we will derive from our ultimate decision.
此处有三张图
G The problem of opportunity costs will be worse for a maximiser than for a satisficer. The latter' s good enough philosophy can survive thoughts about opportunity costs. In addition, the *good enough* standard leads to much less searching and inspection of alternatives than the maximisers ”best* standard. With fewer choices under consideration, a person will have fewer opportunity costs to subtract
H Just as people feel sorrow about the opportunities they have forgone, they may also suffer regret about the option they settle on. My colleagues and I devised a scale to measure proneness to feeling regret, and we found that people with high sensitivity to regret are less happy, less satisfied with Iife, less optimistic and more depressed than those with low sensitivity. Not surprisingly, we also found that people with high regret sensitivity tend to be maximisers. Indeed, we think that worry over future regret is a major reason that individuals become maximisers. The only way to be sure you will not regret a decision is by making the best possible one. Unfortunately, the more options you have and the more opportunity costs you incur, the more likely you are to experience regret
一张图
Iln a classic demonstration of the power of sunk costs, people were offered season subscriptions to a local theater company. Some were offered the tickets at full price and others at a discount Then the researchers simply kept track of how often the ticket purchasers actually attended the plays over the course of the season. Full-price payers were more likely to show up at performances than
discount payers. The reason for this, the investigators argued, was that the full-price payers would experience more regret if they did not use the tickets because not using the more costly tickets would constitute a bigger loss. To increase sense of happiness, we can decide to restrict our options when the decision is not crucial For example, make a rule to visit no more than two stores when shopping for clothing.
参考答案：
Questions 1-4
Use the information in the passage to match the category (listed A-D) with descriptions or deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-D in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
A Maximiser
B Satisficer
C Both
D Neither of them
1.finish transaction when the items match their expectation B
2.buy the most expensive things when shopping D
3.consider repeatedly until they make final decision A
4.participate in the questionnaire of the author C
Questions S-9
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1 In boxes S-9 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
5.With the society' s advancement more chances make our lives better and happier.False
6.There is difference of findings by different gender classification. Not Given
7.The feeling of loss is greater than that of acquisition. True
8.'Good enough' plays a more significant role in pursuing “best” standards of maximiser. False
9.There are certain correlations between the 'regret* people and the maximisers. True
Questions 10-13
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet
10.What is the subject of this passage?
A.regret makes people less happy
B.choices and Well-being
C.an interesting phenomenon
D.advices on shopping
11.According to conclusion of questionnaires, which of the following statement is correct?
A.maximisers are less happy
B.state of being optimistic is important
C uncertain results are found
D. maximisers tend to cross bottom line
12.The experimental on theater tickets suggested:
A.sales are different according to each season
B.people like to spend on the most expensive items
C people feel depressed if they spend their vouchers
D. people would regret if they failed to spend on discount sales.
13.What is author' s suggestion on how to increase happiness:
A.focus the final decision
B.be sensitive and smart
C.reduce the choice or option
D.read label carefully
(仅供参考)
Passage 2:
题目：Coyote
内容：研究丛林娘…-数量的变化、人类舌动对丛林狼的影响、未来丛林狼的生存问题
题型：段落细节匹配5+填空4+选择 4
题号：新题
文章大意
这是一篇关于coyote郊狼从野外到城市里生存的文章，郊狼转战城市的原因是森林面积减 少，此狼食肉动物，而且适应能力极强，而且在狼逐步灭绝的过程中，郊狼已成为顶端动物，虽天生具有攻击性，但其实即使居住在城市里对于人类也不会具有攻击性。往往郊狼最终攻击了人类的事情，其原因也是源自于人类的善意，比如人类有的想要保护郊狼然后就看到狼就喂食，而这种对于天性和本能的改变导致郊狼会有仇视产生攻击心理。郊狼在城市里的居住地范围不会占据大面积，有个小块儿隐蔽的地方就可以，但专家不会透露具体地址。郊狼在城市 里最大的危险是被撞死然后作者说保护郊狼和赶走郊狼是两难境界,但其实人类只要允许 这群郊狼野性地自由成长就不会有大危险。
部分答案回忆：
暂无
Passage 3 :
题目：Thinking for themselves
内容：对一系列动物认知能力的研究
题型：段落主旨配对题4+判断题5+特殊词词匹配5
文章大意：:
这是一篇关于对动物认知能力的研究。很多人认为动物不会像人类一样有认知能力,但有个倔强的研究者就拿来一鹦鹉做研究，最后鹦鹉除了会说语言，还会认数字，还有区别事物的能力，之后探讨动物的creativity，由于世人觉得狗不能作为研究对象然后研究者拿鸟做研究，有一种叫jay(松鸦)的鸟，那只鸟叫betty有着晾人的创造力她可以根据自己要取食物的需求自己找类似物做个钩子，研究是让别的鸟偷走betty的钩子以为betty会去 寻找丟失的钩子,但事实并没有，betty看到一个电线，然后卷成了钩子,麵食物，专家们都惊诧了，好赞。然后接着用鸟做例子,说明其实动物也是有心机的，她们可以根据经验判断谁是敌人然后做出相应心机婊举动保护自己。最后用海肠证明动物超强的模仿力但事实上有些专家还是不认可动物的认知能力,其实是他们老伴随着变化而先把对于事物的定义给改喽
所以为了证明动物的能力，研究从未停止
参考答案：
暂无