雅思閱讀實戰(zhàn)16篇

雅思閱讀實戰(zhàn)16篇（附答案）（word下載版）

★Howtoincreasesales

Publishedonline:Nov9th2006

FromTheEconomistprintedition

Howshopscanexploitpeopledherdmentalitytoincreasesales

1.ATRIPtothesupermarketmaynotseemlikeanexerciseinpsychologicalwarfare—butit

is.Shopkeepersknowthatfillingastorewiththearomaoffreshlybakedbreadmakespeoplefeel

hungryandpersuadesthemtobuymorefoodthantheyhadintended.Stockingthemostexpensive

productsateyelevelmakesthemsellfasterthancheaperbutlessvisiblecompetitors.Now

researchersareinvestigatinghow“swarmintelligence^（thatis,howants,beesoranysocial

animal,includinghumans,behaveinacrowd）canbeusedtoinfluencewhatpeoplebuy.

2.AtarecentconferenceonthesimulationofadaptivebehaviourinRome,Zeeshan-ul-hassan

Usmani,acomputerscientistfromtheFloridaInstituteofTechnology,describedanewwayto

increaseimpulsebuyingusingthisphenomenon.Supermarketsalreadyencourageshopperstobuy

thingstheydidnotrealisetheywanted:forinstance,byplacingeverydayitemssuchasmilkand

eggsatthebackofthestore,forcingshopperstowalkpastothertemptinggoodstoreachthem.

MrUsmaniandRonaldoMenezes,alsooftheFloridaInstituteofTechnology,setouttoenhance

thistendencytobuymorebyplayingontheherdinstinct.Theideaisthat,ifacertainproductis

seentobepopular,shoppersarelikelytochooseittoo.Thechallengeistokeepcustomers

informedaboutwhatothersarebuying.

3.Entersmart-carttechnology.InMrUsmani'ssupermarketeveryproducthasaradio

frequencyidentificationtag,asortofbarcodethatusesradiowavestotransmitinformation,and

everytrolleyhasascannerthatreadsthisinformationandrelaysittoacentralcomputer.Asa

customerwalkspastashelfofgoods,ascreenontheshelftellshimhowmanypeoplecurrentlyin

theshophavechosenthatparticularproduct.Ifthenumberishigh,heismorelikelytoselectit

too.

4.MrUsmani'suswarm-movesvmodelappealstosupermarketsbecauseitincreasessales

withouttheneedtogivepeoplediscounts.Anditgivesshoppersthesatisfactionofknowingthat

theyboughtthe“right“product—thatis,theoneeveryoneelsebought.Themodelhasnotyet

beentestedwidelyintherealworld,mainlybecauseradiofrequencyidentificationtechnologyis

newandhasonlybeeninstalledexperimentallyinsomesupermarkets.ButMrUsmanisaysthat

bothWal-MartinAmericaandTescoinBritainareinterestedinhiswork,andtestingwillget

underwayinthespring.

5.Anotherrecentstudyonthepowerofsocialinfluenceindicatesthatsalescould,indeed,be

boostedinthisway.MatthewSalganikofColumbiaUniversityinNewYorkandhiscolleagues

havedescribedcreatinganartificialmusicmarketinwhichsome14,000peopledownloaded

previouslyunknownsongs.Theresearchersfoundthatwhenpeoplecouldseethesongsrankedby

howmanytimestheyhadbeendownloaded,theyfollowedthecrowd.Whenthesongswerenot

orderedbyrank,butthenumberoftimestheyhadbeendownloadedwasdisplayed,theeffectof

socialinfluencewasstilltherebutwaslesspronounced.Peoplethusfollowtheherdwhenitis

easyfbrthemtodoso.

6.InJapanachainofconvenienceshopscalledRanKingRanQueenhasbeenorderingits

productsaccordingtosalesdatafromdepartmentstoresandresearchcompanies.Theshopssell

onlythemostpopularitemsineachproductcategory,andtherankingsareupdatedweekly.

Icosystem,acompanyinCambridge,Massachusetts,alsoaimstoexploitknowledgeofsocial

networkingtoimprovesales.

7.Andthepsychologythatworksinphysicalstoresisjustaspotentontheinternet.Online

retailerssuchasAmazonareadeptattellingshopperswhichproductsarepopularwith

like-mindedconsumers.Evenintheprivacyofyourhome,youcanstillbepartoftheswarm.

(644words)

Questions1-6

Completethesentencesbelowwithwordstakenfromthereadingpassage.UseNOMORETHAN

THREEWORDSforeachanswer.

Shopownersrealizethatthesmellofcanincreasesalesoffood

products.

2.Inshops,productsshelvedatamorevisiblelevelsellbettereveniftheyaremore

3.AccordingtoMr.Usmani,withtheuseof“swarmintelligence^^phenomenon,anew

methodcanbeappliedtoencourage.

4.Onthewaytoeverydayitemsatthebackofthestore,shoppersmightbetemptedtobuy

5.Ifthenumberofbuyersshownontheishigh,othercustomerstendto

followthem.

6.Usingthe“swarm-moves“model,shopownersdonothavetogivecustomers

_______________toincreasesales.

Questions7-12

Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninthereadingpassage?For

questions7-12write

YESifthestatementagreeswiththeinformation

NOifthestatementcontraictstheinformation

NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationonthisinthepassage

7.Radiofrequencyidentificationtechnologyhasbeeninstalledexperimentallyinbig

supermarketslikeWal-Mart.

8.Peopletendtodownloadmoreunknownsongsthansongstheyarefamiliarwith.

9.Songsrankedhighbythenumberoftimesbeingdownloadedarefavoredbycustomers.

10.Peoplefollowtheotherstothesameextentwhetheritisconvenientornot.

11.ItemssoldinsomeJapanesestoresaresimplychosenaccordingtothesalesdataofother

shops.

12.Swarmintelligencecanalsobeobservedineverydaylife.

Answerkeys:

1.答案：(freshlybaked)bread.(第1段第2行：Shoppersknowthatfillingastorewith

thearomaoffreshlybakedbreadmakespeoplefeelhungryandpersuadesthemtobuymorefood

thantheyintended.)

2.答案：expensive.(第1段第4行：Stockingthemostexpensiveproductsateyelevel

makesthemsellfasterthancheaperbutlessvisiblecompetitors.)

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

adaptivebehaviourinRome,Zeeshan-ul-hassanUsmani,acomputerscientistfromtheFlorida

InstituteofTechnology,describedanewwaytoincreaseimpulsebuyingusingthisphenomenon.)

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

encourageshopperstobuythingstheydidnotrealisetheywanted:forinstance,byplacing

everydayitemssuchasmilkandeggsatthebackofthestore,forcingshopperstowalkpastother

temptinggoodstoreachthem.)

5.答案：screen.(第3段第4行：Asacustomerwalkspastashelfofgoods,ascreenon

theshelftellshimhowmanypeoplecurrentlyintheshophavechosenthatparticularproduct.If

thenumberishigh,heismorelikelytoselectittoo.)

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

tosupermarketsbecauseitincreasessaleswithouttheneedtogivepeoplediscounts.)

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

world,mainlybecauseradiofrequencyidentificationtechnologyisnewandhasonlybeen

installedexperimentallyinsomesupermarkets.ButMrUsmanisaysthatbothWal-Martin

AmericaanTescoinBritainareinterestdinhisworkd,andtestingwillgetunderwayinthespring.

短語“getunderway”的意思是“開始進(jìn)行"，在Wal-Mart的試驗要等到春天才開始)

8.答案：NOTGIVEN.(在文中沒有提及該信息)

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

rankedbyhowmanytimestheyhavebeendownloaded,theyfollowedthecrowd.)

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

oftimestheyhadbeendownloadedwasdisplayed,theeffectofsocialinfluencewasstilltherebut

waslesspronounced.Pnounced的

詞義是“顯著的、明顯的”)

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

RanQueenhasbeenorderingitsproductsaccordingtosalesdatafromdepartmentstoresand

researchcompanies.)

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

oftheswarm,home應(yīng)該算是everydaylife的一部分)

★Roguetheoryofsmellgetsaboost

Publishedonline:6December2006

Roguetheoryofsmellgetsaboost

1.Acontroversialtheoryofhowwesmell,whichclaimsthatourfinesenseofodourdepends

onquantummechanics,hasbeengiventhethumbsupbyateamofphysicists.

2.CalculationsbyresearchersatUniversityCollegeLondon(UCL)showthattheideathatwe

smellodourmoleculesbysensingtheirmolecularvibrationsmakessenseintermsofthephysics

involved.

3.That'sstillsomewayfromprovingthatthetheory,proposedinthemid-1990sby

biophysicistLucaTurin,iscorrect.Butitshouldmakeotherscientiststaketheideamore

seriously.

4."Thisisabigstepforward,°saysTurin,whohasnowsetuphisownperfumecompany

FlexitralinVirginia.Hesaysthatsincehepublishedhistheory,"ithasbeenignoredratherthan

criticized."

5.Mostscientistshaveassumedthatoursenseofsmelldependsonreceptorsinthenose

detectingtheshapeofincomingmolecules,whichtriggersasignaltothebrain.Thismolecular

lockandkey*processisthoughttoliebehindawiderangeofthebody'sdetectionsystems:itis

howsomepartsoftheimmunesystemrecogniseinvaders,forexample,andhowthetongue

recognizessometastes.

6.ButTurinarguedthatsmelldoesn'tseemtofitthispictureverywell.Moleculesthatlook

almostidenticalcansmellverydifferent—suchasalcohols,whichsmelllikespirits,andthiols,

whichsmelllikerotteneggs.Andmoleculeswithverydifferentstructurescansmellsimilar.Most

strikingly,somemoleculescansmelldifferent-toanimals,ifnotnecessarilytohumans一

simplybecausetheycontaindifferentisotopes(atomsthatarechemicallyidenticalbuthavea

differentmass).

7.Turin'sexplanationforthesesmellyfactsinvokestheideathatthesmellsignalinolfactory

receptorproteinsistriggerednotbyanodourmolecule'sshape,butbyitsvibrations,whichcan

enourageanelectrontojumpbetweentwopartsofthereceptorinaquantum-mechanicalprocess

calledtunnelling.Thiselectronmovementcouldinitiatethesmellsignalbeingsenttothebrain.

8.Thiswouldexplainwhyisotopescansmelldifferent:theirvibrationfrequenciesare

changediftheatomsareheavier.Turin'smechanism,saysMarshallStonehamoftheUCLteam,is

morelikeswipe-cardidentificationthanakeyfittingalock.

9.Vibration-assistedelectrontunnellingcanundoubtedlyoccur-itisusedinan

experimentaltechniquefbrmeasuringmolecularvibrations."Thequestioniswhetherthisis

possibleinthenose,"saysStoneham'scolleague,AndrewHorsfield.

10.StonehamsaysthatwhenhefirstheardaboutTurin'sidea,whileTurinwashimselfbasedat

UCL,nIdidn'tbelieveit".But,headds,*'becauseitwasaninterestingidea,IthoughtIshould

proveitcouldn'twork.Ididsomesimplecalculations,andonlythenbegantofeelLucacouldbe

right."NowStonehamandhisco-workershavedonethejobmorethoroughly,inapapersoonto

bepublishedinPhysicalReviewLetters.

11.TheUCLteamcalculatedtheratesofelectronhoppinginanosereceptorthathasanodorant

moleculeboundtoit.Thisratedependsonvariouspropertiesofthebiomolecularsystemthatare

notknown,buttheresearcherscouldestimatetheseparametersbasedontypicalvaluesfor

moleculesofthissort.

12.Thekeyissueiswhetherthehoppingratewiththeodorantinplaceissignificantlygreater

thanthatwithoutit.Thecalculationsshowthatitis—whichmeansthatodouridentificationin

thiswayseemstheoreticallypossible.

13.ButHorsfieldstressesthatthat'sdifferentfromaproofofTurin'sidea."Sofarthingslook

plausible,butweneedproperexperimentalverification.We'rebeginningtothinkaboutwhat

experimentscouldbeperformed.'1

14.Meanwhile,Turinispressingaheadwithhishypothesis."AtFlexitralwehavebeen

designingodorantsexclusivelyonthebasisoftheircomputedvibrations,"hesays."Oursuccess

rateatodorantdiscoveryistwoordersofmagnitudebetterthanthecompetition."Attheveryleast,

heisputtinghismoneywherehisnoseis.

(668wordsNature)

Questions1-4

Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninthepassage?Pleasewrite

TRUEifthestatementagreeswiththewriter

FALSEifthestatementdoesnotagreewiththewriter

NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationaboutthisinthepassage

1.TheresultofthestudyatUCLagreeswithTurin'stheory.

2.ThestudyatUCLcouldconclusivelyprovewhatLucaTurinhashypothesized.

3.TurinlefthispostatUCLandstartedhisownbusinessbecausehistheorywas

ignored.

4.Themoleculesofalcoholsandthoseofthiolslookalike.

Questions5-9

Completethesentencesbelowwithwordsfromthepassage.UseNOMORETHANTHREE

WORDSforeachanswer.

5.Thehypothesisthatwesmellbysensingthemolecularvibrationwasmadeby.

6.Turin'scompanyisbasedin.

7.Mostscientistsbelievedthatournoseworksinthesamewayasour.

8.Differentisotopescansmelldifferentwhenweighdifferently.

9.AccordingtoAudrewHorsfield,itisstilltobeprovedthatcouldreallyoccur

inhumannose.

Question10-12

AnswerthequestionsbelowusingNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSfromthepassageforeach

answer.

10.What'sthenameoftheresearcherwhocollaboratedwithStoneham?

11.WhatisthenextstepoftheUCLteam'sstudy?

12.WhatisthetheoreticalbasisindesigningodorantsinTurin'scompany?

(byZhouHong)

AnswerKeysandExplanations

1.T見第一段?！癵ivesththethumbsup"為“接受"的意思。

2.F見第三段。"That'sstillsomewayfromprovingthatthetheory,proposedinthe

mid-1990sbybiophysicistLucaTurin,iscorrect.意即“現(xiàn)在尚無法證實生物物理學(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uMoleculesthatlookalmostidenticalcansmellverydifferent-suchas

alcohols,whichsmelllikespirits,andthiols,whichsmelllikerotteneggs.”"identical"~'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來分辨氣味的。

6.Virginia見第四段。

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

behindawiderangeofthebody'sdetectionsystems:itishowsomepartsoftheimmunesystem

recogniseinvaders,forexample,andhowthetonguerecognizessometastes.M

8.theatoms見第八段“Thiswouldexplainwhyisotopescansmelldifferent:

theirvibrationfrequenciesarechangediftheatomsareheavier.,,

9.vibration-assistedelectrontunneling見第九段“"Thequestioniswhetherthisis

possibleinthenose,"saysStoneham'scolleague,AndrewHorsfield.句中的代詞“this”指句首

的uvibration-assistedelectrontunneling”。

10.AndrewHorsfield見第九段結(jié)尾。

11.properexperimentalverification見第十三段。

12.theircomputedvibrations見第十四段。

★Whydidapromisingheartdrugfail?

Doomeddrughighlightscomplicationsofmeddlingwithcholesterol.

1.Thefailureofahigh-profilecholesteroldrughasthrownaspotlightonthecomplicated

machinerythatregulatescholesterollevels.Butmanyresearchersremainconfidentthatdrugsto

boostlevelsof'good'cholesterolarestilloneofthemostpromisingmeanstocombatspiralling

heartdisease.

2.DrugcompanyPfizerannouncedon2Decemberthatitwascancellingallclinicaltrialsof

torcetrapib,adrugdesignedtoraiseheart-protectivehigh-densitylipoproteins(HDLs).Inatrialof

15000patients,asafetyboardfoundthatmorepeoplediedorsufferedcardiovascularproblems

aftertakingthedrugplusacholesterol-Iowenngstatinthanthoseinacontrolgroupwhotookthe

statinalone.

3.Thenewscameasakickintheteethtomanycardiologistsbecauseearliertestsinanimals

andpeoplesuggesteditwouldlowerratesofcardiovasculardisease.'Therehavebeennored

flagstomyknowledge/'saysJohnChapman,aspecialistinlipoproteinsandatherosclerosisatthe

NationalInstituteforHealthandMedicalResearch(INSERM)inPariswhohasalsostudied

torcetrapib.MThiscancellationcameasacompleteshock."

4.Torcetrapibisoneofthemostadvancedofanewbreedofdrugsdesignedtoraiselevelsof

HDLs,whichferrycholesteroloutofartery-cloggingplaquestotheliverforremovalfromthe

body.Specifically,torcetrapibblocksaproteincalledcholesterolestertransferprotein(CETP),

whichnormallytransfersthecholesterolfromhigh-densitylipoproteinstolowdensity,

plaque-promotingones.Statins,incontrast,mainlyworkbyloweringthe'bad'low-density

lipoproteins.

Underpressure

5.Researchersarenowtryingtoworkoutwhyandhowthedrugbackfired,somethingthat

willnotbecomeclearuntiltheclinicaldetailsarereleasedbyPfizer.Onehintliesinevidence

fromearliertrialsthatitslightlyraisesbloodpressureinsomepatients.Itwasthoughtthatthis

mildproblemwouldbeoffsetbytheheartbenefitsofthedrug.Butitispossiblethatitactually

provedfatalinsomepatientswhoalreadysufferedhighbloodpressure.Ifbloodpressureisthe

explanation,itwouldactuallybegoodnewsfordrugdevelopersbecauseitsuggeststhatthe

problemsarespecifictothiscompound.Otherprototypedrugsthatarebeingdevelopedtoblock

CETPworkinaslightlydifferentwayandmightnotsufferthesamedownfall.

6.ButitisalsopossiblethatthewholeideaofblockingCETPisflawed,saysMotiKashyap,

whodirectsatherosclerosisresearchattheVAMedicalCenterinLongBeach,California.When

HDLsexcretecholesterolintheliver,theyactuallyrelyonLDLsfbrpartofthisprocess.So

inhibitingCETPwhichpreventsthetransferofcholesterolfromHDLtoLDL,mightactually

causeanabnormalandirreversibleaccumulationofcholesterolinthebody."You'reblockinga

physiologicmechanismtoeliminatecholesterolandeffectivelyconstipatingthepathway,'*says

Kashyap.

Goingup

7.Mostresearchersremainconfidentthatelevatinghighdensitylipoproteinslevelsbyone

meansoranotherisoneofthebestroutesforhelpingheartdiseasepatients.ButHDLsare

complexandnotentirelyunderstood.Oneapproveddrug,calledniacin,isknowntobothraise

HDLandreducecardiovascularriskbutalsocausesanunpleasantsensationofheatandtingling.

Researchersareexploringwhethertheycanbypassthissideeffectandwhetherniacincanlower

diseaseriskmorethanstatinsalone.Scientistsarealsoworkingonseveralothermeanstobump

uphigh-densitylipoproteinsby,forexample,introducingsyntheticHDLs.'Theonlythingwe

knowisdeadinthewateristorcetrapib,notthewholeideaofraisingHDL,"saysMichaelMiller,

directorofpreventivecardiologyattheUniversityofMarylandMedicalCenter,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

(byZhouHong)

SuggestedAnswersandExplanations

1.vi

2.ii

3.vii本段介紹了torcetrapib和statin的治病原理，但是同時短語“incontrastn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

選項無法涵蓋整段意義，故選擇i是錯誤的。

4.iii本段分析了可能導(dǎo)致torcetrapibl臨床試驗失敗的原因，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試驗，設(shè)法避免torcetrapib的缺陷，研制出有效的藥物。

viii選項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“實驗對象”之

后、O

8.B見第四段“…toraiselevelsofHDLs,whichferrycholesteroloutofartery-clogging

plaquestotheliverforremovalfromthebody.”即HDLs的作用最終是將choleserol清除出人

體：”…forremovalfromthebody

9.B見第四段“BuiHDLsarecomplexandnotentirelyunderstood.

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

低cholesterol的。

11.D見第六段"SoinhibitingCETP,…mightactuallycauseanabnormal

andirreversibleaccumulationofcholesterolinthebody.

12.A見第三段。

13.C見第四段"Statins,incontrast,mainlyworkbyloweringthe

'bad'low-densitylipoproteins.

★TheTriumphofUnreason

A.

Neoclassicaleconomicsisbuiltontheassumptionthathumansarerationalbeingswhohavea

clearideaoftheirbestinterestsandstrivetoextractmaximumbenefit(or“utility”，in

economist-speak)fromanysituation.Neoclassicaleconomicsassumesthattheprocessof

decision-makingisrational.Butthatcontradictsgrowingevidencethatdecision-makingdrawson

theemotions-evenwhenreasonisclearlyinvolved.

B.

Theroleofemotionsindecisionsmakesperfectsense.Forsituationsmetfrequentlyinthepast,

suchasobtainingfbodandmates,andconfrontingorfleeingfromthreats,theneuralmechanisms

requiredtoweighuptheprosandconswillhavebeenhonedbyevolutiontoproduceanoptimal

outcome.Sinceemotionisthemechanismbywhichanimalsareproddedtowardssuchoutcomes,

evolutionaryandeconomictheorypredictthesamepracticalconsequencesforutilityinthese

cases.Butdoesthisstillapplywhentheancestralmachineryhastorespondtothestimuliofurban

modernity?

C.

OneofthepeoplewhothinksthatitdoesnotisGeorgeLoewenstein,aneconomistatCarnegie

MellonUniversity,inPittsburgh.Inparticular,hesuspectsthatmodernshoppinghassubvertedthe

decision-makingmachineryinawaythatencouragespeopletorunupdebt.Toprovethepointhe

hasteamedupwithtwopsychologists,BrianKnutsonofStanfordUniversityandDrazenPrelecof

theMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,tolookatwhathappensinthebrainwhenitisdeciding

whattobuy.

D.

Inastudy,thethreeresearchersasked26volunteerstodecidewhethertobuyaseriesofproducts

suchasaboxofchocolatesoraDVDofthetelevisionshowthatwereflashedonacomputer

screenoneafteranother.Ineachroundofthetask,theresearchersfirstpresentedtheproductand

thenitsprice,witheachsteplastingfourseconds.Inthefinalstage,whichalsolastedfourseconds,

theyaskedthevolunteerstomakeuptheirminds.Whilethevolunteersweretakingpartinthe

experiment,theresearchersscannedtheirbrainsusingatechniquecalledfunctionalmagnetic

resonanceimaging(fMRI).Thismeasuresbloodflowandoxygenconsumptioninthebrain,asan

indicationofitsactivity.

E.

Theresearchersfoundthatdifferentpartsofthebrainwereinvolvedatdifferentstagesofthetest.

Thenucleusaccumbenswasthemostactivepartwhenaproductwasbeingdisplayed.Moreover,

thelevelofitsactivitycorrelatedwiththereporteddesirabilityoftheproductinquestion.

F.

Whenthepriceappeared,however,fMRIreportedmoreactivityinotherpartsofthebrain.

Excessivelyhighpricesincreasedactivityintheinsularcortex,abrainregionlinkedto

expectationsofpain,monetarylossandtheviewingofupsettingpictures.Theresearchersalso

foundgreateractivityinthisregionofthebrainwhenthesubjectdecidednottopurchaseanitem.

G

Priceinformationactivatedthemedialprefrontalcortex,too.Thispartofthebrainisinvolvedin

rationalcalculation.Intheexperimentitsactivityseemedtocorrelatewithavolunteer'sreactionto

bothproductandprice,ratherthantopricealone.Thus,thesenseofagoodbargainevokedhigher

activitylevelsinthemedialprefrontalcortex,andthisoftenprecededadecisiontobuy.

H.

People'sshoppingbehaviourthereforeseemstohavepiggy-backedonoldneuralcircuitsevolved

foranticipationofrewardandtheavoidanceofhazards.WhatDrLoewensteinfoundinteresting

wastheseparationoftheassessmentoftheproduct(whichseemstobeassociatedwiththe

nucleusaccumbens)fromtheassessmentofitsprice(associatedwiththeinsularcortex),even

thoughthetwoarethensynthesisedintheprefrontalcortex.Hishypothesisisthatratherthan

weighingthepresentgoodagainstfuturealternatives,asorthodoxeconomicssuggestshappens,

peopleactuallybalancetheimmediatepleasureoftheprospectivepossessionofaproductwiththe

immediatepainofpayingforit.

I.

Thatmakesperfectsenseasanevolvedmechanismfortrading.Ifoneusefulobjectisbeingtraded

foranother(hardcashinmoderntime),thefutureutilityofwhatisbeinggivenupisembeddedin

theobjectbeingtraded.Emotionisascapableofassigningsuchavalueasreason.Buyingon

credit,though,maybedifferent.Theabstractnatureofcreditcards,coupledwiththedefermentof

paymentthattheypromise,maymodulatethe"con”sideofthecalculationinfavourofthe"pro”.

J.

Whetheritactuallydoessowillbethesubjectoffurtherexperime