阅读理解
Being forgiving to yourself and others can
protect against stress and the harm it does to mental health, according to a
new study in the Journal of Health Psychology.
Researchers looked at the
effects of lifetime stress on a person's mental health, and how more forgiving
people got along compared with people who weren't so forgiving. To do this,
they asked 148 young adults to fill out questionnaires that assessed their
levels of lifetime stress, their tendency to forgive and their mental and
physical health.
No surprise, people with
greater exposure to stress had worse mental and physical health. But the
researchers also discovered that if people were highly forgiving of both
themselves and others, that characteristic alone almost removed the connection
between stress and mental illness.
"It's almost entirely
erased—it's
zero," says study author Toussaint. "If you don't have forgiving
tendencies, you feel the immediate effects of stress in a severe way. You don't
have anything to cushion you against that stress."
How a forgiving personality
protects a person from the influence of severe stress is hard to determine. The
researchers infer that people who are more forgiving may adopt better skills to
deal with stress, or their reaction to major stressors(压力源)may
be slow.
Though more research is needed
to fully understand the benefits of being more forgiving, Toussaint
believes"100%"that forgiveness can be learned. His own previous
research has shown that saying a short prayer on forgiveness can help people take
the edge off. "I think most people want to feel good and forgiveness
offers you the opportunity to do that," he says.
(1)
The researchers got the effect of forgiving by_____.
A . analyzing questionnaires
B . doing scientific experiment
C . writing research papers
D . communicating with 148 adults
(2)
What can we infer from the passage?
A . Forgiving tendencies can deal with all mental problems.
B . It remains unknown why forgiveness helps to reduce stress.
C . Toussaint's study has fully discovered the benefits of being forgiving.
D . Saying a short prayer on forgiveness is the key to getting rid of stress.
(3)
What does the underlined phrase "take the edge off' in the last paragraph probably mean?
A . Look ahead.
B . Become relaxed.
C . Make up their mind.
D . Stick to their goals.
(4)
What may be the best title for the passage?
A . A new study on physical health
B . Forgiving yourself makes you feel good
C . Forgiveness is good for mental health
D . Getting rid of stress is good for your health
答案: A
B
B
C