Even without assigned seating, it is a little surprising how many people always choose the same seat in a classroom or auditorium◆. Or the same table in a restaurant. Or even the same bicycle from a full rack◆ of rental bikes. After close observation, psychologists◆ believe they have figured out the reason for this behavior. In one such study, Marco Costa, a psychologist at the University of Bologna in Italy, selected two lecture halls for a sample of 47 and 31 students. Costa purposefully chose rooms where there were more seats than students so that they had more freedom to choose where to sit. He set up hidden cameras to record how the students chose their seats over a period of four weeks. As suspected, most students picked the same seat over and over. But why? Costa calls this habit “territoriality◆.” The word often makes us think of gangs◆ protecting their turf◆ or wolf packs fighting off other packs to control a certain area. In other words, territoriality usually suggests aggression and defense. However, Costa as well as another psychologist, Professor Robert Gifford of the University of Victoria, believes that this seat-choosing behavior is designed to keep the peace. “Most of the time, most people claim a space and others tacitly◆agree to it,” Gifford explained. The phenomenon of classroom seating selection perhaps shows an even deeper truth. Life can be messy and unpredictable. The reason students go to school is to study. Going to class and knowing where you will sit is just one less thing to distract a student from this greater purpose. In short, sitting in the same place sets students upfor a psychologically more comfortable learning environment and makes it easier for them to concentrate on the lecture at hand. ————————————- 1. What is the main idea of this passage? (A) To suggest the best seat in the classroom to choose from. (B) To explain why people tend to choose the same seat. (C) To show that seat selection is just a random act. (D) To illustrate the reason why people don’t pick the same seat. ————————————- 2. Why didn’t Costa choose a room with the same number of seats as students? (A) He could not find rooms of the perfect size for his experiment. (B) He did not want students to start fighting over their seat choices. (C) He was not interested in the aspect of territoriality among students. (D) He wanted students to have more choice in their seat selection. ————————————- 3. What surprising results do Costa’s and Gifford’s experiments show about territoriality? (A) Only students exhibit this kind of human behavior. (B) Territoriality applies only to classrooms and not restaurants. (C) The larger the classroom, the less chance there is of aggression. (D) Though territoriality suggests aggression, it actually increases peaceful interactions. ————————————- 4. What can be concluded from the passage? (A) To have a better choice of seating, always arrive early to a class or theater. (B) Choosing the same seat can reduce psychological stress. (C) Seating choice is a privilege, not a right. (D) Aggressive behavior is natural so people should not be ashamed of it.
◆ auditorium n. 禮堂 ◆ rack n.(通常帶有橫檔或鉤子的)架子,置物架 ◆ psychologist n. 心理學家 psychology n. 心理(學) psychological a. 心理(學)的 psychologically adv. 心理上 ◆ territoriality n. 領域感 territory n. 領域 ◆ gang n. 幫派 ◆ turf n. 地盤,勢力範圍 ◆ tacitly adv. 心照不宣地
1. set up… / set… up 架設∕建立…… • Can you set up the overhead projector for me? 你可以幫我架設這部高架投影機嗎?
2. over and over (again) 一再地 = time after time = time and again • The teacher asked Johnny to be quiet over and over, but it was in vain. 老師再三要求強尼安靜下來,卻徒勞無功。
3. fight off… / fight… off 擊退∕抵抗…… • Chris bravely fought off the armed robber. 克里斯勇敢地擊退那個武裝搶匪。
4. agree to sth 同意某事物 • We agree to the terms and conditions and are happy to sign the contract. 我們同意那些條款和條件且樂意簽署該合約。
5. distract sb from sth 使某人自某事分心 distract vt. 使分心 • Noise from the street distracted the writer from his work. 街上的吵雜聲讓這名作家無法專心工作。
6. set sb up for… 使某人處於…… • Winning the lottery set the family up for a comfortable life. 那家人贏了樂透之後便過著舒適的生活。
7. concentrate on… 專注於…… = focus on… • You should concentrate on your studies instead of playing computer games all day. 你應專注於課業而不是整天打電腦遊戲。
8. at hand 當前的;在手邊 • Ruby’s story is interesting, but it is irrelevant to the topic at hand. 露比的故事很有趣,但與目前的主題不相關。
1. assign vt. 指定(本文為過去分詞作形容詞用);指派 • I was assigned to make the arrangements for renting a conference hall for the upcoming event. 我被派去為即將舉行的活動安排租借會議廳。
2. rental a. 出租的 & n. 出租 • Our company sells new and used cars. In addition, we have a car rental service. 我們公司賣新車和中古車。除此之外,我們還有租車服務。
3. behavior n. 行為,舉止 • Jim is regarded as the black sheep of the family due to his bad behavior. 由於吉姆的惡行,他被認為是家族之恥。 *black sheep 害群之馬
4. lecture n. 講課,講座 give a lecture on sth 講授關於某事物的課 • Ms. Brown will give a lecture on global warming next week. 布朗女士下週會講授一堂有關全球暖化的課程。
5. purposefully adv. 刻意地;有目的地 = purposely adv. • Kevin purposefully left the venue early as he knew that his ex-wife was going to show up. 凱文刻意提早離開會場,因為他知道前妻將要出現了。
6. aggression n. 攻擊∕侵略(行為) aggressive a. 有侵略性的;積極的 • My dog has never shown any aggression to my guests. 我家的狗從未在客人面前顯露出攻擊性。 • A successful businessman must be aggressive. 成功的實業家必須積極進取。
7. defense n. 防禦,抵抗 • The country needs to increase its investment in national defense. 該國需要增加國防上的投資。
8. claim vt. 宣稱擁有;聲稱,主張 • Anna claimed that her ring was stolen, not lost. 安娜聲稱她的戒指是被人偷走,而不是遺失。
9. phenomenon n. 現象(單數形) phenomena n. 現象(複數形) • The phenomenon of copyright piracy is becoming more and more serious these days. 現今侵害著作權的現象愈來愈嚴重。
10. messy a. 雜亂的 • How come your room is always messy? 你的房間為什麼老是很亂?
11. unpredictable a. 不可預料的 • My sister has an unpredictable temper. 我姊姊的脾氣難以捉摸。
12. aspect n. 方面,層面 • Culture includes all aspects of people’s lives. 文化的範疇包含了人們生活中的各個層面。
13. privilege n. 特權;特殊待遇 • Education should be a universal right, not a privilege. 教育應當是普遍的權利,而非特權。
observation n. 觀察 • Ray is a man of keen observation but of few words. 小雷是個觀察敏銳卻不多言的人。 ————————————————————————- 以下介紹與 observation 相關的衍生字: a. observance n. 慶祝;遵守 in observance of… 慶祝∕遵守…… • In observance of the Christmas holiday, our office will be closed for a few days. 為慶祝聖誕假期,我們的辦公室將會關閉幾天。 b. observant a. 嚴格遵守的;有觀察力的 be observant of… 遵守…… • Please be observant of the laws of a country when you travel abroad. 出國旅行時請遵守該國法規。 c. observatory n. 瞭望臺;天文臺 • The view from the observatory takes my breath away. 從瞭望臺上看出去的視野讓我讚歎不已。 d. observer n. 觀察員 • The United Nations sent a team of observers to monitor the progress of the peace talks. 聯合國派遣了一組觀察員前往監控和談的進展。 e. observe vt. 觀察;慶祝;遵守 • The lifeguard quietly observed the swimmers in the pool. 該救生員靜靜地觀察在池中游泳的人。 • The Chinese observe the Lunar New Year by setting off firecrackers. 華人會放鞭炮來慶祝農曆新年。 • These rules should be observed by everyone in the office. 辦公室裡的每個人都得遵守這些規定。
In one such study, Marco Costa, a psychologist at the University of Bologna in Italy, selected two lecture halls for a sample of 47 and 31 students. 介紹 such 作形容詞的用法 such 作形容詞時,表「如此的,這樣的」,須與名詞並用。 ※ such 與不可數名詞或複數名詞並用時,such 之後無須加任何冠詞。 a. such + (Adj.) + 不可數名詞 • Avoid eating such junk food, or you’ll gain weight very soon. 避免吃這樣的垃圾食物,否則你很快就會增重。 b. such + (Adj.) + 複數名詞 • Don’t bother me with such silly questions again! 別再用這種愚蠢的問題來煩我! ※ such 與單數可數名詞並用時,要置於不定冠詞 a / an 之前。 such + a / an + (Adj.) + 單數可數名詞 • How can you deal with such a heavy workload? 你要怎麼應付如此繁重的工作量? ※ such 與 no 並用時,such 之後不可再接 a / an;但與 not 並用時,such 之後仍須接 a / an,即「no such + 單數可數名詞」或「not such a / an + 單數可數名詞」。 • There’s no such thing as a free lunch. 天下沒有白吃的午餐。 • Peter is not such a man as would tell a lie. 彼得不是那種會說謊的人。 ※ such 與 one 並用時,由於 one 是數量詞,視作不定冠詞 a / an,之後即可接單數名詞,因此要置於 such 之前,而 such 之後不可再接不定冠詞 a / an,否則會造成冠詞的重複。 one such + 單數可數名詞 這樣一個…… • Debby is attracted to humorous people, and Kent is one such a man. (X) → Debby is attracted to humorous people, and Kent is one such man. (O) 黛比對幽默的人有好感,而肯特就是這樣的人。