If you studied pictures that ancient people left on rock walls and you tried to determine their meaning, you would not detect interest in romance among the artists.   1  , you would see plenty of animals with people running after them. Life for ancient people’s earned to center on hunting and gathering wild foods for meals.

In modern times, when food is available in grocery stores, finding love is more   2   in people’s lives. The   3  is all around us. It is easy to prepare a list of modern stories having to do with love. An endless number of books and movies qualify as love stories in popular culture.

Researchers are studying whether love, a highly valued emotional state, can be   4   . They ask, what is love? Toothpaste companies want us to think attraction is all about clean teeth, but clean teeth go only so far. Scientists wonder how much the brain gets involved. You have probably heard that opposites attract but that

  5    attract, too. One thing is certain: The truth about love is not yet set in stone.

First Impression

To help determine the   6   of attraction, researchers paired 164 college classmates and had them talk for 3, 6 or 10 minutes so they could get a sense of each other’s individuality. Then students were asked to  7   what kind of relationship they were likely to build with their partners. After nine weeks, they reported what happened.

As it turned out, their   8   judgments often held true. Students seemed to   9  at an early stage who would best fit into their lives.

The   10  Knows

Scientists have also turned to nonhumans to increase understanding of attraction. Many animals give off pheromones—natural chemicals that can be detected by, and then can produce a response in, other animals of the same species. Pheromones can signal that an animal is either ready to fight or is feeling   11  to partnerships. In contrast, humans do not seem to be as  12   as other animals at detecting such chemicals. Smell, however, does seem to play a part in human attraction. Although we may not be aware of chemicals like pheromones consciously, we give and receive loads of information through smell in every interaction with other people.

Face Value

Being fond of someone seems to have a number of factors, including seeing something we find attractive. Researchers had people judge faces for   13   . The participants had 0.013 seconds to view each face, yet somehow they generally considered the images the same as people who had more time to study the same faces. The way we   14   attractiveness seem to be somewhat automatic.

When shown an attractive face and then words with good or bad associations, people responded to   15  words faster after viewing an attractive face. Seeing something attractive seems to cause happy thinking.

1.

A Instead

B Therefore

C Moreover

D Otherwise

解析：选A。A。考查副词。A. Instead相反，代替；B. Therefore因此；C. Moreover而且；D. Otherwise否则。句意：相反，你会看到大量的动物被人们追赶。故选择A选项。

2.

A romantic

B stressful

C central

D artificial

解析：选C。C。考查形容词。A. romantic浪漫的；B. stressful紧张的，有压力的；C. central中部的，重要的；D. artificial人工的。句意：在现代，当食物在食品杂货店的时候，发现爱在人们的生活中更为重要。故选择C选项。

3.

A priority

B proof

C possibility

D principle

解析：选B。B。考查名词。A. priority优先；B. proof证据；C. possibility可能性；D. principle原则。句意：证据就在我们身边。故选择B选项。

4.

A seated

B impressed

C changed

D created

解析：选D。D。考查动词。A. seat使就坐；B. impress留下印象；C. change改变；D. create创造。句意：研究人员正在研究：爱，一个非常有价值的情绪状态，是否可以被创造。故选择D选项。

5.

A appearances

B virtues

C similarities

D passions

解析：选C。C。考查名词。A. appearance外貌；B. virtue美德；C. similarity相似性；D. passion激情。 句意：你可能已经听说了异性吸引，但相似吸引也是如此。根据划线部分前面的连词but 可以判断前后是转折的意思，而opposites意为相反的，故选择C. similarities相似性。

6.

A illustrations

B imaginations

C ingredients

D instructors

解析：选C。C。考查名词。A. illustration插图；B. imagination想象； C. ingredient成分；D. instructor指导者，教官。句意：为了帮助确定吸引人的成分，研究人员对164名大学同学进行了配对，让他们谈了3、6或10分钟，这样他们就能感受到对方的个性。故选择C选项。

7.

A predict

B investigate

C diagnose

D recall

解析：选A。A。考查动词。A. predict预测；B. investigate调查；C. diagnose诊断；D. recall召回 句意：然后，要求学生预测他们很可能与他们的合作伙伴建立什么样的关系。故选择A选项。

8.

A critical

B initial

C random

D mature

解析：选B。B。考查形容词。A. critical关键的，批评的；B. initial最初的，开始的，首字母的；C. random随意地；D. mature成熟的。句意：事实证明，他们的最初判断往往是正确的。故选择B选项。

9.

A memorize

B distinguish

C negotiate

D question

解析：选B。B。考查动词。A. memorize 记住；B. distinguish区分；C. negotiate谈判； D. question提问。 句意：学生似乎在早期阶段，就能区分谁最适合他们的生活。故选择B选项。

10.

A Nose

B Eye

C Heart

D Hand

解析：选A。A。考查名词。A. Nose鼻子；B. Eye眼睛；C. Heart心脏；D. Hand手。 句意：鼻子知道。空格处的词是小标题，是对本段的高度概括。它往往在句首或句末找答案。在本段的最后两句话都提到了一个词smell（嗅觉），四个选项中和嗅觉有关的词只有A。故选择A选项。

11.

A open

B alert

C resistant

D superior

解析：选A。A。考查形容词。A. open开放的；B. alert警觉的；C. resistant抵抗的；D. superior优越的。 句意：信息素可以表明动物是准备战斗或是感觉开放合作。根据前面的搭配either… or…要么……，要么，表明此处是一个反义表达。前面使用的是战争，那么后面应该是一种开放，也就是坦诚以对。 故选择A选项。

12.

A disappointed

B amazed

C confused

D gifted

解析：选D。D。考查过去分词。A. disappointed失望的；B. amazed惊奇的；C. confused困惑的；D. gifted有天赋的。句意：相比之下，人类似乎并没有像其他动物一样有天赋地检测这种化学物质。然而，气味似乎在人类的吸引力中起着作用。根据In contrast（相反）以及后文“Although we may not be aware of chemicals 尽管我们没有意识到”， 结合上下文语境知道在这里表达人类没有像动物那么有天赋。故选择D选项。

13.

A emotion

B attractiveness

C individuality

D signals

解析：选B。B。考查名词。A. emotion情感；B. attractiveness吸引力；C. individuality个体；D. signals信号。 句意：研究人员让人们判断面孔的吸引力。根据上一句话最后一个单词attractive，结合上下文知道此处的答案和这个单词attractive是同根重现，故选择B选项。

14.

A enhance

B possess

C maintain

D assess

解析：选D。D。考查名词。A. enhance加强；B. possess拥有；C. maintain维持；D. assess评定。 句意：我们评估吸引力的方法自动的。这是评估的方法，而不能是拥有，维持，或者是加强，故选择D选项。

15.

A familiar

B plain

C positive

D irritating

解析：选C。C。考查形容词。A. familiar熟悉的；B. plain 普通的；C. positive积极的；D. irritating无礼的。 句意：当一个有吸引力的脸，然后有良好的或不好的关系的话，人们在观看一个有吸引力的脸后对积极话语的反应更快一些。根据最后一句的表达“Seeing something attractive seems to cause happy thinking. 看一些吸引力的事情似乎能够导致快乐的思考。”不能得出答案的表达应该是一种快乐思考，故选择C选项。