According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions(份), it’s the beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.

To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, 95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly(表面上) participate in a study about movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.

Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.

For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case, she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.

The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we’re making decisions. If this fellow participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she’s having” effect. However, we’ll adjust the influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I’ll hold back a bit because I see the results of his eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I’ll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can’t I?

1.1. What is the recent study mainly about?

A Food safety.

B Movie viewership.

C Consumer demand.

D Eating behavior.

解析：选D。D 主旨大意题。文章第一段第一句明确指出“According to a recent study...both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake”（根据最近的一项研究，我们的饮食同伴的体型和消费习惯都会影响我们的食物摄入量）。整篇文章都在讨论社会影响（同伴的体型和食量）如何改变一个人的进食行为。A（食品安全）、B（电影观众）、C（消费者需求）均不符合文意，B 选项只是实验的伪装背景。

2.2. What does the underlined word “beanpoles” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A Big eaters.

B Overweight persons.

C Picky eaters.

D Tall thin persons.

解析：选D。D 词义猜测题。第一段中提到“...avoid eating with heavier people...”（避免和更重的人一起吃），紧接着用“contrary to...”（与此相反）进行转折，提到了 “beanpoles”。既然是与“heavier people”（超重的人/胖人）相反，那么“beanpoles” 应该指瘦人。结合构词法（bean豆+pole杆子→像豆杆一样细长的人）以及后文实验中提到的“thin actor”，可以确定该词指“瘦高个”。

3.3. Why did the researchers hire the actor?

A To see how she would affect the participants.

B To test if the participants could recognize her.

C To find out what she would do in the two tests.

D To study why she could keep her weight down.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。第二段第一句提到“To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments”（为了测试社会影响对饮食习惯的作用，研究人员进行了两个实验）。随后提到雇佣了演员来抓取食物。演员在实验中充当“社会影响”的来源（变量），研究人员通过改变演员的体型和取食量，来观察参与者的反应。因此雇佣演员的目的是为了观察她对参与者的影响。

4.4. On what basis do we “adjust the influence” according to the last paragraph?

A How hungry we are.

B How slim we want to be.

C How we perceive others.

D How we feel about the food.

解析：选C。C 推理判断题。最后一段提到“If an overweight person is having a large portion, I’ll hold back...But if a thin person eats a lot, Ill follow suit”（如果超重的人吃大份，我会克制；但如果瘦人吃很多，我会效仿）。这说明我们调整自己的行为是基于我们对他人的看法（即：我们如何看待对方的体型以及这种体型与食量之间的关系）。我们观察并解读他人的状态（perceive others），从而决定自己该怎么做。A、B、D 均不是最后一段强调的调节依据。