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　Does contagious yawning mean you’re nice?
　　You’re in a conversation with another person and he casually yawns. As you wonder whether he’s bored with the discussion, you find that you’re yawning, too. A man walking by, sees you yawn, and pretty soon he yawns. It’s carried on and on, passing from one person to another in a domino effect. Science is still investigating exactly what makes us yawn, but it’s a well-known and little-studied fact: Yawning is contagious.
　　We know that much of yawning is due to suggestibility－it’s infectious. You don’t need to actually see a person yawn to involuntarily yawn yourself; hearing someone yawn or even reading about yawning can cause the same reaction. Chances are you’ll yawn at least once while reading this article.
　　But contagious yawning goes beyond mere suggestibility. Recent studies show that the phenomenon is also related to our predisposition toward empathy--the ability to understand and connect with others’ emotional states. It sounds strange, but whether or not you’re susceptible to contagious yawning may actually be related to how much empathy you feel for others.
　　Empathy is an important part of cognitive development. We learn from an early age to value ourselves based on the amount and type of empathy our parents display, and developmental psychologists have furred that people who weren’t shown empathy by their parents struggle later on in life. A lack of early empathy has been shown to lead to the development of sociopathic behavior in adults.
　　So empathy is important, sure, but how could it possibly be related to contagious yawning? Leave it up to psychologists at Leeds University in England to answer that. In their study, researchers selected 40 psychology students and 40 engineering students. Each student was made to wait individually in a waiting room, along with an undercover assistant who yawned 10 times in as many minutes. The students were then administered an emotional quotient test: Students were shown 40 images of eyes and asked what emotion each one displayed.
　　The results of the test support the idea that contagious yawning is linked to empathy. The psychology students－whose future profession requires them to focus on others－yawned contagiously an average of 5.5 times in the waiting room and scored 28 out of 40 on the emotional test. The engineering students--who tend to focus on things like numbers and systems－yawned an average of 1.5 times and scored 25.5 out of 40 on the following test. The difference doesn’t sound like much, but researchers consider it significant. Strangely, women, who are generally considered more emotionally attuned, didn’t score any higher than men.
　　These findings support what neurologists found through brain imaging: Contagious yawning is associated with the same parts of the brain that deal with empathy. These regions, the precuneus and posterior temporal gyrus, are located in the back of the brain. And although the link between contagious yawning and empathy has been established, explanations for the link are still being investigated.
　　Researchers are looking into the world of development disorders and at higher.primates for answers to this riddle.
　　Primate Yawing, Autism and Contagious Yawning Yawning may serve a number of functions, and these functions might be different for different animals. Humans aren’t the only animals that yawn--even fish do. But only humans and chimpanzees, our closest relative in the animal kingdom, have shown definite contagious yawning.
　　One study, conducted in Kyoto, Japan, observed six chimps in captivity. Chimps were shown videos of other chimps yawning, along with chimps that opened their mouths but did not yawn. Of the six, two chimps yawned contagiously a number of times. Even more interesting, like their human counterparts under age 5, the three chimp infants showed no susceptibility to contagious yawning.
　　This may be related to the fact that empathy is taught and learned. If contagious yawning is the result of empathy, then contagious yawning wouldn’t exist until the ability to empathize was learned. But what if empathy is never developed?
　　Another study, led by cognitive researcher Atsushi Senju, sought to answer that question.
　　People with autism spectrum disorder are considered to be developmentally impaired emotionally. Autistics have trouble connecting with others and find it difficult to feel empathy. Since autistics have difficulty feeling empathy, then they shouldn’t be susceptible to contagious yawning.
　　TO find out, Senju and his colleagues placed 48 kids aged 7 to 15 in a room with a television. Twenty-four of the test subjects had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the other half were non-autistic kids. Like the Kyoto chimp study, the test subjects were shown short clips of people yawning as well as clips of people opening their mouths but not yawning.
　　While the kids with autism had the same lack of reaction to both kinds of clips, the non-autistic kids yawned more after the clips of people yawning.
　　But there could be another interpretation to Senju’s findings. Autistics tend to focus on the mouths of people with whom they interact. But contagious yawning is thought to be cued---not by movements in the mouth area--but by changes to the area around the yawning person’s eyes. This could explain why autistics are less susceptible to contagious yawning –perhaps they’re just missing the cues.
　　However, that notion is undermined by another study. Conducted by researchers at Yale University, this study examined the reactions of autistic adults while they watched emotionally charged scenes from the movie, "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Researchers found that those autistics who watched the eyes of the characters didn’t register any more emotional reaction than those who focused on the mouth. This indicates that contagious yawning amounts to more than just cues; the autistics who watched the eyes received little information from the cues they found there.
　　It’s become pretty clear that contagious yawning is linked to empathy. But why?Perhaps the best explanation for why we yawn, as well as why yawning is contagious, can be found around the watering hole on the savannah tens of thousands of years ago.
　　Some scientists believe that yawning is an involuntary response to a stressful situation: When we yawn, we increase the blood flow to the brain, thus making us more alert. Contagious yawning may be a method of quiet communication by which our ancestors spread the word that a hungry lion was nearby. Fear is an emotion with which we can empathize, and yawning may serve as a cue by which we spread that fear.
　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答；8-10题在答题卡1上。
　　1. Whether or not you’re easily influenced by contagious yawning may be linked to __
　　[A]the personality of the person you are talking to
　　[B] how much empathy you feel for others
　　[C] your reaction when you see someone yawning
　　[D] the ability to avoid other’s influence
　　2. Early empathy is important for us in that __
　　[A] parents first show their empathy to us"
　　[B] it is related to contagious yawning
　　[C]it’s an important part of cognitive development
　　[D] it affects our later life a lot
　　3. The results of the Leeds University’s test show that __
　　[A] the less a man focuses on others, the higher he scores
　　[B] men didn’t score any higher than women
　　[C] contagious yawning and empathy are related to the same parts of the brain
　　[D] it explained the link between contagious yawning and empathy
　　4. Contagious yawning wouldn’t exist unless __
　　[A] the ability of yawning is taught
　　[B] the abilitv to emnathize is learned
　　[C] empathy is never developed
　　[D] vawning is controlled well
　　5. Why autistics are less susceptible to contagious yawning?
　　[A] Autistics have difficulty feeling empathy.
　　[B] Autistics can’t communicate with others.
　　[C] Autistics are not able to learn yawning.
　　[D] Autistics focus much on people’s eyes.
　　6. Another interpretation to Senju’s findings is that contagious yawning is thought to be cued by ___
　　[A] movements in the yawning person’s mouth area
　　[B] yawning person’s appearance
　　[C] changes on emotion reaction
　　[D] changes around the yawning person’s eyes
　　7. According to the Yale University’s study, why autistics aren’t susceptible to contagious yawning?
　　[A] They didn’t register any emotional reaction.
　　[B] They didn’t understand the movie.
　　[C] They received little information from the cues around people’s eyes.
　　[D] They didn’t understand what people say just by seeing movement of mouths.
　　8. The reason why contagious yawning is linked to empathy was_____________
　　9. Some scientists believe that yawning is just to make us_____________
　　10. Yawning may be considered as a cue by which people spread an emotion, and with the emotion_____________
答案解析
　本文主要议论了对打哈欠会传染这一事实的原因的多种猜测。有些科学家认为打哈欠会传染可能与移情有关，也有科学家认为打哈欠可能是对其他人的一种静态提示。最终对打哈欠会传染产生的原因依然没有定论。
　　1．B根据题干中的信息词Whether or not you’re easily influenced by contagious yawning定位到第三段末句It sounds strange，but whether or not you’re susceptible to contagious yawning may actually be related to how much empathvyoufeelforothers，即：你是否容易受到打哈欠的传染，与你对别人的移情程度有关，故选B。
　　2．D根据题干信息词early empathy定位到原文第四段末句A lack of early empathy has been shown to lead to the development of sociopathic behavior in adults可知，如果缺少了早期的移情长大后就会发展成反社会的行为，这就说明早期的移情很重要，因为它会影响人日后的发展，故选D。
　　3．C根据题干信息词the results of the Leeds University’s test定位到原文第五、六、七段。题干问的是利兹大学的试验结果表明了什么。根据第六段中The psychology students--whose future profession requires them to focus on others 一…scored 28 0ut of 40 0n the emotional test…．scored 25．5 0ut of 40 0n the following test，
　　可知A(越少关注别人的人，得分就越高)错误；B项(男性得的分数没有女性高)，根据第六段末句可排除；根据第七段第二句可知C项正确；根据第七段末句判断D项错误。
　　4．B根据题干信息词contagious yawning wouldn’t exist定位到第一个小标题下的第三段第二句Ifcontagious yawning is the result of empathy，then contagious yawning wouldn’t exist until the ability to empathize Was learned可知，传染性打哈欠只有当学会移情的时候才存在，故选B。
　　5．A根据题干信息词autistics和susceptible to contagious yawnin9定位到第一个小标题下的第四段末句Since autistics have difficulty feeling empathy．then they shouldn’t be susceptible to contagious yawnin9司知，孤独症患者在移情方面有困难，所以他们不容易被打哈欠传染，故选A。
　　6．D根据题干信息词contagious yawning is thought to be cued定位到第一个小标题下的第六段第三句But contagious yawning is thought to be cued--not by movements in the mouth area——but by changes to the area around the yawning person’S eyes可知，传染性打哈欠受到一定的暗示，这个暗示不是来源于嘴部的活动，而是打哈欠人的眼部的变化，故选D。
　　7．c根据题干信息词Yale University定位到文章倒数第三段末句…the autistics who watched the eyes received little information from the cues they found there可知，因为孤独症患者从别人的眼部看不到更多的信息和暗示，所以不容易被传染打哈欠，故选C。
　　8．not clear。根据题干信息词contagious yawning is linked to empathy和why定位到文章倒数第二段，该段提到打哈欠会传染的原因目前还没有定论，故得答案not clear。
　　9．more alert。根据题干信息词some scientists定位到文章最后一段首句，由此可知一些科学家认为打哈欠是我们在紧张状态下的一种不自觉的反应。当我们打哈欠时，血液流向大脑，使我们更警惕，故得答案more alert。
　　10．we can empathize。根据题于信息词yawning may be considered as a cue定位到文章最后一段末句。文章提到，害怕是一种我们用来移情的情绪，而打哈欠则被看作是一种暗示，我们用它来传播这种害怕的情绪，故得答案we can empathize。