New York: Staying positive through the cold season could be your best defence against getting ill, new study findings suggest.
In an experiment that exposed healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a generally sunny
disposition were less likely to fall ill. The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a “positive emotional style” can help protect us from the common cold and other illnesses.
Researchers believe the reasons may be both objective----as in happiness improving immune, function----and subjective----as in happy people being less troubled by a sore throat or funny nose. "People with a positive emotional style may have different immune responses to the virus," explained lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "And when they do get a cold, they may interpret their illness as being less severe."
Cohen and his colleagues had found in a previous study that happier people seemed less likely to catch a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional trait itself had the effect.
For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults complete standard measures of personality traits, self-perceived health and emotional "style." Those who tended to be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, while those who were often unhappy, tense and hostile had a negative style.
The researchers gave them nasal(鼻的) drops containing either a cold virus or a particular flu virus. Over the next six days, the volunteers reported on any aches, pains, sneezing or congestion they had, while the researchers collected objective data, like daily mucus production. Cohen and his colleagues found that based on objective measures of nasal woes, happy people were less likely to develop a cold.
小题1:Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Stay Away From Being Negative |
| B．Positive or Negative, It’s Up To You |
| C．An Effective Medicine For Being Fit |
| D．Warm People Likely To Keep Cold Away |
小题2:According to Dr Cohen’s research, the reason why some people are unlikely to catch a cold is that ___________________.
| A．their cheerful mood benefits the immune system |
| B．they have developed a certain gene against flu virus |
| C．they are less likely to have s sore throat and funny nose |
| D．they have got a stronger self-confidence in their health |
小题3:The underlined word “disposition” (paragraph 2) probably means ________.
| A．character | B．day | C．future | D．occupation |
小题4:The passage is probably written for ___________________.
| A．medical students | B．lead authors | C．the public | D．the volunteers |