A
People are less willing to rely on their knowledge and say they know something when they have access (接近) to the Internet, suggesting that our connection to the web is affecting how we think.
Professor Evan Risko, of the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, led a recent study where the team asked about 100 participants (参与者) a series of generalknowledge questions, such as naming the capital of France.For half of the study, participants had access to the Internet.They had to look up the answer when they responded that they did not know the answer.In the other half of the study, participants did not have access to the Internet.
The team found that the people who had access to the web were about 5 percent more likely to say that they did not know the answer to the question.Furthermore, in some cases, the people with access to the Internet reported feeling as though they knew less compared to the people without access.
“With the popularity of the Internet, we are almost frequently connected to large amounts of information.And when that data is within reach, people seem less likely to rely on their own knowledge，” said Professor Risko.
Studying the results, the researchers thought that access to the Internet might make it less acceptable to say you know something but are incorrect.It is also possible that participants were more likely to say they didn't know an answer when they had access to the web because online searching offers an opportunity to confirm their answer, and the process of finding out the answer is rewarding.
“Our results suggest that access to the Internet affects the decisions we make about what we know and don't know，” said Risko.“We hope this research helps us understand how easy access to large amounts of information can influence our thinking and behaviour.”
语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述了人们现在更多地是依靠互联网获取知识，而不是依赖自身掌握的知识。这说明了互联网在影响着人们的思想，人们也越来越依靠互联网。
1．The study by Professor Risko shows that ________.
A．we are easily cheated by the web
B．the web is making our life harder
C．we are becoming dependent on the web
D．the web helps us make correct decisions
解析：选C 推理判断题。根据倒数第三段可知，Risko教授的研究表明人们越来越依靠互联网。
2．What do we know about the questions asked in the study?
A．They were funny. B．They were simple.
C．They were personal. D．They were difficult.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第二段第一句中的“generalknowledge questions”可知，这些问题非常简单。
3．In the study, the participants with access to the web ________.
A．made more progress
B．showed less confidence
C．gave wrong answers
D．showed more optimism
解析：选B 推理判断题。根据第三段的内容可知，能使用互联网的人不如那些不能使用互联网的人对自己有信心。
4．What does the word “data” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A．Goal. B．Dream.
C．Distance. D．Information.
解析：选D 词义猜测题。画线部分的上句提到，随着互联网的普及人们能够频繁地接触到大量的信息，由此可推知，data指的是上一句提到的information。
