Psychologists take opposing views of how external rewards, from warm praise to cold cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation between actions and their consequences, argue that rewards can __1__ performance at work and school. Cognitive( 认识派的 ) researchers, who study various aspects of mental life, maintain that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on __2__ and gifts from others.
The latter view has gained many supporters, __3__ among educators. But the careful use of small __4__ rewards speaks creativity in grade school children, suggesting that properly presented inducements( 刺激 ) indeed __5__inventiveness, according to a study in the June Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
“If kids know they’re working for a reward and can focus on a relatively __6__ task, they show the most creativity,” says Robert Eisenberger of the University of Delaware in Newark. “But it’s easy to __7__ creativity by giving rewards for poor performance or creating too much anticipation for rewards.
A teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands our high grades for __8__ achievement ends uPwith uninspired students, Eisenberger holds. As an example of the latter point, he notes growing efforts at major universities to tighten grading standards and __9__ failing grades.
In early grades, the use of so-called token economies, in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points to ward valued rewards, shows __10__ in raising efforts and creativity, the Delaware psychologist claims.
A)mental B)promise C)kill D)avoid
E)hope F)especially G)aid H)ordinary
I)approval J)monetary K)generally L)improve
M)challenging N)restore O)excellent
参考答案: 1. L 2. I 3. F 4. J 5.G
6.M 7. C 8. H 9. N 10. B
1. 选 L )。 第一段主要提出了行为学家和认知派研究专家对于额外奖励的不同看法，因此可以推出此处应填与 destroy 意思相反的动词，可选项由 improve 和 aid ，但能与 performance 构成动宾搭配的只有 improve ，故排除 aid 。
2 . 选 I )。 由空格后的 and gift 可知此处应填名词。认知派研究专家认为，由于奖励助长了人们期望从别人那得到 …… 和物质奖励的心理，而往往会破坏创造力，因此，选项中只有 approval “认同”符合题意。
3. 选 F )。 此处应填副词。可选项有 generally 和 especially ，但从文章后面所举的例子来理解，此处是为了突出强调教育家支持认知派研究专家的看法，因此只有 especially “尤其，特别”符合题意。
4. 选 J )。 此处应填形容词。由 But 转折可知此句表明的观点与认知派研究专家 who study various aspects of mental life 的观点“物质奖励有害”相反，因此可以推出此处应填的形容词是表示“物质奖励”的意思的词，选项中只有 monetary 符合题意。
5. 选 G )。 此处应填动词。由 But 转折可知，此举表明的观点与前者即行为学家所持的观点一致，原文为“适当地给予奖励刺激确实 …… 创造力”，选项中只有 aid “有助于(刺激)”符合题意。
6. 选 M )。 此处应填形容词。从原文来看，如果孩子们知道他们在为获得奖励而努力，并能专注于相对 …… 的任务，他们就会表现出很大的创造力，因此只有 challenging 符合题意。
7. 选 C )。 由 it its easy to do 结构可知，此处应填动词。由此句中 But 转折与前一句中 show the most creativity 可以推出，此处应填的词应与 show he most 表达的意思相反，且与 destroy 意思相近，故选项中只有 kill 符合题意。