READ the passage and answer the questions
One of the strongest influences on interpersonal attraction is
nearness- sometimes called “propinquity.” This influence of
nearness on what we like is called the “propinquity effect.” The
people who, by chance, are the ones you see and interact with the
most often are the most likely to become your friends and lovers.
Of course, if the person in question is an obnoxious jerk, then,
not surprisingly, the more exposure you have to him or her, the
greater your dislike. But in the absence of such negative
qualities, familiarity breeds attraction and liking.
Familiarity can occur in a new way today- we can get to know
each other through electronic mail and computer chat rooms.
Computer- mediated communication offers a new twist on the
propinquity effect; the fact that someone is thousands of miles
away no longer means you can’t meet him or her. Are computer-based
relationships the same as ones formed in everyday life? Do computer
relationships survive when they move from computer screen to
face-to-face interactions? Current research is beginning to explore
these questions.
A good example of the propinquity effect is your college
classroom. All semester long, you see the same people. Does this
increase your liking for them? Two researchers tested this
hypothesis by planting female research assistants in a large
college classroom. The women did not interact with the professor or
the other students; they just walked in and sat quietly in the
first row, where everyone could see them. The women differed in how
many classes they attended, from fifteen meetings down to the
control condition of none. At the end of the semester, the students
in the class were shown slides of the women, whom they rated on
several measures of liking and attractiveness. Results showed that
mere
exposure had a definite effect on liking. Even though they had
never interacted, the more often the students had seen the women in
class, the more they liked them.
Are we more attracted to people who are like us, or are we
more attracted to people who are our opposites? Folk wisdom may
suggest that “opposites attract,” but research evidence proves that
it is similarity, not difference, that draws people together.
For example, dozens of tightly controlled experiments have
shown that if all you know about a person (whom you’ve never met)
are his or her opinions on several issues, the more similar those
opinions are to yours, the more you will like him or her. And what
happens when you do meet? In a classic study, Theodore Newcomb
randomly assigned male college students at the University of
Michigan to be roommates in a particular dormitory at the start of
the school year. Would similarity predict friendship formation? The
answer was yes: Men became friends with those who were
demographically similar (for example, shared a rural background),
as well as with those who were similar in attitudes and values (for
example, were also engineering majors or also held liberal
political views).
Why is similarity so important in attraction? There are at
least two possibilities. First, people who are similar provide us
with important social validation for our characteristics and
beliefs- that is, they provide us with the feeling that we are
right. Second, we make negative inferences about someone who
disagrees with us on important issues. We suspect the individual’s
opinion is indicative of the kind of person we have found in the
past to be unpleasant, immoral, weak, or thoughtless. In short,
disagreement on important attitudes leads to repulsion. The desire
to be validated and the conclusions we draw about character both
play a role in boosting the attractiveness of a like-
minded person and diminishing the attractiveness of someone
who is dissimilar.
31. Which sentence best states the main idea of the
passage?
A. We are attracted to people whose ideas are similar to our
own because they make us feel our own ideas are good ones.
B. Nearness and similarity strongly influence which people we
are attracted to.
C. Research will soon reveal whether relationships formed on
the computer are lasting.
D. A University of Michigan study found that students chose
friends with attitudes similar to their own.
32. Which sentence best states the main idea of the fourth and
fifth paragraphs?
A. The second sentence of the fourth paragraph.
B. The first sentence of the fifth paragraph.
C. The second sentence of the fifth paragraph.
D. The last sentence of the fifth paragraph.
33. Which sentence best states the main idea of the sixth
paragraph?
A. There are at least two possible reasons to explain why
similarity is important in attraction. B. People who are similar to
us provide social support for our own nature and views.
C. There are good reasons to explain why similarity should not
be important in attraction. D. We never choose as good friends
people who are different from us.
34. As used in line 74(italicized), the word validation
means
A. invitations
B. support
C. opposition
D. avoidance
35. According to the passage, the role of the computer in the
propinquity effect is
A. surprisingly strong. B. weak.
C. somewhat harmful. D. being studied.
36. According to the author, we may be attracted to people
similar to ourselves because
A. we are more likely to meet such people. B. they are least
likely to harm us.
C. they make us feel our characteristics and beliefs are good
ones.
D. they challenge our own ideas in a helpful way.
37. What is the relationship of the second part of the
sentence below (after the first comma) to the first part?
“Folk wisdom may suggest that “opposites attract” but research
evidence proves that it is similarity, not difference, that draws
people together.” (Lines 49- 52)
The second part
A. Contrasts with the first part.
B. Explains the first part.
C. Restates the first part.
D. Illustrates the first part.
38. We can infer from this passage that
A. electronic mail will not encourage friendship among those
with contrasting attitudes and values.
B. regional and class differences can make it more difficult
for people to be friends.
C. attitudes and behaviors have nothing to do with physical
attraction.
D. Successful friendships often develop between people who
have opposing viewpoints.
39. We can conclude from the last paragraph that people
A. with many friends tend to be right more often than
others.
B. tend to prefer having friends of varying opinions.
C. tend to be uncomfortable with people who disagree with
them.
D. are slow to judge others who disagree with them.
40. The selection is mostly A. supported with facts.
B. supported with opinions. C. unsupported.