本文是一篇科普文章。作者分析了人们产生恐惧心理的内部和外部因素， 指出婴儿与生具有对环境的敏感并能做出不同反应，而幼年的经历、家庭环境以及父母的生活态度决定着人们在成长过程中能否克服悲观恐惧心理，不怕困难，艰苦努力，走向成功。
At all age and at al stages of life, fear presents a problem to almost everyone. “We are largely the playthings of our fears,” wrote the British author Horace Walpole many years ago. “To one, fear of the dark; to another, of physical pain; to a third of public ridicule; to a fourth, of poverty; to loneliness ---- for all of us our particular creature waits in a hidden place.”①
Fear is often a useful emotion. When you become frightened, many physical changes occur within your body. Your heartbeat and responses quicken; your pupils expand to admit more light;②a large quantities of energy-producing adrenaline （肾上腺素）are poured into your bloodstream. Confronted with a fire or accident, fear can fuel life-saving flight（逃离）. Similarly, when a danger is psychological rather than physical, fear can force you to take self-protective measures.②b It is only when fear is disproportional to the danger at hand that it becomes a problem.③
Some people are simply more vulnerable to fear than others. A visit to the newborn nursery of any large hospital will demonstrate that, from the moment of their births, a few fortunate infants respond calmly to sudden fear-producing situations such as a loudly slammed door. Yet a neighbor in the next bed may cry out with profound fright. From birth, he or she is more prone to learn fearful responses because he or she has inherited a tendency to be more sensitive.④
Further, psychologists know that our early experiences and relationships strongly shape and determine our later fears. ⑤A young man named Bill, for example, grew up with a father who regarded each adversity as a temporary obstacle to be overcome with imagination and courage. Using his father as am model ,Bill came to welcome adventure and to trust his own ability to solve problems.
Phil’s dad, however, spent most of his time trying to protect himself and his family. Afraid to risk the insecurity of a job change, he remained unhappy in one position. He avoided long vacations because “the car might break down. “ Growing up in such a home, Phil naturally learned to become fearful and tense.
注释：
① 有的人怕黑；而有的人怕痛；1/3的人怕在公众场合被嘲弄，1/4 害怕孤独------ 对于我们所有人来说，我们心里的这种特别之物躲藏在不易被察觉的地方，伺机出动。
② a你的心跳和反应加速，你的瞳孔扩张以接受更多的光线；b 同样，当危险的感觉属于心理因素而非身体感觉，恐惧会迫使你采取自我保护措施。
③ 只有当恐惧与所处危险不成比例的时候，恐惧才成为一个问题。
④ 婴儿与生俱来就能对恐惧做出反应，因为遗传的原因，他们对恐惧日趋敏感。
⑤ 近一步来说，心理学家们知道我们早期对恐惧的体验以及这种体验与恐惧的关系能很深刻地勾画出并决定着日后的恐惧心理的形态。
31. In the last sentence of Paragraph 1, “ our particular creature’ refers to ______.
A. fear of something B. a fierce beast
C. physical pain D. public ridicule
32. Fear can be useful emotion to us because it can _____.
A. stimulate many physical changes within our body
B. quicken our heartbeat and responses
C. pour large quantities of adrenaline into our bloodstream
D. help us respond quickly to danger and protect ourselves
33. Fear becomes a problem only when ______.
A. the danger is thought greater than it really is
B. the danger is more psychological than physical
C. one cannot stand the danger
D. one is not well prepared for it
34. Different responses of newborn infants to a loudly slammed door imply that ______.
A. some people are inherently more easily affected by danger
B. people’s response to stimuli is not an inherited feature
C. some people seem to be very sensitive to noise
D. people sometimes seem to turn a deaf ear to noise
35. Psychologists have found that our later fears are determined largely by our ______.
A. home education B. school education
C. parents’ lifestyle D. early experiences
key: 31-35 A D A A D
