看別人吃“垃圾食品”可以幫助我們減肥

鐘翠頻 黃連英

Watching others eat junk food can make us feel full more quickly when we eat it ourselves， according to experts. We dig into the science of this “see food” diet.

According to neuroimage studies， the mere sight of someone being hit by a hammer will fire up the neural networks in our brain that are associated with pain. As a result， these images trigger emotions and behaviour consistent with feelings of pain.

Such effects also extend to food consumption. Some studies have even indicated consumption imagery could cause people to wrongly recall having eaten the food on display.

With our research， we decided to test if the effect holds when people see someone else eating in an ad. We invited 132 dieting students at our lab at the Grenoble Ecole de Management to watch an ad. Half of them saw an M&Ms advertisement brimming with consumption imagery： sweets， colors， and a person eating them. The other half of the students saw an ad with two animated M&Ms at a supermarket till， devoid of consumption imagery. We then gave each student a 70g cup of M&Ms and asked them to eat to their hearts content. Among the students， those who saw the M&Ms advertisement containing consumption imagery ate fewer sweets than those who saw the ad without.

So the mere sight of someone eating junk food or of junk food alone is enough to put dieters off it， at least for a time.

Indeed， dieters imagining themselves eating junk food consciously associate it with a failure to reach their weight loss goals.

Today people prioritize their wellbeing more and more. If you are one of the many who set dieting and healthier eating as their number one resolution for 2023， our tip to you is that you resist the urge to cover your eyes when seemingly tempting ads pop up. Instead， engage with them fully. As science would have it， this might just cut down your unhealthy eating habits.

（材料出自Readers Digest，有刪改）

1. Whats the function of Paragraph 2 in the passage？

A. Showing the research.

B. Listing a similar effect.

C. Illustrating a viewpoint.

D. Explaining a key factor.

2. What does the underlined phrase “devoid of” in Paragraph 4 mean？

A. Other than.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?B. Due to.

C. More than.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?D. For the lack of.

3. What can be inferred about those who saw the ad with consumption imagery in the research？

A. They were easier to get rid of sweets.

B. They couldnt help eating more sweets.

C. They were prompted to eat more healthy food.

D. They were tougher to realize their weight loss aims.

4. Which advice can be beneficial if youre on a diet according to the last paragraph？

A. Enjoying eating whatever is appealing.

B. Sharing tasty food with friends frequently.

C. Imagining your lips reaching out to the junk food.

D. Closing your eyes if you see tempting advertisements.

1. B。解析：推理判斷題。材料第二段提到“the mere sight of someone being hit by a hammer will fire up the neural networks in our brain that are associated with pain（僅僅是看到有人被錘子擊中，就會激活我們大腦中與疼痛相關的神經網絡）”，由此可知，本段例舉了一個類似的效應。故選B。

2. D。解析：詞義猜測題。根據上下文，材料第四段中帶下劃線的詞組所在的句子大意應為：另一半學生在超市的收銀臺看到了帶有兩個M&M巧克力豆的廣告，沒有消費意象。由此，“devoid of”應譯為“沒有”，與上一句中的“with”形成實驗研究的對照。故選D。

3. A。解析：推理判斷題。根據材料第四段最后一句中的“those who saw the M&Ms advertisement containing consumption imagery ate fewer sweets than those who saw the ad without”，我們可知，那些看到含有消費意象的廣告的人比那些沒有看到的人吃的巧克力豆更少。因此，那些看到含有消費意象的M&M廣告的人更容易擺脫甜食，并減肥成功。故選A。

4. C。解析：細節理解題。根據材料最后一段中的“resist the urge to cover your eyes when seemingly tempting ads pop up”“engage with them fully”，我們可知，作者建議大家在看似誘人的廣告出現時，要克制住遮住眼睛的沖動，與它們充分接觸。據此，C選項“想象你的嘴唇伸向垃圾食品”這一做法是有利于節食的，故選C。