新世纪英语 第4册 U6-U10.docVIP

Unit Six Reading Selection One: Mind/Body Programming 　　Every time you miss your exit on the highway because you are daydreaming, then wake up to discover yourself miles farther down the road, you are demonstrating the power of the unconscious mind. Once something is learned, we dont have to think about it consciously. The task simply repeats itself as soon as we initiate the program—in this case, by putting the key in the ignition. The rest of driving is second nature because our nervous system has been conditioned—or imprinted—with the driving pattern.* T 　　 Because of our conditioning, we are all creatures of habit. Most people get anxious before taking an exam partly because they have become habituated to feeling anxious at exam time, whether or not the situation Sorry, your browser doesnt support Java(tm). at hand is actually threatening. Once threatened by an exam, a neural connection is established. The next time an exam comes up, the probability is that well reactivate that same conditioned circuit.* T　　Physiological conditioning is a kind of rapid learning that evolved to help us master cause-and-effect situations that might determine survival. We all are familiar with Pavlovs famous experiment. A dog is given meat powder, which naturally makes him salivate. A bell is then rung every time the meat powder is presented. After a time the dog salivates merely at the sound of the bell. We see the same mechanism operating in ourselves when were working away contentedly, then glance up at the clock, notice its lunch time, and suddenly become hungry.T　　The minds power to affect the body through conditioning became crystal clear to me when I was six or seven years old. My Uncle Dick, a confirmed cheese hater, was eating Sunday dinner with us. For dessert there was a cheesecake camouflaged with ripe strawberries. It was so good that he ate two pieces. About an hour later my mother expressed her surprise at Uncle Dicks delight in the dessert, since she knew how mu