C
新素养 推理探究 As time goes by, are you still the same person you used to be? Many of you might think you are. But according to a new study, your personality can change greatly. You could be a completely different person at 77 compared to when you were 14 years old, HuffPost reported.
Psychologists(心理学家) at the UK’s University of Edinburgh did the study on a group of Scottish people. The research found that almost everyone’s personality changed when they grew old. The findings were published in the journal Psychology and Aging.
The research is based on a study that began in 1950. A group of teachers gave more than 1,200 14-year-old students personality tests. They tested six basic personalities: self-confidence, conscientiousness(责任心), perseverance(毅力), desire to excel(好胜心), creativity and moods.
In 2012, researchers successfully found 174 of the 1,200 students, who were 77 years old on average at the time. They agreed to take a personality test similar to the one they had completed 62 years earlier.
Researchers then compared the then-and-now test results. They were surprised a lot to find great changes to all six personalities of these people. Moods and conscientiousness had changed. But there were still not too many similarities between the two results.
The younger and older seemed to be totally different for each person. “It was as if the second tests had been given to different people,” the study’s authors noted.
In the past, personality was widely believed to be stable. William James, the father of American psychology, said that personality is “set like plaster(石膏)”. This new study may bring some fresh ideas to the theory.
( )11. 新考法 写作手法 The writer begins the passage by ______ .
A. telling a joke
B. asking a question
C. describing a problem
D. introducing a study
()12. How many people were tested in 2012 according to the passage?
A. 77.
B. 174.
C. 1,200.
D. 63.
()13. The underlined word “stable” in the last paragraph means “”.
A. fixed
B. skilled
C. stressed
D. amazed
()14. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The researchers did the research on a group of Irish teenagers.
B. The 2012 personality test was the opposite of the old one completely.
C. In 2012, other students no longer wanted to take part in the test.
D. The researchers were very surprised after comparing the results.
()15. What does the result of the study show?
A. People’s personalities change for the better with age.
B. A person’s personality can change as he ages.
C. Different people have different personalities.
D. Personalities don’t change in adulthood.

C
11. B 12. B
13. A 【解析】根据画线词所在句的后句“William James, the father of American psychology, said that personality is 'set like plaster'.”可推知，过去人们往往认为人的性格是固定不变的。所以画线词“stable”意为“稳定的”，与“fixed”意思相近。
14. D 【解析】根据第五段中“Researchers then compared the then-and-now test results. They were surprised a lot to find great changes to all six personalities of these people.”可知，研究人员在比较当年和这次的测试结果后感到很惊讶。
15. B

【分析】
本题为英语阅读理解题，需结合原文内容逐一分析各小题：
11题考查写作手法，需定位文章开头判断；12题考查细节理解，需找到2012年参与测试的人数；13题考查词义猜测，需结合上下文语境推断"stable"的含义；14题考查细节判断，需逐一核对选项与原文是否一致；15题考查主旨理解，需提炼研究结果。
【解析】
11题：文章开头以"As time goes by, are you still the same person you used to be?"这一问题引出话题，故写作手法是提问，选B。
12题：根据第四段"In 2012, researchers successfully found 174 of the 1,200 students"可知，2012年测试人数为174，选B。
13题：最后一段提到"personality is 'set like plaster'"（性格像石膏一样固定），说明过去认为性格是稳定不变的，故"stable"意为"fixed"，选A。
14题：A选项中研究对象是苏格兰人而非爱尔兰人；B选项原文未说完全相反；C选项未提及其他学生不想参加；D选项根据第五段"Researchers then compared... They were surprised a lot..."可知正确，选D。
15题：根据第二段"The research found that almost everyone’s personality changed when they grew old"可知，研究结果是人的性格会随年龄变化，选B。
【答案】
11.B 12.B 13.A 14.D 15.B
【知识点】
阅读理解（细节理解、词义猜测、主旨大意）
【点评】
本题围绕性格随年龄变化的研究展开，考查学生对英语阅读中细节信息、词义及写作手法的理解能力，需精准定位原文关键内容。
【难度系数】
0.5