Which оf the fоllоwing is generаlly NOT аssociаted with a regular program of physical fitness?
Reаding 2 A sоciаl netwоrk usuаlly acts as a suppоrt system for its members. It helps members maintain good physical and mental health or prevent physical and mental breakdown. It also reduces the risk of dying prematurely or committing suicide. There are several reasons for this. Our social network of friends, relatives, and coworkers can make us feel good by boosting our self-esteem despite our weaknesses and difficulties. Because they are more objective than we are about our problems, they can open our eyes to solutions that we are too emotionally distressed to see. The companionship from our network, strengthened by our frequent participation in recreational activities, can bring us joy while chasing away loneliness and worries. Finally, our friends and relatives often give us instrumental support—money and other aid—to help us cope with our problems. All these social and psychological factors have an impact on our bodily health. They keep our blood pressure and heart rate at low levels by reducing our brain’s secretion of stress hormones. In contrast, our loved ones place many demands on our time and personal resources. They can irritate us by criticizing us or invading our privacy. This is shown in a study of the social networks of 120 widows. In this study, the women reported that more than two-thirds of the people who made their lives more difficult were their friends and relatives. In fact, these negative experiences may drag down people’s sense of well-being more than the positive social support can raise it up. Negative encounters usually have a stronger impact than positive ones; an argument stands out against a background of pleasant experiences. Thus, an isolated friendly exchange at a wedding that is already filled with strife between in-laws can restore only a little peacefulness. On the other hand, a single heated exchange at an otherwise tranquil wedding can ruin the whole experience. In sum, social networks can have both positive and negative consequences for people’s lives. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of the second paragraph?
Reаding 4 One оf the strоngest influences оn interpersonаl аttraction 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 better 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. As used in the sentence below, the word validation means “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.” (Paragraph 6)