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【听力文段】mp3

Psychologists showed us this by using an illusion to convince three to six-year-olds they built a copying machine, a device that could create perfect replicas of any item. When offered a choice between their favorite toy or an apparently exact copy, the majority of the children favored the original. In fact, they were often horrified at the prospect of taking home a copy. This magical thinking about objects isn't something we grow out of.

Rather it persists into adulthood while becoming ever more elaborate. For example, consider the huge value placed on items that have been owned by celebrities. It's as if the buyers believed the objects they'd purchased were somehow imbued with the essence of their former celebrity owners.

For similar reasons, many of us are reluctant to part with family heirlooms which help us feel connected to lost loved ones. These beliefs can even alter our perception of the physical world and change our athletic abilities. Participants in a recent study were told they were using a golf putter once owned by the champion Ben Curtis.

During the experiment, they perceived the hole as being about a centimeter larger than controlled participants using a standard putter and they sank slightly more putts. Although feelings of ownership emerge early in life, culture also plays a part. For example, it was recently discovered that Hadza people of northern Tanzania who are isolated from modern culture don't exhibit the endowment effect. That's possibly because they live in an egalitarian society where almost everything is shared.

At the other extreme, sometimes our attachment to our things can go too far. Part of the cause of hoarding disorder is an exaggerated sense of responsibility and protectiveness toward one's belongings. That's why people with this condition find it so difficult to throw anything away.

What remains to be seen today is how the nature of our relationship with our possessions will change with the rise of digital technologies. Many have forecast the demise of physical books and music, but for now, at least, this seems premature. Perhaps there will always be something uniquely satisfying about holding an object in our hands and calling it our own.

【单词短语】

1. persists

2. elaborate

3. imbued

4. heirlooms

5. putter

6. putt

7. Tanzania

8. egalitarian

9. hoarding

10. demise

11. premature

【地道美语，长句精练】

1. They were often horrified at the prospect of taking home a copy.

2. These beliefs can even alter our perception of the physical world.

3. Sometimes our attachment to our things can go too far.

【课堂纠音，上节连读】

1.That is, they seemed to value the two rewards similarly.

2. Yet another group started out with chocolate, and most preferred to keep.

3. This magical thinking about objects isn't something we grow out of.