2026年06月四级第3套仔细阅读 Passage 2 原文翻译及答案解析

After finding out details about a stranger, we mistakenly think that they also know about us. As a result, we act more honestly around them, according to a recent study in Nature.

《自然》杂志近期的一项研究表明，在了解到一个陌生人的种种细节之后，我们会错误地以为对方也了解我们。结果，我们在他们身边会表现得更加诚实。

Past research has found that we tend to assume social relationships are reciprocal (相互的). Most of the time, this assumption is accurate: someone you think of as a friend will usually consider you a friend too. But sometimes our social ties are more one-sided: for example, you might learn something about a stranger who doesn't know you at all. Researchers Anuj Shah and Michael LaForest wondered whether our tendency to believe that social ties are reciprocal could lead us to mistakenly feel that a stranger does actually know us.

以往的研究发现，我们往往假定社会关系是相互的。大多数情况下，这一假定是准确的：你视为朋友的人通常也会把你当作朋友。但有时我们的社会联系更为单向：例如，你可能了解到一个根本不认识你的陌生人的某些情况。研究者 Anuj Shah 和 Michael LaForest 想弄清楚，我们相信社会联系是相互的这种倾向，是否会使我们错误地感到某个陌生人其实认识我们。

In a series of lab-based studies, this is exactly what the researchers found. When we know about strangers, we erroneously think they also know about us. But the really interesting finding came when the researchers stepped out of the lab, to conduct a field experiment. The team developed leaflets (传单) containing fairly ordinary information about local community police officers, such as their favourite food, hobbies, or reasons for joining the police force. They then sent out these leaflets to every apartment in a number of housing developments in disadvantaged areas. The officers themselves also dropped off cards to local residents containing similar information.

在一系列基于实验室的研究中，研究者发现的正是这一点。当我们了解陌生人时，会错误地以为他们也了解我们。但真正有趣的发现出现在研究者走出实验室、开展实地实验之时。研究团队制作了传单，上面载有当地社区警察相当普通的信息，比如他们最喜欢的食物、爱好，或加入警队的原因。随后他们把这些传单送到贫困地区若干住宅区的每一户公寓。警察们自己也向当地居民分发了载有类似信息的卡片。

Two months later, the researchers surveyed residents at these housing developments as well as control areas that did not receive leaflets or outreach cards. Residents were asked to imagine that they had committed a crime and how likely it would be that local officers would find out about it. They also rated how well the officers in the area knew them.

两个月后，研究者对这些住宅区的居民以及未收到传单或宣传卡片的对照区居民进行了调查。居民被要求设想自己犯了罪，并估计当地警察发现此事的可能性有多大。他们还就本区警察对自己的了解程度进行了评分。

The team found that residents of the developments that had received the leaflets believed it more likely that local officers would find out about illegal activity than residents of the control areas. Even more strikingly, the team found that immediately after the leaflet distribution, there were fewer criminal complaints and arrests in the areas around the developments that had received the leaflets than around the control developments.

研究团队发现，与对照区居民相比，收到传单的住宅区居民更相信当地警察会发现非法活动。更为引人注目的是，团队发现，在传单发放之后，收到传单的住宅区周边地区的刑事报案和逮捕数量，比对照住宅区周边要少。