Optimists Really DoLive Longer,Say Scientists

1 For thephilosopher Arthur Schopenhauer optimism was fundamentally wrong,banal andcorrupting while the father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud simply declared itto

be neurotic.

2 Experience showsthat looking on the bright side of life does have advantages and recentscientific evidence points to the positive mindset as being beneficial tohealth.In

otherwords,optimists live longer.

3 That was theconclusion reached by experts at the Mayo Clinic in the US State of Minnesotawho evaluated answers given by people to a set of questions in the 1960s.Of

the 729candidates,200 had died and according to scientists,there were adisproportionate number of pessimists among them.

4 Ten points more onthe pessimism scale-that was the difference between"slightlypessimistic"and "averagely pessimistic”-were enough to boost aperson's chances of dying

by 19percent,according to the study by prominent psychologist Martin Seligman of theUniversity of Pennsylvania.

5 The study does notsay why pessimists die.But an older survey taken among children in SanFrancisco and Los Angeles makes it clear that personal attitude towards the

world is a keyfactor in the ion- gevity equation.

6 The latestevidence to support the theory that optimists tend to cope better with illnessof all kinds has been provided by Professor Raif Schwarzer of Berlin's Free

University whoquestioned 600 heart and lung patients.His conclusion:Optimists recover moreswiftly from operations than their pessimistic counter- parts,tend to behappier

after treatment andreturn to work more swiftly.

7 There have beensuggestions that optimists do not stay healthier but rather turn into optimistslater because they enjoy good health.Numerous surveys have taken into

account a person'sstate of health at the outset and the effect remains the same.

8 Studies have shownthat optimists do not blind themselves to reality either.They thus interpret itin a positive way."Sublimating and denying things tend to alter realitybut

illusions are a wayof seeing reality in the best light,"said Californian psychology professorShelley Taylor.

9 German sciencejournal Buld der Wissenschaft，which carries a major article on the topic in its current Marchissue,commented on"the right attitude"to having a tumor.

10 It seems psychotherapycan go some way towards extending the life span and life quality of a sickperson although a complete recovery using psychological technique

alone is unlikely.

1 1 Doctorslike,however,to point to the example of US cycling professional Lance Armstrong,whowas seriously ill with cancer,but whose unshakeable optimism helped him

to take the toptrophy twice at cycling's premier Tour de France.

1 2 The magazinealso quoted a study by Sheldon Cohens of the Carnegie-Mellon-University in Pittsburgh: 420 volunteerswere deliberately infected with strains of various

common coldviruses.A day later checks were carried out to see who had caught a cold.

13 The resultsshowed that in the case of people who had.satisfactory,long-term relations withfriends, neighbors or colleagues, the virus was less likely to trigger acold.Of

people with three orfewer firm relation- ships 62 percent became ill compared with only 35 percentof those who had six or more close human links.How long one canlive,partly depends on______.

A.to avoidunpleasant things in life

B.in looking on thebright side of life

C.less likely tocatch cold

D.how one looks onlife

E.to be unhappy allthe time