The $11 billion self-help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like "I never do anything right" into positive ones like "I can succeed." But was positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right? Is there power in positive thinking?
Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply highlight how unhappy they are.
The study's authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your dim friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you're just underlining his faults. In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled. When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written.
In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students' self-esteem. The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes. Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell. When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, "I am lovable."
Those with low self-esteem didn't feel better after the forced self-affirmation. In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren't urged to think positive thoughts.
The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy (心理治疗) that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them. In the fighting, we not only often fail but can make things worse. Meditation (静思) techniques, in contrast, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger, more realistic perspective. Call it the power of negative thinking.
1.What do we learn from the first paragraph about the self-help industry?
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A．It is a highly profitable industry. |
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B．It is based on the concept of positive thinking. |
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C．It was established by Norman Vincent Peale. |
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D．It has yielded positive results. |
2.What is the finding of the Canadian researchers?
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A．Encouraging positive thinking many do more harm than good. |
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B．There can be no simple therapy for psychological problems. |
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C．Unhappy people cannot think positively. |
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D．The power of positive thinking is limited. |
3.What does the author mean by "… you're just underlining his faults" (Line 4, Para. 3)?
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A．You are not taking his mistakes seriously enough. |
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B．You are pointing out the errors he has committed. |
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C．You are emphasizing the fact that he is not intelligent. |
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D．You are trying to make him feel better about his faults. |
4. What do we learn from the experiment of Wood, Lee and Perunovic?
A. It is important for people to continually boost their self-esteem.
B. Self-affirmation can bring a positive change to one's mood.
C. Forcing a person to think positive thoughts may lower their self-esteem.
D. People with low self-esteem seldom write down their true feelings.
Section C.
Directions: Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading that you do not need. （请注意题号，将答案填涂在答题卡相应的位置）
Events Calendar
TUESDAY
Landscape Pests (害虫)
Learn to identify, control and prevent seasonal landscape-disease and landscape-pest problems at the workshop, 3:30 pm. – 5 pm. Tuesday at the US National Arboretum, 3501 New York Ave NE, Washington. $15; registration required.
202-245-4521 or www.usna.usda.gov.
THROUGH AUGUST 3
Horticultural(园艺的) Art
Watercolors, pen-and-ink drawings and colored-pencil pieces by the Brookside Gardens School of Botanical (植物学的) Art and Illustration will be on display at the exhibit Botanic 2007: The Art and Science of Plants at Brookside Gardens Visitors Center, 1800 Glenallan Ave, Wheaton, through Aug. 3. Free. 301-962-1400 or www.brooksidegardens.org.
THROUGH SEPTEMBER 9
Botanical Art
Visit Patterns in Nature, an exhibit by Amy Lamb featuring photographs of flowers, leaves and other botanical life, at the US Botanic Garden Conservatory （温室），West Orangerie, 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, through Sept. 9. The conservatory is open 10 am. – 5 pm. Daily. Free. 202-225-8333.
THROUGH OCTOBER 8
Botanic Garden Exhibit
Celebrating America’s Public Gardens is on view through Oct. 8 at the US Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington. The exhibit, on the Conservatory Terrace and in the National Garden, features displays of 20 public botanic gardens across the country. Hours are 10 am. – 5 pm. Daily. Free. 202-200-8956.
1.If you want to record your name for an event in advance, you may call _____.
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A．202-225-8333 |
B．202-245-4521 |
C．301-962-1400 |
D．202-200-8956 |
2. If you go to Botanic Garden Exhibit, you _____.
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A．can enjoy drawings and coloured-pencil pieces |
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B．can learn how to kill pests living on the plants |
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C．can find displays of 20 botanic gardens across the country |
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D．will enjoy the photographs of flowers and leaves |
3. From the advertisement, we learn _____.
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A．the first event is about growing healthy plants |
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B．all of the events are free of charge |
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C．there is no time limit to all the events |
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D．you can find the information of all the events either by phone or by e-mail |
TV talk shows dominate daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style. But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.
Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”. The contents on his show are as surprising as possible. For example, the show takes the forever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives.
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and the quality of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.
Compared with Oprah, the Jerry Springer looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word”. He makes a small speech about the main idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.
Clear as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show’s main viewers are middle-class Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tougher problems. The Jerry Springer show, on the other hand, has more of connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drugs. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation (开发，挖掘).
1.Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows are _____.
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A．more popular |
B．less interesting |
C．more uninviting |
D．more informal |
2.What is the audience’s reaction to the social problems that Jerry Springer talks about?
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A．They are interested in them. |
B．They are not ready to face them. |
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C．They are cold to them. |
D．They want to get away from them. |
3.Which of the following topics is the most suitable one for the Oprah show?
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A．Cheating. |
B．A love story. |
C．Mental health. |
D．Sex. |
4.From the passage we can learn that the two talk shows _____.
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A．are the only ones of their kind |
B．exploit weaknesses in human nature |
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C．appear at different times of the day |
D．have their own specific viewers |
Every decision is made within a decision environment, which is defined as the collection of information, alternatives, values. Many decision makers have a(n) 50 to seek more information than required to make a good decision. When too much information is sought and obtained, one or more of several 51 can arise.
﹡ A 52 in the decision occurs because of the time required to obtain and process the extra information.
﹡ 53 overload will occur. In this state, so much information is available that decision-making ability actually 54 because the information in its entirety can no longer be managed or assessed 55 . A major problem caused by information overload is 56 . When too much information is taken into memory, especially in a short period of time, some of the information (often that received early on) will be pushed out.
﹡Selective use of the information will occur. 57 , the decision maker will choose from among all the information available only those facts which support a preconceived(预先构想的) solution or position.
﹡Mental fatigue occurs, which 58 slower work or poor quality work.
﹡ 59 fatigue occurs, where the decision maker tires of making decisions. Often the result is fast, careless decisions or no decisions are made at all.
The quantity of information that can be processed by the human mind is limited. Unless information is 60 selected, processing will be biased toward the first part of the information received. After that, the mind tires and begins to 61 subsequent information or forget earlier information.
A common 62 about decision making is that decisions are made in isolation from each other: you gather information, explore alternatives, and 63 , without regard to anything that has gone before. The fact is, decisions are made in a context of other decisions.
We might say, then every decision 64 from previous decisions: enables many future decisions, and assists other future decisions.
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Complete the passage with the proper words in the box. Each word can only be used once. One word is not needed.
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A. understanding B. industry C. range D. improve E. adopted F. pronounce G. flooding H. valued I. operating J. tend |
The speeches of US President Barack Obama have become the favorite way for Japanese to study the English language. Japanese publishers have been ___1.___ the market with over a dozen language-learning titles. Companies are trying to enter a foreign-language teaching ___2.____ which was ____3.___ at $8.6 billion in 2008 by some research institutes.
Why is there such a huge Japanese market for recordings and books of Obama's speeches? Japanese say that listening to Obama speak is a good way to ____4.__ their English-speaking skills.
Most Japanese, including those studying English, would have difficulty __5._ a speech given by a native English speaker. But “Obama's English is easy to understand because he can ____6.___ words clearly and speaks at a relatively slow speed,” said Professor Tadaharu Nikaido, a communication specialist. “Movies ____7.__ to be the most difficult for Japanese, especially when actors mumble (咕哝) their words.” Obama sets his ____8.___ of vocabulary wide enough to accommodate (迎合) all levels of English speakers, Nikaido added, and at the lower end, it sometimes comes within the range of non-native speakers' comprehension.
The Obama speech phenomenon has given way to more books and magazines that focus on how Obama's communication skills might be ___9.___ in Japan for business and political purposes. At least half a dozen books and magazine covers of this kind have appeared in the past several months in Japan.
Recently, employees at the Shanghai Metro’s Railway Station Stop have been busy learning dialects from other parts of the country, ___________ aims to provide better service to travelers from outside the city.
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A．where |
B．that |
C．which |
D．it |
