Give it five minutes
I used to be a hothead. Whenever anyone said anything, I’d think of a way to disagree. I’d push back hard if something didn’t fit my world-view.
It’s like I had to be first with an opinion — as if being first meant something. But what it really meant was that I wasn’t thinking hard enough about the problem. The faster you react, the less you think. Not always, but often.
This came to a head back in 2007. I was speaking at the Business Innovation Factory conference in Providence, RI. So was Richard Saul Wurman. After my talk Richard came up to introduce himself and compliment my talk. That was very generous of him. He certainly didn’t have to do that.
And what did I do? I pushed back at him about the talk he gave. While he was making his points on stage, I was taking an inventory of the things I didn’t agree with. And when presented with an opportunity to speak with him, I quickly pushed back at some of his ideas. I must have seemed like such an asshole.
His response changed my life. It was a simple thing. He said “Man, give it five minutes.” I asked him what he meant by that? He said, it’s fine to disagree, it’s fine to push back, it’s great to have strong opinions and beliefs, but give my ideas some time to set in before you’re sure you want to argue against them. “Five minutes” represented “think”, not react. He was totally right. I came into the discussion looking to prove something, not learn something.
This was a big moment for me.
Richard has spent his career thinking about these problems. He’s given it 30 years. And I gave it just a few minutes. Now, certainly he can be wrong and I could be right, but it’s better to think deeply about something first before being so certain you’re right.
There’s also a difference between asking questions and pushing back. Pushing back means you already think you know. Asking questions means you want to know. Ask more questions.
Learning to think first rather than react quick is a life-long pursuit. It’s tough. I still get hot sometimes when I shouldn’t. But I’m really enjoying all the benefits of getting better.
If you aren’t sure why this is important, think about this quote from Jonathan Ive regarding Steve Jobs’ reverence(respect) for ideas:
And just as Steve loved ideas, and loved making stuff, he treated the process of creativity with a rare and a wonderful reverence. You see, I think he better than anyone understood that while ideas ultimately can be so powerful, they begin as fragile, barely formed thoughts, so easily missed, so easily compromised, so easily just squished.
That’s deep. Ideas are fragile. They often start powerless. They’re barely there, so easy to ignore or skip or miss.
There are two things in this world that take no skill: 1. Spending other people’s money and 2. Dismissing an idea.
Dismissing an idea is so easy because it doesn’t involve any work. You can scoff at it. You can ignore it. You can puff some smoke at it. That’s easy. The hard thing to do is protect it, think about it, let it marinate, explore it, riff on it, and try it. The right idea could start out life as the wrong idea.
So next time you hear something, or someone, talk about an idea, pitch an idea, or suggest an idea, give it five minutes. Think about it a little bit before pushing back, before saying it’s too hard or it’s too much work.
Those things may be true, but there may be another truth in there too: It may be worth it.
1.Which of the following best describes the word hothead from the first paragraph?
A. Supportive B. Fast C. Nervous D. Aggressive
2.What did the author do while Richard was talking in the business conference?
A. He kept notes for things that he did not agree with.
B. He pushed Richard and beat him.
C. He was preparing for his own speech.
D. He was getting ready to compliment him.
3.Which of the following is the reason for quoting Jonathan Ive?
A. The author thinks Steve Job is the best when it comes to creativity.
B. The author is inspired by Steve Job's attitude towards new ideas.
C. The author respects Steve Job because he is creative and he likes ideas.
D. The author thinks Steve Job has ideas that are strong and powerful and are hard to miss.
4.What is the core argument that the author put forward?
A. Dismissing ideas is an effortless thing to do so you should always protect ideas carefully.
B. The right idea always starts from a wrong idea and you need to protect it from being dismissed.
C. One should be careful when it comes to judge a new idea.
D. Every idea, whether powerful or fragile deserves five minutes
Large companies need a way to reach the savings of the public at large. The same problem, on a smaller scale, faces practically every company trying to develop new products and create new jobs. There can be little prospect of raising the sort of sum needed from friends and people we know, and while banks may agree to provide short-term finance, they are generally unwilling to provide money on a permanent basis for long- term projects. So companies turn to the public, inviting people to lend them money, or take a share in the business in exchange for a share in future profits. This they do by issuing stocks and shares in the business through the Stock Exchange. By doing so, they can put the savings of individuals both at home and overseas into circulation.
When the saver needs his money back, he does not have to go to the company with which he originally placed it. Instead, he sells his shares through a stockbroker to some other savers who are seeking to invest their money.
Many of the services needed both by industry and by each of us are provided by the government or by local authorities. Hospitals, roads, electricity, telephones, equipment and new development, if they are to serve us properly, require more money than it is raised through taxes alone. The government, local authorities, and nationalized industries therefore frequently need to borrow money to finance major capital spending, and then too, come to the Stock Exchange.
There is hardly a man or a woman in this country whose job or whose standard of living does not depend on the ability of his or her employers to raise money to finance new development. In one way or another, new money must come from the savings of the country. The Stock Exchange exists to provide a channel through which these savings can reach those who need finance.
1.How does a company get the public to invest their savings for it according to the passage?
A. By paying them very high interests for borrowing their savings.
B. By providing a share to them in the future profits.
C. By offering favorable terms to attract them to buy its products.
D. By selling its stocks and shares to them through the Stock Exchange.
2.According to the passage, many services wanting to serve people properly have to_______.
A. get as much finance as possible through taxes
B. get the support from the government or local authorities
C. be able to provide what people really need
D. get persistent financial support
3.According to the passage, what factor has a great effect on the workers’ job and living standard?
A. Their employers’ policy for offering good welfare to them.
B. Their employers’ strategy for the company’s development.
C. Their employers’ capacity of raising money to finance new development.
D. Their employers’ ability to make the company obtain a great profit.
Proper arrangement of classroom space is important to encouraging interaction. Most of us have noticed how important physical setting is to efficiency and comfort in our work. College classroom space should be designed to encourage the activity of critical thinking.
We are in the 21st century now, but step into almost any college classroom and you step back in time at least a hundred years. Desks are normally in straight rows, so students can clearly see the teacher but not all their classmates. The assumption behind such an arrangement is obvious: Everything of importance comes from the teacher.
With a little imagination and effort, unless desks are fixed to the floor, the teacher can correct this situation and create space that encourages interchange among students. In small or standard-size classes, chairs, desks, and tables can be arranged in a variety of ways: circles, U-shapes or semicircles. The primary goal should be for everyone to be able to see everyone else.
Arrangement of the classroom should also make it easy to divide students into small groups for discussion or problem-solving exercises. Small classes with movable desks and tables present no problem. Even in large lecture halls, it is possible for students to turn around and form groups of four or six. Breaking a class into small groups provides more opportunities for students to interact with each other, think out loud, and see how other students’ thinking processes operate---all these are essential elements in developing new modes of critical thinking.
In courses that regularly use a small group format, students might be asked to stay in the same small groups throughout the course. A colleague of mine, John, allows students to move around during the first two weeks, until they find a group they are comfortable with. John then asks them to stay in the same seat, with the same group, from that time on. This not only creates a comfortable setting for interaction but helps him learn students’ names and faces.
1.The final purpose of arranging desks in circles or U-shapes is __________.
A. for teachers to divide students into small groups
B. to make it possible for students to interact with each other
C. for teachers to find out how students think
D. to give students more opportunities to practice speaking
2.The expression “step back in time at least a hundred years” is intended to convey that________.
A. college classrooms often reminded people of their past
B. critical thinking was encouraged even one century ago
C. desk arrangement in a classroom was quite different from that a hundred years ago
D. today’s arrangement of college classroom space has little difference from past’s
3.The way of arranging desks in classrooms in straight rows indicates that ________.
A. students can be easily prevented from cheating during tests
B. it is convenient for teachers to monitor students
C. teachers play a significant role in a classroom
D. it is good for students to concentrate on listening to teachers
完型填空
Optimism and pessimism are both powerful forces. Each of us must choose which we want to ______ our future and our expectations. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or ______. It’s our decision: from which perspective do we want to view life? Will we look up in ______ or down in desperation?
I believe in the upward look. I choose to ______ the positive and skip right over the negative.
An optimistic attitude is not a luxury(奢侈品); it’s a(n) ______. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, how you perform, and how well you will get along with other people. ______, negative thoughts, attitudes, and expectations ______ themselves; they become a self-fulfilling prophecy (预言). Pessimism creates a dark place where no one wants to live.
Years ago, I drove into a service station to get some gas. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling great. As I walked into the station to pay for the gas, the attendant said to me, “How do you feel?” That seemed like a(n) ______ question, but I felt fine and told him so. “You don’t look well,” he replied. This ______ me completely by surprise. A little ______ confidently, I told him that I had ______ felt better. Without hesitation, he continued to tell me how bad I looked and that my skin appeared yellow.
By the time I left the service station, I was feeling a little ______. About a block away, I ______ over to the side of the road to look at my face in the mirror. How did I feel? Was I affected with jaundice(黄疸)? Was everything all right? By the time I got home, I was beginning to feel a little nauseous(恶心). Did I have a bad liver? Had I ______ some rare disease?
On another beautiful day, when I went into that gas station, feeling _____ again, I figured out what had happened. The place had recently been painted a bright, distasteful ______, and the light reflecting ______ the walls made everyone inside look as though they had hepatitis(肝炎)! I wondered how many other folks had ______ the way I did. I had let one short conversation with a total ______ change my attitude for an entire day. He told me I looked sick, and before long, I was actually feeling sick. That single ______ observation had a great effect on the way I felt and acted.
The only thing more powerful than negativism is a word of optimism and hope. When a whole culture adopts an upward look, incredible things can be accomplished.
1.A. shape B. decide C. preview D.transform
2.A. forgive B. curse C. praise D. regret
3.A. vain B. anger C. action D. hope
4.A. highlight B. analyze C. evaluate D.introduce
5.A. necessity B. opportunity C. quality D. identity
6.A. Actually B. Consequently C. Similarly D.Contrarily
7.A. rely on B. feed on C. go on D.take on
8.A. familiar B. ordinary C. odd D. easy
9.A. got B. took C. stopped D. made
10.A. more B. less C. quite D. too
11.A. never B. ever C. once D. always
12.A. uneasy B. unconcerned C. unsatisfied D.unaffected
13.A. got B. came C. took D. pulled
14.A. come up B. brought up C. picked up D. put up
15.A. fine B. upset C. sick D. calm
16.A. gray B. blue C. yellow D. red
17.A. in B. over C. off D. through
18.A. quit B. adapted C. answered D. reacted
19.A. liar B. onlooker C. attendant D. stranger
20.A. positive B. negative C. careful D. rigid
-- The manager of the factory wants to improve production a great deal, but he doesn’t spend much on technology.
-- I am afraid he won’t realize his dream. You know ________.
A. you can’t eat your cake and have it
B. empty vessels make the greatest sound
C. enough is as good as a feast
D. two heads are better than one
–Thank you for your assistance, without ________ I might have been in danger.
--That’s all right, anyone in my place ________ the same thing.
A. that; will do B. which; would have done
C. it, would D. which; can have done
