Question

    Be careful of those solid gold pieces of advice. The friend who advises you to, say, stay in your relationship or leave your job may well be looking out for you; but she' s inescapably looking out for herself, too, whether she realises it or not.

Moreover, research suggests that people will generally advise you to act more cautiously than they would act themselves in a similar situation — perhaps because they don’t want to feel guilty if you take a daring leap and fall flat on your face.

There's a happy side to this, though, for parents, teachers, managers and anyone else who finds themselves in the position of needing to motivate others: far better than giving them advice is to give them the opportunity to give advice. A new study found that American middle-school pupils were much more enthusiastic about doing their homework after giving advice on the topic to younger children, as compared with after receiving advice from teachers. This motivational effect lasted weeks, and was also observed among adults who were attempting to lose weight, save money, control their temper or find a job. This result isn’t all that surprising, 1 suppose, when you consider how happy it feels to be invited to give advice. Faced with a challenge, we tend to assume we need to seek advice in order to obtain more knowledge about how to give advice; yet the truth, very often, is that we know exactly what we need to do — we just lack the confidence to do it.

This, by the way, is another good reason to keep a journal: you can use it to advise yourself. Your friends may have limited patience with your habit of lecturing them on their lives in order to feel better about your own, but a leather-effect notebook never complains.

Finally, this is a reminder that there are few bigger compliments (恭维) you can pay another person than to ask for their advice. Benjamin Franklin famously observed that to flatter (奉承) someone, it’s better to ask for a favour than to perform one: the favour-doer will come to think of you as the likable sort for whom they do favours.

1.Why should you be careful of those solid gold pieces of advice?

A.They may be practical.

B.They may be rewarding.

C.They may be demanding.

D.They may be conservative.

2.The examples in Paragraph 3 suggest that people giving advice    .

A.become more motivated to act

B.should turn to others for advice

C.are superior to the professionals

D.usually lack relevant knowledge

3.What does the author want to convey by mentioning Benjamin Franklin?

A.Keeping a journal is a good habit.

B.You should be polite to the favour-doers.

C.You should be patient with your listeners.

D.Asking for a favour pleases the favour-doers.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。研究表明，要小心那些说金玉良言的人，因为他们可能很保守。而一项新研究发现，提供建议的人会更有行动的动力。文章指出写日记是一个用来给自己提建议的好办法，向他人征求意见也能够取悦他人。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段Moreover, research suggests that people will generally advise you to act more cautiously than they would act themselves in a similar situation — perhaps because they don’t want to feel guilty if you take a daring leap and fall flat on your face.可知，此外，研究表明，人们通常会建议你在类似的情况下，要比他们自己更谨慎地行动——也许是因为他们不想因为你的大胆行动而感到内疚。由此可知，要小心那些金玉良言，因为他们可能很保守。故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据第三段中A new study found that American middle-school pupils were much more enthusiastic about doing their homework after giving advice on the topic to younger children, as compared with after receiving advice from teachers.可知，一项新的研究发现，与接受老师的建议相比，美国中学生在给更小的孩子提供有关家庭作业的建议后，做作业的热情要高得多。由此可推知，第3段中的例子表明，提供建议的人会更有行动的动力。故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段第一句Finally, this is a reminder that there are few bigger compliments you can pay another person than to ask for their advice.可知，最后，这是一个提醒，没有什么比征求别人的意见更能让你恭维别人的了。由此可推知，作者通过提到Benjamin Franklin是想要表达求人恩惠能够取悦施加恩惠的人。故选D。