Question

    In their book, Nine Lies About Work, Buckingham and Goodall make a surprising claim: they argue that giving people feedback (反馈)－in the sense of telling them what you think they're doing right or wrong, and how to do it better-is never worthwhile. This runs counter to a current corporate trend for "radical candour", for example at Netflix where, according to recent reports, employees' failings are cruelly "sunshined" in front of others. When someone is fired, hundreds of their former colleagues might receive an email, cataloguing their flaws (缺陷). But it also contradicts an assumption most of us bring to our lives as parents and friends-that it's helpful, at least sometimes, and providing you do it nicely, to explain to people where they're making mistakes.

Buckingham and Goodall don't just claim you should keep that knowledge to yourself: they claim that you don't possess it, and that, in fact, you probably don't know how a failing employee could most effectively change. It's an old cliche (陈词滥调) of marital advice that you should use "I-statements"rather than" you-statements", telling the other person how their behaviour makes you feel, rather than attacking them for being selfish and incompetent. The standard theory is that you-statements cause people to respond defensively. But another is that you're a terrible judge of whether someone is selfish or incompetent. As Buckingham writes: "The only area in which humans are an unimpeachable (无懈可击的) source of truth is that of their own feelings and experiences."

Plenty of research shows we're particularly bad at rating people against abstract criteria, which means one common feature of workplace performance reviews- assessing whether an employee is, say, a strategic thinker or team player-is essentially pointless.We should replace this sort of judgment with "reactions". Don't tell others what you think of their skills, or how good you think they are; instead, focus on describing your experience of their work. You're no good at judging how someone else should change their approach to delivering presentations. But you're the authority on whether a given presentation was persuasive or boring to you.

And positive reactions, they show, work better than negative ones: we excel "when people who know us and care about us tell us what they experience and what they feel, and in particular when they see something within us that really works". There's a deep point here- that the best kind of praise focuses on how someone made you feel, not on evaluating their talent. Praise them for inspiring you, persuading you, or helping you grasp a complex issue. You really are the only objective judge of that.

1.The underlined word"it"in Paragraph 1 refers to"_______”.

A.giving people feedback

B.cataloguing colleagues' flaws

C.contradicting parents’ assumption

D.keeping that knowledge to yourself

2.Feedback is never worthwhile in that_________.

A.people tend to defend it

B.it is based on theory and truth

C.it is subjective and lacks uniqueness

D.people will effectively change themselves

3.Which of the following is the most appropriate to comment on others?

A."You have done a good job in the mid-term exams."

B."I am inspired by the creative ideas in your presentation.

C."You just think of yourself,but never care about others."

D."I'm sorry to say you have failed to meet my expectations."

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。Buckingham和Goodall在他们的书Nine Lies About Work中提出：从告诉他们你认为他们做的是对是错的意义上讲，人们的反馈是没有价值的。这与当前“激进坦率”的共同趋势背道而驰。

1.词义猜测题。根据下划线单词后的to explain to people where they're making mistakes可知，向人们解释他们在哪里犯错。因此it指代的是向人们解释他们在哪里犯错；根据第一段they argue that giving people feedback (反馈)－in the sense of telling them what you think they're doing right or wrong, and how to do it better-is never worthwhile.可知，他们认为，从告诉他们你认为他们做的是对是错的意义上讲，人们的反馈是没有价值的。因此，向人们解释他们在哪里犯错是在做反馈。所以，it指代的是给人们反馈。故选A。

2.推理判断题。根据第二段Buckingham and Goodall don't just claim you should keep that knowledge to yourself: they claim that you don't possess it, and that, in fact, you probably don't know how a failing employee could most effectively change.可知，Buckingham和Goodall不是只认为你应该对这些内容保密，他们认为你并不拥有这些内容。事实上，你可能不知道一个失败的员工如何才能最有效地改变。由此可知，他们认为反馈是主观的，只是说话者自己的观点；根据第三段Plenty of research shows we're particularly bad at rating people against abstract criteria, which means one common feature of workplace performance reviews- assessing whether an employee is, say, a strategic thinker or team player-is essentially pointless可知，大量研究显示，我们特别不擅长用抽象的标准来评价人，这就意味着，本质上，评估员工是否是战略思考者或团队成员，这样的具有共性的工作场所绩效评估都有是毫无意义的。由此由此可知，反馈是相同的，缺乏独特性。所以，反馈没有价值是因为它是主观的，缺乏独特性。故选C。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段There's a deep point here- that the best kind of praise focuses on how someone made you feel, not on evaluating their talent. Praise them for inspiring you, persuading you, or helping you grasp a complex issue.可知，有一个很重要的点：最好的赞美专注于某人给你的感觉上，而不是评价他们的才能。赞扬他们鼓舞你，说服你，或帮助你理解了一个复杂的问题。因此，B选项“你演讲中的创意给了我灵感。”是对别人最合适的评论。故选B。