In the late 1960s, the anthropologist (人类学家) Edmund Carpenter arrived in New Cuinea armed with mirrors, videos and Polaroid cameras, and a mission: to disrupt (扰乱) the minds of members of the Biami tribe, who had never seen full reflections or images of themselves. "After their first astonished response---covering their mouths and ducking their heads---they stood frozen, staring at their images." Carpenter's devices disturb that inner image, causing discomfort. But not for long. Within days, the villagers groomed (打扮) themselves openly before mirrors and began taking Polaroid shots of each other.
It's unclear if the People of Biami were really as unfamiliar with mirrors as Carpenter thought. But in any case, what's striking isn't how strange their reaction seems, but how related. Do you know how it feels when you make a pleasant remark in a lift, but nobody responds? Or when two people greeting each other misjudge whether to go for a handshake, a hug or a social kiss? That's the same awkwardness: "self-consciousness tinged with uncertainty", as Dahl defines it. Suddenly, I see I'm viewed not as a friendly conversationalist, but as a strange person who talks in the lift.
As awkwardness feels unpleasant, it's natural to want to overcome it. Dahl's initial motivation for writing her book Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness, was to get over her own awkwardness. But after a journey through various awkward experiences, she makes a persuasive case for celebrating it. We live in an era with more opportunities than ever to do so. But awkwardness breaks that false appearance, exposing the imperfect life behind it. It creates a strange kind of social bond---how much in common we have when seeing that behind the disguise (伪装) ---we're all just trying our best to seem perfect.
The awkward you, then, are the real you, the one without the defensive performance. Dahl even indicates that taking a friendlier attitude toward awkwardness might help us make the connections with people holding different ideas.
1. How did the people of Biami feel when they first saw themselves in the mirror?A.Shocked at their reflections. |
B.Satisfied with their images. |
C.Curious about their look. |
D.Ashamed of their appearance. |
A.You slip over just to the face of your girl in dream. |
B.You are caught cheating but get nothing in an exam. |
C.You are found standing in pubic with your trousers zip open. |
D.You're refused when offering your seat to a seemingly pregnant woman. |
A.Not knowing anything novel. |
B.Seeking perfection. |
C.Avoiding pressure from others. |
D.Lacking courage to face some problems. |
A.Treat others in a friendly way. |
B.Connect with your friends regularly. |
C.Express yourself honestly with no defensive cover. |
D.Get ready to guard against any threat from others. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】We all want to be successful in our work. But what happens when our success comes at the risk of losing important friendships? If your friends didn't receive what they were hoping for, your success could make them feel uncomfortable.But does that mean we shouldn't enjoy our achievements in case we displease someone or that we should feel sorry for being successful while others aren't?
Those of us who value friendships might feel embarrassed for achieving more than our friends .But we deserve(应得)our success,and nothing should take it away. Jealousy (嫉妒) is only natural,but it's often unreasonable,too. Your success is probably not connected with your friends' progress,so you shouldn't feel bad about achieving your goals. If your friends stay unfriendly,don't be afraid to keep yourself away from them. You are not responsible for their weaknesses.
On the other hand,your friends may think highly of your recent success while hiding their real feelings. They could be jealous,angry or sad that they are not progressing at the same rate. So,be careful not to talk big. It's a thin line between pride and overconfident,and by crossing the line,you may risk losing team support.
Next time you want to boast about your endof year win,or highclass new office,consider your listeners. Maybe your friends narrowly missed out on a position raising,or experienced pay cuts which meant they didn't get what they were expecting. If your work is on a rising path,it doesn't mean that's the case for everyone.
Perhaps a step forward in your work has meant that you don't spend as much time with your friends as you used to. If you've changed a job. or moved to a new office,take the time to stay in touch with old friends. Don't let that hard work go to waste by losing touch with them.
1. The author starts the passage with two questions to ________.A.lead to the topic of the text | B.show his writing purpose |
C.tell us the problem between friends | D.explain how to make friends |
A.our success will certainly hurt our friends |
B.we could enjoy our success |
C.friends will surely help us make progress. |
D.our success is linked to our friends' progress. |
A.How to avoid hurting a friend. |
B.How to keep relationships between friends. |
C.How to enjoy success to the fullest.. |
D.How to share our success with friends |
A.We should feel sorry for being successful while our friends aren't. |
B.If our friends support our success we should consider their feelings. |
C.When we achieve great success,we should make our friends proud of us. |
D.When we achieve great success,we also can help friends make progress. |
【推荐2】Jeffrey Hall, a teacher of Communications from the University of Kansas (KU), has used his research to define the exact amount of time necessary to make friends with someone. He’s also found how long it will take to deepen a relationship. His new study found that it takes around 50 hours of time together to go from being someone’s acquaintance to casual friend. It takes about 90 hours to go from being casual friends to friends, and more than 200 hours before considering someone a close friend or best friend.
But it isn’t spending just any kind of time together that deepens a friendship—hours spent working together, for example, don’t count as much as hours spent getting to know someone by hanging out, joking around, playing video games, and doing more playful activities. The study explains that these kinds of activities help us to form a deeper connection with someone. “We have to put that time in,” Hall said. “You can’t make friends without any effort.”
The results of the study come from analysis of 355 responses to an online survey from adults who said they had moved in the last six months and were looking for new friends in their new environment. Survey participants were asked about new relationships as well as hours spent together and activities they did. They were then asked to rate their resulting relationships according to the depth of their friendship.
The main conclusion that Hall came to is that making close friends takes serious effort. So if you want to have some best friends, you have to know that spending time with someone is the most important thing.
1. Which of the four stages shows the deepest friendship?A.Acquaintances. | B.Casual friends. |
C.Friends. | D.Close friends. |
A.Hanging out. | B.Joking around. |
C.Playing video games. | D.Working together. |
A.By doing an online survey. | B.By interviewing 355 adults. |
C.By performing a lab experiment. | D.By making a six-month study. |
A.A friend in need is a friend indeed. | B.Friends are thieves of time. |
C.Friends are easier lost than found. | D.A friend is a second self. |
【推荐3】I once met a well-known botanist at a dinner party. I had never talked with a botanist before, and I found him very interesting. I sat there absorbed and listened while he spoke of unusual plants and his experiments (he even told me astonishing facts about the simple potato). I had a small indoor garden of my own—and he was good enough to tell me how to solve some of my problems.
As I said, we were at a dinner party. There must have been a dozen other guests, but I broke an important rule of politeness. I ignored everyone else and talked for hours to the botanist.
Midnight came. I said good night to everyone and departed. The botanist then turned to our host and said many nice things about me, including that I was a “most interesting conversationalist”.
An interesting conversationalist? I had said hardly anything at all. I couldn’t have said anything if I had wanted to without changing the subject, for I didn’t know any more about plants than I knew about sharks. But I had done this one thing; I had listened carefully. I listened because I was really interested. And he felt it. Naturally that pleased him. That kind of listening is one of the best ways to show respect to others, and it makes them feel great too. “Few human beings,” wrote Jack Woodford in Strangers in Love, “can resist the sweet effect of rapt(全神贯注的) attention.” I went even further than that. I was “sincere in my admiration and generous in my praise”. I told him that I had been hugely entertained and instructed. I told him I wished I had his knowledge. I told him that I should love to wander the fields with him. What’s more, it was all true.
And so I had him thinking of me as a good conversationalist when, in reality, I had only been a good listener and had encouraged him to talk.
1. From Paragraph 1, we can learn that the writer__________.A.was deeply moved by the botanist’s talk | B.behaved politely and properly |
C.was not in a comfortable situation | D.was amazed by what he was hearing |
A.Giving attention to all those in attendance. |
B.Listening carefully to what another guest says. |
C.Arriving and leaving at the appropriate time. |
D.Avoiding discussions about politics and religion. |
A.Encouraging the other side by sharing his/her own opinions. |
B.Listening attentively and encouraging the other side to continue. |
C.Promising a future meeting for more communication. |
D.Expressing respect by nodding his/her head |
【推荐1】Maijlis Jonsson is a 73-year-old living in the centre of Sweden's capital Stockholm. She leads an active life with her friends, travelling around the city and meeting in coffee shops. However, one issue causes her stress.
Sweden has been steadily moving towards a completely cashless society for a number of years. Cash is now used in less than one in five of all cash transactions(交易) in stores—half the number as five years ago. The law says shops can refuse to accept cash. Life can be hard for those unwilling or unable to adapt to the changes. Not everyone hates cash. Majlis Jonsson is one such person. She must go to a bank in order to pay her friend back for a train ticket bought digitally. “I just don't know how to do it."
Niklas Arvidsson, Sweden's leading expert on the payment system, acknowledges that some people are in danger of being left behind, like the elderly. “We've also got a problem with smaller businessmen in rural areas where perhaps the telecommunication systems are not working," he says.
Is Sweden benefiting from all this? According to Arvidsson, it is. “Electronic transactions are quicker and cost less in general and make the payment system more efficient." He also points out that “it is a little bit more difficult in general for the people to get away with not paying taxes or making small thefts without cash."
Of course, with an increase in digital transactions, the question of data security comes into play. As we freefall through an increasingly virtual world—and payments over the cloud instead of payments with paper—who has access to our information? It is a global problem with no easy solution.
But Arvidsson remains largely positive about cashless transactions. “It's like a virtual infrastructure is being built... if a highway or a railroad has the capacity to bring people in business closer and increase output, the same thing will happen with technology. I really do believe that once the technology genie is out of the bottle, how do you put it back?"
1. What upsets Majlis Josson?A.She has to pay without cash. |
B.She owes her friend some money. |
C.She has to draw money from the bank. |
D.She knows little about the mobile phone. |
A.They help reduce some illegal acts. |
B.They make paying taxes convenient. |
C.They improve telecommunication systems. |
D.They save the cost of printing paper money. |
A.They will charge extra fees. |
B.They will stimulate overspend. |
C.They will pose a threat to data security. |
D.They will destroy the computer system. |
A.By using study results. |
B.By providing examples. |
C.By making a comparison. |
D.By quoting a famous saying. |
【推荐2】Flooded by more information than we can possibly hold in our heads, we’re increasingly shifting from the job of remembering to search engines and smartphones. Google is even reportedly working on eyeglasses that could one day recognize faces and supply details about whoever you’re looking at. But new research shows that outsourcing our memory -- and expecting that information will be continually and immediately available--- is changing our cognitive habits.
Research conducted by Betsy Sparrow, an assistant professor of psychology at Columbia University, has identified three new realities about how we process information in the Internet age. First, her experiments have shown that when we don’t know the answer to a question, we now think about where we can find the nearest Web connection instead of the subject of the question itself. A second revelation is that when we expect to be able to find certain information again later on, we don’t remember it as well as when we think it might become unavailable. And then there is the researchers’ final observation: the expectation that we’ll be able to locate information down the line leads us to form a memory not of the fact itself but of where we’ll be able to find it.
But this shift comes with a downside. Skills like critical thinking and analysis must develop in the context of facts: we need something to think and reason about, after all. And these facts can’t be Googled as we go; they need to be stored in our internal long-term memory. Especially in the case of children, “factual knowledge must precede skill” says Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology, at the University of Virginia -- meaning that the days of drilling the multiplication table and memorizing the names of the Presidents aren’t over quite yet. Adults, too, need to recruit a supply of stored knowledge in order to situate and evaluate the new information they encounter. You can’t Google context.
1. According to the passage, the term “cognitive habits” (Paragraph 1) refers to __________.A.how we deal with information |
B.where we locate information |
C.what we think of information |
D.how we get rid of information |
A.We remember people and things as much as before. |
B.We remember more internet connections than before. |
C.We pay equal attention to the location and content of information. |
D.We tend to remember where we can locate information rather than the core facts themselves. |
A.function as a form of our external memory |
B.improve our ability to remember things. |
C.help us see human faces betters |
D.work like smartphones |
A.Web connections aid our memory. |
B.People differ in what they remember. |
C.People store memories on smartphones. |
D.People should exercise their memory more. |
【推荐3】After years of observing human nature, I have decided that two qualities make the difference between men of great achievement and men of average performance: curiosity and discontent. I have never known an outstanding man who lacked (缺乏) either. And I have never known an average man who had both. The two belong together.
Fortunately, curiosity and discontent don’t have to be learned. We are born with them and need only recapture them. Just like what Mencius (孟子) said, “The great man is he who does not lose his child’s heart.” Yet most of us do lose it. We stop asking questions. We stop challenging custom. We just follow the crowd. And the crowd desires only the calm and restful average which encourages us to occupy our own little corner and avoid falling into the dark, to be satisfied. Most of us meet new people, and new ideas, with hesitation. But once having met and liked them, we think how terrible it would have been. We will probably have to force ourselves to waken our curiosity and discontent.
How should you start so as not to become discouraged? One way to begin is to answer your own excuses. You don’t have any special ability? Most people don’t; there are only a few geniuses. You haven’t any time? That’s good, because it’s always the people with no time who get things done. Harriet Stowe, mother of six, wrote parts of Uncle Tom’s Cabin while cooking. You’re too old? Remember that Thomas Costain was 57 when he published his first novel, and that Grandma Moses showed her first pictures when she was 78.
However you start, remember there is no better time to start than right now, for you’ll never be more alive than you are at this moment.
1. What sets outstanding people apart from average people according to the author?A.Curiosity. | B.Discontent. |
C.Curiosity and discontent. | D.Calm and restful average. |
A.Regain. | B.Retell. | C.Replace. | D.Reduce. |
A.There are few geniuses in the world. |
B.Time is a most important factor in doing things. |
C.Some people succeeded after years of hard work. |
D.One way to take action is to stop making any excuses. |
A.To inspire us to work hard. |
B.To inform us the keys to achievement. |
C.To tell us curious minds never feel satisfied. |
D.To introduce the importance of curiosity and discontent. |
【推荐1】The wonders of ancient Egypt have drawn visitors for thousands of years. Astonishing temples, pyramids and legendary pharaohs are its timeless legacy. Smithsonian Journeys will be your best choice if you want to visit Ancient Egypt. It would be a great tour as you would be viewing the only remaining structure of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. The Pyramids, Temples and Tombs are amazing works that make you wonder just how these magnificent structures were built thousands of years ago! However, there is so much more with Smithsonian Journeys! Join us on this new tour to discover Egypt’s mysteries.
What Is Provided With Your Tour
Pre-tour information, including a reading list;
Luggage handling for one bag per person;
All on-tour transportation, unless otherwise noted;
All accommodations and meals during the tour;
All sightseeing and visits.
A Note about Costs
This journey will cost you about $5000. All prices are based on two persons sharing a room. All prices are quoted in U.S. dollars. Tour costs are based upon current airfares, tariffs, currency values. While we will do everything possible to maintain the listed prices, they are subject to change. Due to fluctuations in oil prices, a fuel surcharge may be added to your tour fee(e.g. internal flights, cruises, etC.). Details will be advised prior to departure.
Registration
To submit a reservation request, please use our secure online system at Smithsonian Journeys. Org or contact a Cultural Travel Specialist, at 1-855-330-1542 Mon—Fri 9 am—6 pm. Submitting an online request does not guarantee space on a tour. You will be notified by a Reservation Specialist of your status once your request has been received and processed.
1. What will be offered for the tour?A.A bag for each person. | B.Room sand meals. |
C.Pre-tour transportation. | D.A book for entertainment. |
A.Oil price may change. | B.Room type may be altered. |
C.Way of payment is uncertain. | D.The number of travelers varies. |
A.When you submit your request online. |
B.When you log in a secure online system. |
C.When your request is received and processed. |
D.When you send an email to apply for a space on a tour. |
【推荐2】Yawning is something we all do—maybe because we’re bored carrying out tedious tasks or because we’re tired. Sometimes, just seeing other people yawn can set you off. But is this biological function really contagious, and why do we do it in the first place?
Many of us think we open our mouths when we yawn to take in more oxygen, but in fact it appears there is no clear biological reason. A new research suggests it might be because yawning cools the brain down and prevents it from overheating, much like the fan in your laptop. This might be why we’re more likely to feel drowsy and yawn in warm temperatures.
What is clear is that we yawn more when we’re exhausted and ready for a nap, and we can’t control when we do it—once we start, there’s no stopping us! But it’s also true that yawning is a very contagious behaviour. John Drury, a researcher from Sussex University, told the BBC that “dogs yawn when their owners yawn. Animals yawn to each other. It happens whether you want to or not.”
His research into this cognitive behaviour found that there is a connection with our social group and how close we are to the people in it. If we identify with the person who exhibits the behaviour, we are likely to copy it too.
Other researches by the University of Nottingham in 2017 found similar results. They asked volunteers to watch other people yawn. They found their ability to resist yawning when others around them yawned was limited. And the urge to yawn was increased when people were told they couldn’t. They also found, when using electrical stimulation(刺激), that they were able to increase people’s desire to yawn. These findings, they say, could be useful because it could help treat other conditions like Tourette’s, which involve the same area of the brain.
1. According to the new research, why are we more likely to yawn in warm temperatures?A.Because we need to breathe more oxygen. |
B.Because we are more likely to feel tired. |
C.Because we need to make the brain cooler. |
D.Because we are more likely to feel bored. |
A.Powerful. | B.Infectious. | C.Similar. | D.Influential. |
A.They will have stronger desire to yawn. |
B.They will immediately stop yawning. |
C.They will yawn less than before. |
D.They will yawn more lightly. |
A.A novel. | B.A diary. | C.A magazine. | D.A handbook. |
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1. How much should people pay for a month if they buy the newspaper for a half year?
A.About $ 22. 7. | B.About $ 25. |
C.About $ 25. 3. | D.About $ 26. 2. |
A.Send an email or print a note. |
B.Enter “edit your shopping cart". |
C.Enter the gift giver's address. |
D.Add the magazine to their cart. |
A.Make some money. |
B.Get recent news. |
C.Take daily pictures. |
D.Learn simple formats. |
A.An advertisement. | B.An introduction. |
C.A report. | D.An announcement. |
【推荐1】When my mother died a few years ago,we looked through boxes in which she had lovingly stored her children’s lives. Handwritten report cards from grade schoo1. News cuttings about games. Postcards from summer camps. And so many photos:birthdays,graduations,weddings and trips to wonderful places.
After my father’s death,I found many handwritten pity letters from his friends. Rereading them once a year,I am transported back to the time I miss so much. Of course,I received many emails about Dad as well,but I wouldn’t begin to know how or where to find them. Besides,personal messages are more meaningful when presented in the hand of the sender.
My kids,now in their 20s,have mostly digital keepsakes. Increasingly they rely on Facebook to store memories. Their letters from college,sent by email,are long gone. Many photos,never printed,have disappeared. I really worry that for them.
In Andrew Hoskins’new book Digital Memory Studies,he concludes,“Despite the gradual disappearance of photographs,letters and other objects that are reminders of people and past experiences,their keeping is like holding on to those people and experiences. ”Digital items offer nothing of the kind.
Mark B. McKinley explained that collecting physical memorabilia(值得纪念的事物)can serve as a means of control to bring out a comfort zone in one’s life,calming fears and easing worries. It’s no wonder that children are fond of collecting things—it's important to their development.
One mother says,“My Son collects pieces of broken stones. ”The kid might become a great geologist or a successful businessman. But will his mom print out a photo of that unique collection? Will his degree in geology be memorialized on paper,or will he be given a digital diploma? And will he collect his first paycheck or will he be paid by direct deposit?
1. What can be concluded from the first three paragraphs?A.People don’t collect physical objects. |
B.Hard copies fail to preserve our memory. |
C.Physical objects aren’t collected for memory. |
D.Memories are stored on the Internet forever. |
A.He is against it. |
B.He is hopeful about it. |
C.He is confused about it. |
D.He doesn’t care about it. |
A.It cures their illnesses. |
B.It makes them feel relaxed. |
C.It keeps their life under contro1. |
D.It helps them lead a comfortable life. |
A.To explain a unique collection. |
B.To offer direct support to the boy. |
C.To encourage readers to share their ideas. |
D.To show her worry about the loss of collecting. |
【推荐2】I know what you’re thinking: pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a. m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip breakfast, and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time. others think they’re “saving” calories, still others just don’t like breakfast food .
But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking, R., D., who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast at all, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers---it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow,” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.
1. What can we infer from the text?A.Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
B.Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
C.There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
D.Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
A.eat something for breakfast | B.be careful about what you eat |
C.heat up food before eating it | D.eat calorie-controlled food |
A.who go to work early | B.who stay up late |
C.who want to lose weight | D.who eat before sleep |
【推荐3】Would it surprise you to learn that, like animals, trees communicate with each other and pass on their wealth to the next generation?
UBC Professor Simard explains how trees are much more complex than most of us ever imagined. Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard shows just how wrong he was. In fact, the opposite is true: trees survive through their cooperation and support, passing around necessary nutrition “depending on who needs it”.
Nitrogen (氮) and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi (真菌) networks, making sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This hidden system works in a very similar way to the networks of neurons (神经元) in our brains, and when one tree is destroyed, it affects all. Simard talks about “mother trees”, usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend. She explains how dying trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow. When humans cut down “mother trees” with no awareness of these highly complex “tree societies” or the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances of survival for the entire forest “We didn’t take any notice of it.” Simard says sadly. “Dying trees move nutrition into the young trees before dying, but we never give them chance.” If we could put across the message to the forestry industry, we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.
1. The underlined sentence “the opposite is true” in Paragraph 2 probably means that trees ________.A.compete for survival | B.protect their own wealth |
C.depend on each other | D.provide support for dying trees |
A.look the largest in size in the forest |
B.pass on nutrition to young trees |
C.seem more likely to be cut down by humans |
D.know more about the complex “tree societies” |
A.how “tree societies” work | B.how trees grow old |
C.how forestry industry develops | D.how young trees survive |
A.Old Trees Communicate Like Humans |
B.Young Trees are In Need Of Protection |
C.Trees Are More Awesome Than You Think |
D.Trees Contribute To Our Society |