At one point or another, you’ve probably heard someone speak with confidence on a topic that they actually know almost nothing about. This phenomenon is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, which refers to the finding that people who are relatively unskilled or unknowledgeable in a particular subject sometimes have the tendency to overestimate their knowledge and abilities.
In a set of studies, researchers Justin Kruger and David Dunning asked participants to complete tests of their skills in a particular field. Then, participants were asked to guess how well they had done on the test.
David dunning explains that “the knowledge and intelligence that are required to be good at a task are often the same qualities needed to recognize that one is not good at that task.” In other words, if someone knows very little about a particular topic, they may not even know enough about the topic to realize that their knowledge is limited. Importantly, someone may be highly skilled in one area, but be influenced by the Dunning-Kruger effect in another field.
If people who know very little about a topic think they’re experts, what do experts think of themselves? Interestingly, Dunning and Kruger found that although experts typically guessed their performance was above average, they didn’t realize quite how well they had done. They often make a different mistake:
What can people do to overcome the effect? Dunning and Kruger once had some of the participants take a logic test and then complete a short training course on logical reasoning. After the training, the participants were asked to assess how they’d done on the previous test.
The Dunning-Kruger effect suggests that we may not always know as much as we think we do.
| A．They assume that everyone else is knowledgeable, too. |
| B．Researchers found that the training made a difference. |
| C．This happens when people don’t know much about a topic. |
| D．All of them had a more accurate view of their performance. |
| E．They found that participants tended to overestimate their abilities. |
| F．This means that everyone can potentially be affected by the Dunning-Kruger effect. |
| G．In some fields, we may not know enough about a topic to realize that we are unskilled. |
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【推荐1】Sugar-free cookies, reduced-sugar cereal, sugar- free candy, diet soda...are these better for you? After sugar became a taboo(禁忌) in the nutrition and wellness world, sugar-free food items and beverages acted as substitutes for once beloved sweet drinks and snacks. Claiming to be ZERO sugar meant it was healthier, better for diabetics, and helped you slim down...Right?
Wrong. Sugar-free food isn’t better for you. In fact, it is worse.
Sugar-free means that artificial sweeteners (甜味剂) are used instead of real sugar. The problem: these sweeteners do not come from natural sources and they can cause you more harm than good.
Let’s get into what these artificial sweeteners actually are. Sugar-free sugar sounds wrong and that’s because there is no such thing as sugar-free sugar. Some of these sugar-free alternatives even contain sugar and the ones that don’t have chemicals your body often does not know how to process.
Most artificial sweeteners are a lot sweeter than sugar so only a tiny amount is needed. That’s why they can market sugar-free alternatives as “low-calorie” or “no-calorie”. It also means that you get no nutritional value from consuming them, which is why many sugar-free substitutes are classified as “non-nutritive”. These artificial sweeteners tend to hide under sneaky names. Actually, they are 200-600 times sweeter than sugar.
When you eat sweet stuff, your body continues to desire it and, even though your body cannot metabolize(新陈代谢) these sugar-free alternatives, your brain does not know the difference. In turn, sugar-free alternatives connect to weight gain and type 2 diabetes (糖尿病).
Artificial sweeteners also damage your gut’s ability to break down sugar which impacts everything you eat. In other words, your body doesn’t know how to handle artificial sweeteners because they have nothing real to process.
A good rule of thumb: stay away from artificial sweeteners and look for non-sugar, natural sweeteners like Stevia or date sugar. In the war against artificial sweeteners and real sugar, both lose. Satisfy your sweet tooth with natural sugars that come from fruits and stay away from products claiming to be sugar-free or diet!
1. What’s special about sugar-free products?| A．They don’t taste sweet. | B．They are more nutritious. |
| C．They contain artificial sweeteners. | D．They contain natural sweeteners. |
| A．They don’t produce any heat. |
| B．They contain no artificial sweetener. |
| C．Some real sugar is used. |
| D．A small amount of artificial sweetener is used. |
| A．They are as sweet as sugar. |
| B．They can be easily broken down. |
| C．They present a bigger health risk. |
| D．They improve our ability to metabolize. |
| A．Real sugar is a better choice. |
| B．Stay away from sugary products. |
| C．Sugar-free products are healthier. |
| D．Choose sugar from natural sources. |
【推荐2】Vitamin D was recognized a century ago as the cure for rickets, a childhood disease that causes weak bones. Then, in the early 2000s, a pile of studies suggested that low vitamin D levels could be a factor in cancer, cardiovascular (心血管) disease, Parkinson’s disease and so on. This simple vitamin seemed to be a cure for whatever troubled us. However, all these observational studies have a fundamental weakness: they can identify a co-occurrence between vitamin D and a disease, but they can’t prove there is a cause-and-effect relation.
To look at whether taking vitamin D had curative effects, Manson and her team started the world’s largest and most far-reaching randomized vitamin D trial. The study followed nearly 26,000 healthy adults, randomized to receive either 2,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D or a placebo (安慰剂), for an average of 5.3 years. The volunteers were almost evenly split between men and women, and 20 percent of the participants were black.
The results came as a shock. Not only did vitamin D not reduce rates of cancer or heart disease, but the trial also found that vitamin D did not prevent or improve cognitive function, or reduce the risk of bone fractures (骨折). The finding about fractures “was a real surprise to many people,” Manson says.
In 2011, the Institute of Medicine established an expert committee to conduct a thorough analysis of all existing studies on vitamin D and health. The committee concluded that the bone-strengthening benefits of vitamin D remain steady when blood levels reach 12 to 16 nanograms per millililter. They also found that there were no benefits to having levels above 20ng/ml. According to measurements of vitamin D levels in the general U. S. population, most had levels of 20 ng/ml or more in 2011. Levels have actually risen since then, meaning that most people don’t need to take extra vitamin D.
The ups and downs of vitamin D offer a lesson in humility. The relation between the vitamin and disease is far more complicated than it first seemed and a reminder that scientific understanding is always developing over time.
1. What is the problem with the early studies regarding vitamin D?| A．No related cases were involved. | B．They lack convincing evidence. |
| C．No observation was conducted. | D．They fail to account for anything. |
| A．To identify vitamin D-related disease. | B．To help solve the problems they faced. |
| C．To make their findings more reliable. | D．To show their respect for the minority. |
| A．They proved vitamin D was the cure for disease. |
| B．They revealed that vitamin D made no difference. |
| C．They came as no surprise to Manson and her team. |
| D．They updated people’s knowledge about vitamin D. |
| A．Scientific understanding is dynamic. | B．We should not believe the old theories. |
| C．Research into vitamins is worthwhile. | D．Some diseases are practically incurable. |
【推荐3】I observed one child hugging her beloved toy dog while reading a book to her friend — both she and her dog were actively turning the pages — and with every page turned, she looked down at her dog, lovingly. As a longtime educator of toddlers and a current PhD student studying transitional phenomena and object relations, I have had the pleasure to witness the presence of transitional objects in the kindergarten.
The term transitional object, coined in 195l by D.W. Winnicott, refers to any material to which a child attaches a special value and by means of which the child is able to make the necessary shift from the earliest oral relationship with mother to genuine object-relationships. It is typically something soft, such as a blanket or a soft toy, that is similar to the mother’s warm arms.
It may also be the subject of the child’s fantasies, for example where a teddy bear is spoken to, hugged, punished, etc. It thus becomes a tool for practicing interaction with the external world. Moreover, the transitional object supports the development of the self, as it is used to represent ‘not me’. By looking at the object, the child knows that it is not the object and hence something individual and separate. in this way, it helps the child develop its sense of ‘other’ things.
If the object is denied in any way, attachment difficulties may arise later in life. The object allows for and invites emotional well-being, and without such an object, true feelings may be hidden or dismissed as the child has no other means to cope with and comprehend the world. Worse still, the object is intimately bound up with the identity of the child. Taking away the object is also taking away something of the child itself.
Winnicott noted that transitional objects continue through the course of our lives, as “sacred monuments” which pull us back to “a place and time of great comfort and memory”. The attachment to certain objects like self photographs defines both memorials, and more importantly a state of connection and presence in the world.
1. How does the writer introduce the topic?| A．By sharing feelings. | B．By illustrating a term. |
| C．By relating an experience. | D．By providing background information. |
| A．Tools used by educators to aid teaching. |
| B．Items to which a child becomes deeply attached. |
| C．Toys designed to amuse kids in the kindergarten. |
| D．Expensive personal possessions gifted by parents. |
| A．Ho might lose his imagination. |
| B．He may become more independent. |
| C．He is less likely to share personal feelings. |
| D．He probably distances himself from his mother. |
| A．To introduce how to develop a sense of ‘other’ things. |
| B．To do research on the psychological development of kids. |
| C．To show how to enhance the bond between mother and child. |
| D．To stress the importance of transitional objects to children. |
【推荐1】What do you want from life? Perhaps you want to spend more time with your family, or get a more secure job, or improve your health. But why do you want those things? Chances are that your answer will come down to one thing: Happiness.
Yet there is some evidence that too much pursuit of happiness is associated with a greater risk of depression. Modern conceptions of happiness are primarily practical, focusing on what we might call the techniques of happiness. The concern is not what happiness is, but instead on how to get it.
But maximizing pleasure isn’t the only option. Every human life, even the most fortunate, is filled with pain. Painful loss, painful disappointments, the physical pain of injury or sickness, and the mental pain of long-suffering boredom, loneliness, or sadness. Pain is an unavoidable consequence of being alive. All the good things in life involve suffering. Writing a novel, running a marathon, or giving birth all cause suffering in pursuit of the final, joyous result.
There are other factors as well. In the eyes of Aristotle, we get happiness by exercising our uniquely human capabilities to think and reason. But thinking and reasoning are as much social activities as they are individual. Happiness requires others; it is not an emotional state so much as it is the excellence of the relations we cultivate with other people.
But even that cannot guarantee happiness. Aristotle recognised that our happiness is hostage（人质）to fortune. Events beyond any individual’s control—war, poverty, and global pandemics—will often make happiness impossible. Happiness is not a mental state that can be permanently won, but instead it’s a practice which we hone（磨练）, imperfectly, in circumstances only partly of our making.
Recognizing this will not secure a good life, but it will avoid the illusory（虚幻的）hope of permanent contentment. No life worth living should meet the only standard. Instead, aim with Aristotle to embrace those faults and to flower in spite of them.
1. Where can you find negative effects of focusing too much on “happiness”?| A．In paragraph 2. | B．In paragraph 3. |
| C．In paragraph 4. | D．In paragraph 5. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By analyzing causes. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By telling stories. |
| A．Happiness is a stable emotional state. |
| B．Good personal relationships lead to happiness. |
| C．Taking part in social activities guarantees happiness. |
| D．Happiness promotes independent thinking and reasoning. |
| A．Happiness is what humans pursue forever. |
| B．Happiness lies in the process of pursuing it. |
| C．Our pursuit of happiness may be imperfect. |
| D．Depression and happiness are equally important. |
【推荐2】According to Americans for the Arts, more than two-thirds of U.S. adults say that the arts “lift me up beyond everyday experiences.” Still, only 30 percent attended a concert of any type in 2017; 23 percent visited an art museum; six percent attended a literary event. Fewer than half actively created art of any kind.
What has caused this phenomenon is that we do not have time for art — we are weighed down by our day-to-day responsibilities. Maybe you like to play a little background music while you work but most of us rarely, if ever, went to see a live performance, let alone visited a gallery. And reading poetry? Perhaps not since high school.
Too often, we let the realities of life get in the way of the arts, which can feel insignificant by comparison. But this is a mistake. The arts might be the single most in-depth experience you will ever be given to explore the nature and meaning of life. And if you make time to consume and produce art, you will find your life become fuller and happier.
Some philosophers address the problem of life consumed by work and material pursuits. They argue that art provides relief from this routine, expanding our perspective and bringing us closer to true reality.
Think of a time when you heard a piece of music and wanted to cry. Or recall your fast heartbeats as you stared at a delicate lifelike sculpture. Chances are that it probably stimulated (刺激) a sudden awakening, much like the shock from a lungful of pure oxygen after breathing in smoggy air.
If you are among those who feel that art is “pure pleasure to experience and participate in,” you might see it the same way you see eating out, or skydiving: as a luxury (奢侈品) item in your limited budgets of time and money. As such, it probably gets the same sort of treatment as any minor hobby. Don’t make this error. Treat art more like exercise or sleep: a necessity for a life full of deep satisfaction.
1. What does paragraph 1 focus on?| A．The opinion of U.S. adults about art. |
| B．The types of art that U.S. adults engage with. |
| C．The mismatch between value and behaviour as to art. |
| D．The connection between everyday experiences and art. |
| A．Art reveals the nature of life. | B．Art gives way to material pursuits. |
| C．Life without art is meaningless. | D．Background music is a kind of art. |
| A．Art awakes people’s talents. | B．Art improves physical health. |
| C．Art brings us closer to nature. | D．Art makes life fuller and happier. |
| A．Art: A Habit, Not a Luxury | B．Art: A Bridge, Not a Barrier |
| C．Art: A Decoration, Not a Reality | D．Art: A Pleasure, Not a Burden |
【推荐3】Men aren’t typically known for their shopping power. As the “She economy” became a buzz phrase in business magazines, the ever-expanding Chinese female middle class has been eagerly pursued by consumer brands from cosmetics to electronics. For some companies, that means there is a huge missed opportunity in the male market, especially given the fast-rising living standards across the most populous country on the earth and a male population that’s increasingly longing for a better quality of life.
Those instincts appear to be largely on point, according to the latest report on male consumption trends conducted by Suning Institute of Finance. The author of the report, the institute’s Senior Researcher Fu Yifu, concluded the male-oriented (男性导向的) market in China has great potential after observing three specific shopping habits of Chinese men in recent years: widened category, improved awareness and increased online consumption.
These trends are particularly noticeable in the country’s tech-adapted Millennial and Gen-Z populations, who have warmly embraced some special-interest consumer culture in other parts of the world through the Internet, such as the sneakerhead subculture, as a way to express their individuality. More importantly, many are willing to spend a fortune on it.
Also, nowadays, many Chinese men are definitely looking to lead more refined lives. The desire for “refined lives” has been channeled strongly through the pursuance of a more polished look-lighter skin, longer eyelashes and bigger eyes. These features are widely considered to be desirable traits for modern Chinese men.
JACB, which stands for “just a cool brand”, is one of the Chinese start-ups looking to capitalize on men’s increasing desire for a finer appearance. While most male cosmetic products today still focus on fixing skin problems such as acne (粉刺), JACB is pioneering the “men makeup” category with products such as BB cream for men. And the company mainly targets men in their 20s and early 30s, as they are more accepting of the new trends.
“The individual’s awakening in consumption has helped drive the men-oriented market to new heights that we are seeing today,” Fu said. “Chinese men have learned to buy skincare products, expensive suits, watches and luxury cars as a way to show their personal abilities.”
1. What may have given chance to the male market?| A．Men desire to have a better quality of life. | B．Men spend more time on consumption. |
| C．Men expect to raise their living standards. | D．Men pursue some consumer brands. |
| A．They are addicted to the Internet. | B．They are eager to spend a fortune. |
| C．They are reluctant to express themselves. | D．They are keen on some consumer culture. |
| A．Educated. | B．Precise. | C．Elegant. | D．Polite. |
| A．The awakening of individual consumption. | B．The rise of male-oriented economy. |
| C．The potential of special-interest culture. | D．The desire for a finer appearance. |
