I confess I hesitated when the editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine told me in late 2014 that I would be editing a new front-of-book column called Letter of Recommendation, about stuff people really like. The column was the brainchild of our staff writer, Sam Anderson, he explained. Sam figured that there was no shortage of places to find out what writers hate but few spaces for writers to talk about what they love. We would push against this trend, 900 words a week, 40-something times per year.
The reason for my hesitation was a simple, unfortunate fact about writing. Writing about things you hate is easy: not just fun, but generative. The criticism tends to entertain, even if you disagree, but the ode doesn't. The writerly tone is well-suited to our age, but it's hard not to see it as a collective defense mechanism—as if revealing your true feelings exposes your unmentionable secrets to the public. Obsessions（喜欢）, meanwhile, are inseparable from our peculiarities as people—we come to love things for often weird reasons. When the column really works, it's as revealing about the author as it is its subject. One writer, a man in his late 30s, for example, recommended Pedialyte, which he drinks to balance the effects of both drinking and exercise, and to cheat his way back to youth.
I probably see somewhere between three and five Letter of Recommendation pitches a day. It's a great spot for trying out new writers in the magazine, so I try my best to keep up with all the email, but I often fail.（I feel genuinely terrible about this every day of my life.） Determining which to assign involves seeing how it meets the various criteria we've settled on over the years. We don't like the column to be timely—everything else in the world is timely. But on the other hand, we need to put a headline on the thing that people might reasonably recognize, stop and read about. There should be a personal angle to the recommendation, but also some universally recommendable aspect. But then again, it shouldn't be too recommendable; this isn't a column for lifehacks. The recommendation itself should be attractively unexpected—"sideways," as editors are perhaps too fond of saying—but really, it's just an excuse to cut brilliant writers loose to amuse or inspire us.
1. Sam Anderson proposed a column called Letter of Recommendation because he found ________.| A．the fashion trend was not easy to push against |
| B．there was a shortage of good quality columns |
| C．writers could hardly find a place to share their likes |
| D．his brainchild could sometimes increase readership |
| A．praise | B．blame | C．hesitation | D．determination |
| A．To give an example of the writerly tone. |
| B．To highlight the way that the column selects writers. |
| C．To show how a collective defense mechanism works. |
| D．To illustrate how writers reveal themselves in the column. |
| A．the recommended items are quite familiar to readers |
| B．the recommended items should follow the latest trend |
| C．readers can learn about life skills from the recommendations |
| D．readers will find the recommendations beyond their expectation |
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【推荐1】Since I learned that shoppers who do less research are happier with their purchases (购买的东西), I’ve been proud of my “good enough” method of shopping. Unlike my husband, who does weeks of research, looking at various choices, and weighing his preferences compared to costs, I always buy the first item I come across that fits my needs and price range.
According to Barry Schwartz, author of the book The Paradox of Choice, my method of shopping is called “satisficing,” while my husband engages in (参与) “maximizing.” Maximizers want the best and believe that there’s a perfect one of whatever they’re looking for. Satisficers, on the other hand, focus on what will be good enough to meet their minimum (最低的) standards.
I recently purchased a desk chair. I wanted one that offered more lumbar (腰部的) support, so I went to a store and picked out a chair that felt comfortable and was within my price range. I was happy with my purchase for six months, until the day I put just a little weight on the back of the chair, and it broke. Turned out that the chair’s back was made of particle board and it was just a matter of time before some weight broke the board. Now I have to buy a new one. It would have been less expensive if I’d researched various chairs, even if I’d ended up with a pricier chair.
While I am very much a satisficer, there are purchases that bring out the maximizer in me. One of them is blank notebooks. Recently I spent nearly two hours looking through the notebooks at a store to find the perfect one for a creative project. While I could use any notebook to take notes and draw pictures, the one I found fitted the project I had in mind.
While I’m always glad to be a satisficer, I admit my satisficing ways can sometimes prevent me from getting the satisfaction of finding exactly what I want. I know making sure that I raise my standards and get the enjoyment of finding the right choice for me will help me to enjoy the best of both worlds.
1. What can we learn about the author from paragraph 1?| A．She dislikes shopping at all. |
| B．She wants every purchase to be perfect. |
| C．She is proud of every choice she has made. |
| D．She is a quick decision-maker when shopping. |
| A．To suggest that satisficing can save time. |
| B．To show that satisficing can often be silly. |
| C．To show that satisficing can be expensive. |
| D．To prove that satisficing can bring happiness. |
| A．She regretted buying it. | B．She felt satisfied with it. |
| C．She thought it was affordable. | D．She found it was not good enough. |
| A．It pays to be a patient shopper. |
| B．Shopping can provide pleasure. |
| C．Spending wisely saves one trouble. |
| D．One never wastes time on what to buy. |
【推荐2】For most of my life, I didn’t like being seen. I went bright red when it was my turn to speak in a group. I hated the teacher asking me something. I even didn’t like my family all looking at me! I often tried to hide away and avoid being seen by others! So, it’s not strange that I feared speaking in front of others.
Luckily, I’ve learned to overcome my problem. Now I love helping others who have the same problem that I once had but want to speak up because they have valuable things to share. I particularly love helping entrepreneurs (企业家) to become more confident. When you help a leader, the impact is so much greater.
Over the years I’ve discovered that there are three main problems that people have when it comes to speaking in public. The first is a lack of selfbelief. They doubt themselves and question whether what they have to say is valuable. The second is a fear of being seen as arrogant (傲慢的). The third is a fear of rejection or a fear of not being liked.
All of these problems are related to mindset, specifically, a fearbased mindset, which is common. These fears stop people from stepping up as the leader and influencer they were born to be.
If you want to become a more effective influencer, it is so important to work on any fears you have of judgment or rejection. They will be a ball and chain that will hold you back from success. We need to take action despite feeling fear. We can’t wait for the fear to go away as it won’t go away itself. We have to act while we still feel it. And to overcome fears, we should practice. Confidence is attached to progress, and we only progress if we practice. If you don’t feel you’re progressing, you’ll start to lose your confidence and stay stuck in fear.
1. What does the author like doing now?| A．Giving speeches in front of people. |
| B．Sharing experiences with her followers. |
| C．Making friends with famous entrepreneurs. |
| D．Helping others gain confidence in speaking in public. |
| A．They are very difficult to overcome. |
| B．They lead to a very uncommon mindset. |
| C．They exist mainly because of people’s fears. |
| D．They are no problem for leaders or influencers. |
| A．Wait for the fear to disappear. |
| B．Avoid failure to become more confident. |
| C．Refuse judgment or rejection from others. |
| D．Practice hard to make progress in spite of fears. |
| A．Finding the Courage Inside You |
| B．Becoming a more Influential Person |
| C．Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking |
| D．Expressing Your Ideas more Effectively |
【推荐3】Once when I was facing a decision of high risk, I went to a friend. He looked at me for a moment, and then wrote a sentence containing the best advice I’ve ever had: Be bold and brave——and mighty forces will come to your aid.
Those words made me see clearly that when I had fallen short in the past, it was seldom because I had tried and failed. It was usually because I had let fear of failure stop me from trying at all. On the other hand, whenever I had plunged into deep water, forced by courage or circumstance, I had always been able to swim until I got my feet on the ground again.
Boldness means a decision to bite off more than you can eat. And there is nothing mysterious about the mighty forces. They are potential powers we possess: energy, skill, sound judgment, creative ideas — even physical strength greater than most of us realize.
Admittedly, those mighty forces are spiritual ones. But they are more important than physical ones. A college classmate of mine, Tim, was an excellent football player, even though he weighed much less than the average player. “In one game I suddenly found myself confronting a huge player, who had nothing but me between him and our goal line,” said Tim. “I was so frightened that I closed my eyes and desperately threw myself at that guy like a bullet — and stopped him cold.”
Boldness — a willingness to extend yourself to the extreme—is not one that can be acquired overnight. But it can be taught to children and developed in adults. Confidence builds up. Surely, there will be setbacks and disappointments in life; boldness in itself is no guarantee of success. But the person who tries to do something and fails is a lot better off than the person who tries to do nothing and succeeds.
So, always try to live a little bit beyond your abilities—and you’ll find your abilities are greater than you ever dreamed.
1. Why was the author sometimes unable to reach his goal in the past?| A．He faced huge risks. | B．He tried and failed. |
| C．He was afraid of failure. | D．He was not forced by courage. |
| A．His physical strength. | B．His spiritual force. |
| C．His hard work and skills. | D．His passion for football. |
| A．He might do things in an extreme way. | B．He can build up confidence overnight. |
| C．He might try to do something and fail. | D．He might try to do nothing and succeed. |
| A．To encourage people to be courageous. | B．To advise people to build up physical power. |
| C．To tell people the ways to guarantee success. | D．To recommend people to develop more abilities. |
【推荐1】A friend of mine, in response to a conversation we were having about the injustices of life, asked me the question, “Who said life was going to be fair, or that it was even meant to be fair?” Her question was a good one. It reminded me of something I was taught as a youngster: life isn’t fair. It’s a disappointment, but it’s absolutely true. One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be. It’s not and it won’t be.
One of the nice things about surrendering (屈服于) to the fact that life isn’t fair is that it keeps us from feeling sorry for ourselves by encouraging us to do the very best we can with what we have. We know it’s not “life’s job” to make everything perfect: it’s our own challenge. Surrendering to this fact also keeps us from feeling sorry for others because we are reminded that everyone is dealt a different hand; everyone has unique strengths and problems in the process of growing up, facing the reality and making decisions; and everyone has those times that they feel unfairly treated.
The fact that life isn’t fair doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything in our power to improve our own lives or the world as a whole. To the contrary, it suggests that we should. When we don’t recognize or admit that life isn’t fair, we tend to feel pity for others and for ourselves. Pity, of course, is a self-defeating emotion that does nothing for anyone, except to make everyone feel worse than they already do. When we do recognize that life isn’t fair, however, we feel compassion for others and for ourselves. And compassion is a heartfelt emotion that delivers loving-kindness to everyone it touches. The next time you find yourself thinking about the injustices of the world, try reminding yourself of this very basic fact. You may be surprised that it can make you out of self-pity and into helpful action.
1. The author thought of his friend’s question as a good one, because ________.| A．he also wanted to know who held such an opinion | B．it made him recall something during his childhood |
| C．like his friend, he also thought life was unfair | D．he learned something from the question as a youngster |
| A．keep us from making everything perfect | B．keep us from doing everything in our power |
| C．make us face challenges in the life bravely | D．make us know it’s our duty to perfect things |
| A．it’s nice to accept the injustice of life | B．it’s nice to surrender to the life |
| C．we should not surrender to the life | D．we should not feel sorry for ourselves |
| A．you should not pity for others | B．life isn’t and won’t be fair |
| C．sympathy is a heartfelt emotion | D．pity is a self-defeating emotion |
| A．positive | B．negative | C．Self-pity | D．indifferent |
【推荐2】I am rather good at using maps. But I forgot the maps and here we were, late afternoon, last day of holiday, my daughter, my cousin and I, driving along a two-lane highway in Oregon. No other car in sight, and the sun had just gone down. Where was that sweet little village?
It was supposed to be right along this river. We drove on, farther into the unknown river always at left as our guide. We kept passing farms and fields and now a few lights were coming out. In my head, I was doing a lot of self-criticism: Why didn’t we start earlier, bring the map and so on? My cousin and I were both impatient and stressed. My daughter, at least, was happy in the back seat, texting a friend. I pulled up on the shoulder of the road to think.
Just the — Wow! Amazing! A new scene appeared. Where did it come from?
Right there, out of nowhere: a magical misty landscape. Fields stretched in silent purple, with rows of tall trees, darkening in the dusk. I turned the car engine off. All was silent in the hot summer air. Beside us, a plum-covered river hardly moved between a border of trees, its dark lazy water reflecting the last light of day.
How breathtaking! Where had it been? If I had seen even a bit of beauty while driving along, I could have stopped and taken a look. I had missed it all.
We miss a lot, almost everything, in fact, in our world. Our task-focused filters (过滤器)takes care of that, selecting only what we need. We need to get to work. Have some lunch. We see what we need to see, often for purposes of survival. Gregory Bateson, speaking of beauty, said the judgment is selection of a fact. In our daily lives, who or what is doing the selecting? Can we make a change? Can we see further?
1. Where might the author be heading for?| A．A tourist attraction. | B．A destination of his holiday. |
| C．Her own home. | D．Her cousin farm. |
| A．That the holiday is unexpectedly tiring and boring. |
| B．That she hadn’t been well prepared got her cousin annoyed. |
| C．That lack of full preparation made her lose her way. |
| D．That there was no familiar river in sight. |
| A．she discovered a tourist spot unknown to others |
| B．she finally reached what she had intended |
| C．the right route to her destination was close |
| D．her carelessness brought an unexpected pleasure |
| A．Slow down your pace and enjoy the beauty in life. |
| B．Stay calm even if trapped in trouble. |
| C．Keep positive because everything has a way out. |
| D．Adjust your plan for the purpose of pleasure. |
【推荐3】It is early 5:30 a. m. I am seated in a restaurant near my gate, considering breakfast. You are seated at the bar. I hear the waitress tell you that she is forbidden to serve alcohol until 6 a. m. You look at your watches and say you’ll wait.
Then a young girl appears and sits between the two of you. From the way you interact, I guess that she is your daughter. I watch her spin on the bar stool. Then she jumps up and enters a newsstand. In a few minutes, she returns with a purchase. You check your watches. I watch your daughter put her head down on the bar for a few moments. At 6:00, the waitress ceremoniously serves you beer. Your daughter twirls again.
And then I wonder judgmentally “What is going on here? What are you doing here at a bar at 6:00 a.m. with your young daughter at your side?” My next thought, in an effort to be more charitable, is “What happened that made you want to drink at a time and in a way that would likely raise a lot of eyebrows?”
Adults, of course, are free to do as they choose. But you are here with your young daughter. Has it crossed your mind that you are quite possibly influencing her future drinking behavior?
For better or worse, many life lessons are “caught” rather than taught. Kids have a way of learning the things we never get around to talking about with them—and they learn from watching us. From the time they learn to walk, our children are observing and imitating us. The truth is that the best way to teach children any healthy behavior is to model it ourselves.
To the parents at the bar, look into the mirror hanging over that bar and try to see what I see—a beautiful young girl, watching you and looking for clues on how to best live her adult life. You are her most influential teachers. Teach her well.
1. What do the parents do in the early morning?| A．Drink beer. | B．Have breakfast. | C．Wait for a friend. | D．Play with their kid. |
| A．Cheer others up. | B．Waste much time. | C．Shock many people. | D．Make one feel better. |
| A．Worried. | B．Tolerant. | C．Admiring. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．To thank a family. | B．To praise a pretty girl. |
| C．To tell an interesting story. | D．To criticize a girl’s parents. |
