Speaking with people on the phone is pretty rare these days. Most people use e-mail or messaging apps when they need to communicate with someone. Sometimes, though, making a call is unavoidable. This simple act can actually be a nightmare for some people. Their hearts race and their hands sweat at the very thought. If this sounds familiar to you, you might be one of the millions of people who suffer from telephobia — the fear of speaking over the phone.
Telephobia is a form of social anxiety, although people who feel perfectly comfortable in social situations may also experience telephobia. When speaking face-to-face, we give off lots of facial or bodily cues that help each other follow the conversation. This is not the case over the phone. And the idea of speaking into this void (真空) makes people terrified that they will freeze up, stumble over their words (失言), or lose control of the conversation and look foolish In fact, telephobia is very similar to the fear people feel before putting on a performance in front of a big audience. However, there are things that one suffering from thin condition can do to reduce this fear and make phone calls at least somewhat bearable.
One thing that those with telephobia can do before a call in smile. It may sound silly, but smiling before doing something stressful can help you feel more relaxed. It won't delete the anxiety altogether, but it will take the edge off it.
Similarly, imagining how the call will go before you make it can also help things go more smoothly. Running through a positive conversation in your head will make you feel less nervous and may help you predict any possible problems. There's no need to spend hours on this, just a few minutes thinking up a general idea of what you want to say. You can even write down some brief notes to remind yourself of your talking points. This is particularly useful for dealing with the fear of not being able to express yourself naturally.
And finally, when faced with receiving a call, you don't always have to pick up. There's nothing wrong with calling the person back later when you feel more comfortable.
So the next time your phone starts ringing, remember — speaking on the phone doesn't have to make you sweat. The important thing is to be aware of your fear and take steps to deal with it.
1. According to the article, which situation can cause a feeling similar lo telephobia?| A．Speaking face-to-face to a good friend. |
| B．Performing in front of a large audience. |
| C．Running in a race without proper shoes. |
| D．Using a messaging app while on the subway. |
| A．Imagining how the call will go before you make it. |
| B．Standing on the edge of a tall building while making a call. |
| C．Calling someone back later instead of answering their phone calls right away. |
| D．Writing down some brief notes to remind yourself of your talking points. |
| A．To present ways to ease telephobia. |
| B．To explain the development of telephobia. |
| C．To introduce the influence of telephobia. |
| D．To give the reason why someone suffers from telephobia. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】A food allergy (过敏) is a medical condition that occurs when the body’s protection system perceives certain foods as a threat and responds to them with an allergic reaction.
Symptoms (症状) of a food allergy
Judging a food allergy
Doctors consider a number of factors when investigating a food allergy. Those include both a patient’s symptoms and family history of allergies. A physical examination may be performed to rule out any other conditions.
Treating a food allergy
It may not be possible for a patient to completely avoid foods that induce (导致) an allergic reaction. For minor reactions, you can take some medicine. For severe reactions, however, turn to doctors for help.
The only sure way to prevent an allergic reaction to food is to carefully avoid the allergens. This can be a difficult process. That requires patients to carefully study food labels to ensure the food is safe for them.
| A．Avoiding harm from allergy. |
| B．Preventing an allergic reaction. |
| C．Not everyone knows what a food allergy is. |
| D．But many people don’t know the allergens. |
| E．Other tests can include blood test or oral food challenge. |
| F．An allergic reaction to food usually occurs within minutes. |
| G．For some people, certain allergens can bring a severe reaction. |
【推荐2】Even though we may believe that it’s important to say thank you, sometimes expressing gratitude is easier said than done. We might find ourselves getting hung up on the best way to deliver the message.
However, it’s possible that we might be making our thanks more complex. In a paper, researchers compared the effects of expressing thanks in person, over a video call, and over text. And, while people generally expect an in-person thank you to be the most effective, what happened in reality was quite different: Sending a thank-you over text was almost as effective as that. Additionally, texting may be especially well-suited for situations where we feel awkward or embarrassed about expressing our appreciation.
In the study, 219 college students participated in a gratitude activity in which they wrote about three things they were grateful for over a two- week period. After writing, the students were asked to actually thank the persons involved. Some connected with the gratitude recipients (接受者) in person, others via video call, and others via text. At the beginning and end of the two weeks，participants completed surveys measuring their feelings of well-being, connections with others, loneliness and happiness.
The researchers found that people who expressed gratitude gained increased happiness, with only a few differences for the different methods of gratitude expression. Overall, video calls were just as beneficial as meeting in person. Texting was slightly less effective than video calling- it didn’t make people feel more connected and happier, while video calling did. However, participants who sent their thanks over text still experienced benefits: Texting improved their well- being and reduced their loneliness.
Overall, however, the message is that we shouldn’t worry about finding just the “best” way to express our gratitude. In fact, you re better off sending a quick thank you shortly after you receive the kindness than waiting for an occasion to schedule an in-person visit. Don’t put it off just for finding the best way—many times our gratitude goes unsaid because we spend too much time on the details.
1. What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Making a video call. | B．Sending a text message. |
| C．Expressing thanks in person. | D．Writing a thank-you letter. |
| A．To find the effect of expressing thanks on them. |
| B．To measure their physical health. |
| C．To collect a lot more ways to express thanks. |
| D．To know their views on gratitude. |
| A．In-person gratitude was less likely to be accepted. |
| B．Expressing gratitude could benefit mental health. |
| C．Ways of gratitude expression should be improved. |
| D．Texting made the gratitude recipients much happier. |
| A．Search for the best way. | B．Wait for an in-person visit. |
| C．Express gratitude in time. | D．Make careful preparations. |
【推荐3】A healthy lifestyle is important to our lives. If we have unhealthy lifestyles, we may not be able to enjoy the goodness that life offers to us.
Remain active
This is the most important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Remain physically active. Walk, run, play, swim, climb and jump, which keep you physically fit. Avoid using vehicles as much as you can. If your job requires long hours of sitting, take frequent breaks, get up often and stretch. Clean house, do gardening, go cycling and so on. There are various simple active ways to lead a healthy lifestyle. Do not let laziness impair your body and mind.
Keep clean
Keep your surroundings clean. Neat and well organised places are beneficial to healthy mind and body. Unclean and untidy places can not only annoy you but also can make you sick. It represents unhealthy mindset. Cleanliness also means getting rid of unnecessary things that we keep storing at our home, office or mind.
Eat healthy food
What you eat has a direct link to your body and mind. The healthier the food is, the healthier your lifestyle will be. Our physical and psychological constitutions (组成成分) depend on our food intake. If you like eating junk food, you are risking damaging your health. Prefer well cooked food that includes most of the healthy nutrients.
Live naturally
This is probably the easiest way to live a healthy lifestyle. Be among nature as much as you can. Plant trees around your residence. Avoid usage of materials that are harmful to the environment. This includes plastics, chemicals and other artificial equipment. A natural lifestyle is a healthy lifestyle. Preserve (保护) our nature and nature will preserve us.
1. If your surroundings are untidy, you may .| A．feel sick mentally and physically |
| B．make others hate you |
| C．be looked down upon |
| D．keep your home in good order |
| A．eating healthily is the most important for a healthy life |
| B．our eating habits are harmful to our health |
| C．chemicals do harm to our environment |
| D．people should try their best to protect the earth |
| A．The importance of living a healthy life. |
| B．The ways of living a healthy life. |
| C．Advise people to take part in activities. |
| D．Keep your surroundings clean and tidy. |
【推荐1】How to talk to your child about current events
Nowadays, exposure to worldwide events is easily accessible.
Educate yourself before speaking to your child
Give your child a chance to voice what they believe has happened and why. This will allow you to listen for any misinformation, address areas needing clarification, and hear what concerns or fears your child is currently processing.
Ask questions, and encourage your child to ask too
It’s important that you allow your child to absorb the information you’re giving them and give them time to respond. Asking your child questions about how the event made them feel can give your child the opportunity to talk about their emotions without your influence.
Share your feelings and experiences
It is often helpful to share your own feelings and responses surrounding the events. If you have experienced discrimination, discuss that experience, how it made you feel, and what you did to overcome it.
| A．Ask your child what they know |
| B．Look at current events together |
| C．Additionally, allow your child to raise questions |
| D．For this reason, it’s important to use language your child understands |
| E．This can give them confidence that they will get through these feelings and fears |
| F．Before speaking with your child, try to ensure that you have accurate information |
| G．Children can see and hear about current events from the media without any difficulty |
【推荐2】Many years ago, when I was in high school and working weekends to pay for the extras that my folks couldn’t really afford, I lost my wallet.
My old car needed putting gas in the back. I prepaid and then put my wallet on the bumper(保险杆), and drove off . I hadn’t even had time to miss it when our phone rang and a man asked me if I had lost my wallet. I checked my wallet and to my surprise, I didn’t find it. He asked me to tell him how much money was in it. He then told me where to pick up my wallet.
As I pulled into his driveway, I noticed his handicapped van(残疾人车)and the ramp(斜坡)going up to the house I was thinking that there was no way this man easily got out of his van and got my wallet off the street. He had to pull over, get in his wheelchair, lower the lift, and then pick it up. I was just surprised. I felt grateful.
I knocked on the door and he told me to come in. I thanked him like 10 times for finding my wallet. I was stuck , though. I didn’t want to insult him by offering money, I really felt like offering something. so I asked him if there was anything I could do to repay his kindness, and he said “Just pass it on”. I said I would be certain to do that. I was raised to be honest in any circumstance(状况) and I would have done so, without promising this fellow I would, but I wanted to repay his kindness, so I willingly promised I would.
1. What did the man ask the writer to do?| A．He asked the writer to be careful |
| B．He asked the writer to pass his kindness on |
| C．He asked the writer to repay his kindness |
| D．He asked the writer to be honest |
| A．Where there is a will, there’s a way |
| B．A friend in need is a friend indeed |
| C．Good is rewarded with good |
| D．Help others, but not ask for anything |
| A．Loyal | B．Honest |
| C．Noble | D．Promising |
【推荐3】How to Keep a Relationship Healthy and Strong
Are you new to experiencing relationships? Well, let me give you advice on having a healthy and possibly long-term relationship.
Make sure you give them respect. Now respect isn’t just simply treating her or him nicely. There' s a lot more to it. You have to learn to adjust to their liking.
Make sure you are encouraging to your partner.
Make sure you have a good sense of humor with them. Laughter is the key to happiness. Laugh a lot with them, joke with them. Laughter may seem silly, but it’s the secret to a lot in life. It will keep the sparks alive.
Make sure the communication is good. This goes along with trust, but always communicate how you feel, even if it’s something that upsets you. Instead of screaming, talk to them.
| A．Be an honest person with them. |
| B．Make sure you are reliable to your partner. |
| C．Laughter keeps the relationship strong and lasting. |
| D．Basically, learn to study your partners’ moods, wants and needs. |
| E．If they did something that made you unhappy, tell them about it in a respectful manner. |
【推荐1】As a group of young African immigrants struggle to adapt to life in the United States, an after-school drama program at White Oak Middle school aims to make their lives easier by first making them a little harder.
Project X is a program that uses drama, dance, poetry and other creative outlets to help students discuss the tough and sometimes painful problems they face as preteen immigrants with significant language barriers. A final unveiling of their creation will be performed for friends and family at the end of the year at Imagination Stage.
Wanjiru, Kamau, coordinator of White Oak’s African Club said it’s important to give troubles to group members to help them find their place at the school. “It comforts those who are uncomfortable, and it discomforts those who are comfortable,” Kamau said of Project X.
Kamau teamed up with Imagination Stage after she noticed that many African students seemed uncomfortable talking problems, such as being laughed at by their fellow students about how they look and talk. When most of the kids join the club, they speak little no English, Kamau said. Each week, the club typically draws five to ten students who are originally from Africa for discussion sessions and the Project X program.
“We are going to express ourselves through our words and our actions, and that’s powerful,” said teaching artist Meg Green as she introduced fill-in-the-blank poems the students wrote about their identities.
One students, Frank Ketchouang, 13, wrote, “I am from the world; I am love,” which drew oohs and aahs from the group. Ketchouang has been in the United States for less than a year, said Program Coordinator Chad Dike. When Ketchou and started attending Project X, he had been in the United States for two months and spoke no English. Now he’s one of the group’s most outgoing members and helps translate instructions from English to Creole for the group’s newest member, who is from Haiti.
Many people will give up when there’s a language barrier, “but these students prove them wrong.” Kamau said. “You do have something to give. You are important. When TV, media, ete. are bringing them down, this program is bringing them up.”
1. Project X is intended for helping the young African immigrants to ________.| A．get over language barriers | B．overcome tough problems |
| C．enrich after-school life | D．become more creative |
| A．their annual creative performances | B．their annual scores gained at school |
| C．the comments of friends and family members | D．the comments of program teachers |
| A．Project X was designed by some African immigrants. |
| B．At first, the School had a disagreement with the Club. |
| C．African Children need an outlet for expression of their hatred and misery. |
| D．TV and media may have a harmful influence upon children. |
| A．call for more attention to immigrants | B．inspire immigrants never to give up |
| C．advertise for White Oak’s African Club | D．introduce the Project X program |
【推荐2】When we see a person in trouble our immediate reaction is to lend a hand. But what if we se an animal in trouble, does the same rule apply?
This question was raised after a group of penguins were saved from an icy gully (峡谷) in Antarctica. It was filmed for the BBC wildlife series Dynasties. After seeing that a group of penguins had fallen into a gully and been trapped with their young the film crew were so concerned about their safety that they built a slope (斜坡) so that a few of the penguins could save themselves.
The case has taken the international media by storm. Viewers watching this film let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad. I understand not taking action directly involved, but a helping hand isn't bothering, right?" viewer Kathryn Shaw said on her Facebook.
However, others think human interference (干涉) is unnatural. "You can't have sunshine throughout your life. To have done anything else would only make matters worse," said the show's creator David Attenborough, according to The Times.
In this case, however, Mike Gunton, the executive producer of the series, said that this was a one-off situation. "There were no animals going to suffer by interfering. You weren't touching the animals and it was just felt by doing this. They had the chance not to have to keep slipping down the slope," he told the BBC.
Such cases are familiar to Paul Nicklen, wildlife photographer for National Geographic. He told Metro, "If it's ever a predator (捕食者) situation，no matter how gut-wrenching，you stay out of the way. Even when you're watching a male polar bear eat a baby bear."
"There's no rule book in those situations. You can only respond to the facts that are right there in front of you," Will Lawson, the show's director, told Daily Mail.
1. What has caused to a heated media discussion?| A．People's various comments on penguins. |
| B．The ways of helping the trapped penguins . |
| C．Some penguins' sufferings in a gully. |
| D．Ways of filming the series Dynasties. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Sad. |
| C．Annoyed. | D．Thrilled. |
| A．Shooting an eagle catching a snake. |
| B．Preventing a polar bear eating a baby bear. |
| C．Watching a lion attacking a deer. |
| D．Distracting a crocodile biting an antelope. |
| A．The Necessity of Lending a Hand to Animals in Trouble. |
| B．Suggestions on How to Save Animals in Trouble. |
| C．Effects of Human Interference on Animals in Trouble. |
| D．Opinions on Whether to Help Animals in Trouble. |
【推荐3】What would you do if you spilled your coffee on your desk? Many of us would probably immediately begin cleaning up the desk. But some people are so talented that they can be artistically inspired by the most unexpected of things, such as spilled drinks. Case in point — Italian artist Giulia Bernardelli, whose amazing coffee art began as an accident.
Born in 1987 in the city of Mantua, Giulia Bernardelli graduated at the Accademia of Fine Arts of Bologna with a bachelor’s degree in educational studies, but it was a coffee accident that shaped her artistic career.
One day, Giulia was drawing and having her coffee at the same time. At one point, she moved her hand too quickly and spilled her coffee all over the canvas, but the way the spilled coffee spread inspired her to pick up the spoon and use it as a brush to guide the brown liquid. And that’s how her journey into coffee art began. She got better and better at it, and today Giulia is regarded as one of the world’s best coffee artists.
As for the things Giulia draws with coffee, she takes inspiration from a variety of things, such as famous artworks, architecture, or the human body. So the next time you spill your coffee or something else, don’t immediately clean it up. It’s your chance to be an artist too!
1. What can be learned about Giulia Bernardelli?| A．She hates cleaning. | B．She is a fan of coffee. |
| C．She is an Italian artist. | D．She wants to be a teacher. |
| A．What tools Giulia needed for painting. | B．Why Giulia was the best coffee artist. |
| C．When Giulia became world- known. | D．How Giulia started coffee art. |
| A．Gifted. | B．Productive. | C．Helpful. | D．Brave. |
