Be Aware of the Anti-climax
Many of us work tirelessly towards our goals, We may spend our lives dreaming of the day we are admitted to our dream university, publish our first book or purchase our first home. However, more than often, when we achieve these things, it doesn’t feel quite as expected. In fact, the achievement of these goals feels anti-climactic, or a bit of a letdown.
“An anti-climax can be an unexpected by-product of a milestone achievement. Usually, the more significant the milestone, the greater the anti-climax may be,” says Rachel Vora, psychotherapist and founder of CYP Wellbeing. “The journey to achieving a milestone can be exciting and all-consuming. Therefore, when this disappears overnight, we can often feel lost and confused.”
In psychology, the belief that we’ll be happier when we achieve our goals even has a fancy scientific name. Psychologists call it “arrival fallacy (悖论)” and it plays a big part in those feelings of emptiness that can follow achieving a goal. “The term describes how fulfilling our goals and achieving our ambitions doesn’t lead to a ‘happily ever after’”, states psychologist Lee Chambers.
If you find yourself currently working toward something big that you suspect may feel like a bit of a letdown, there are steps you can take to manage and even prevent the feeling of anti-climax.
Enjoy the journey
You’d better slow down a little and come to realize that joy comes from the doing, not the completing. So instead of rushing for it to be done, take a moment to enjoy the doing.
Foresee the comedown
If you are aware of a potential upcoming anti-climax, schedule an activity to look forward to soon after the event has finished. Consider planning some time with friends and family, or attending a concert or even a cooking class. This can act as a reminder that other aspects of life can be just as fulfilling.
Normalize the experience
The key is to normalize feelings of low mood, confusion, and self-doubt around anti-climaxes, which are something many people experience. Connecting with others may also be beneficial. It can help to engage with friends and influencers online who share similar experiences to feel less isolated (孤立的) with your own emotions.
1. According to the passage, how do people often feel after they make great achievements?2. What does “arrival fallacy” refer to?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
To deal with your anti-climax, you’d better stay away from those who share similar experiences with you.
4. Suppose you have just been admitted to your dream university. What will you do to deal with the anti-climax? (In about 40 words)
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Binge-watching is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in quick succession(一连串,连续)". With developments in the speed and connectivity of the internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows streamed directly to their television at their convenience.
This behavior is nothing new. In fact, " binge-watching" has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes many platforms will display pop-ups with “you might like suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode”.
However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back, almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and one quarter have neglected their household chores. Next we’ll be missing work!
Bingeing has other connections-binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said: “The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move.” If people find binge-watching hard to resist, coupled with the fact that it has shown to lead to negligence in many, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction?
The countless of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning then it becomes a problem. So, what's the answer? Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, “A little of what you fancy does you good.”
1. How did the writer develop the first paragraph?A.Listing some examples |
B.Telling a story. |
C.Giving a definition |
D.Analyzing the cause and effect |
A.similarly | B.gradually | C.naturally | D.necessarily |
A.people have no patience to do work |
B.people can’t control their movements |
C.people are delighted to watch television |
D.people can’t resist the temptation |
A.To watch episodes in a moderate way. |
B.To draw life lessons from the episodes. |
C.To enjoy entertainment as much as possible. |
D.To keep online media from stopping functioning. |
【推荐2】Exercise has an undeniable link to the development of better bodies. A recent study conducted by University of Delaware researchers found that speech-language therapy (疗法) improves children’s vocabulary growth. The study, which was published in the journal Journal of Speech-Language and Hearing Research, highlights one of the first studies on the impact of exercise on vocabulary learning in children.
Children ages 6 to 12 were taught new words before doing one of three things: swimming, CrossFit exercises, or coloring a sheet. In follow-up tests of vocabulary words, the children who swam were 13% more accurate.
It makes sense to the lead researcher, Maddy Pruitt, a former college swimmer who now attends CrossFit classes on a regular basis. "Motor movement aids in the encoding (编码) of new words, "she explained, adding that exercise has been shown to increase levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (脑源性神经营养素), a protein Pruitt refers to as the “Miracle-Gro for the brain”.
So, why did swimming make a difference but CrossFit didn’t? Pruitt attributes it to the amount of energy required by the brain during each exercise. Swimming is an activity that children can do without much thought or instruction. While the CrossFit exercises were new to them, it was more automatic. The children had to learn the moves, which took mental energy.
“We were very excited about this study because it is applicable to clinicians, caregivers, and educators who can put it into practice,” Pruitt said. “It’s not anything out of the ordinary. However, it has the potential to significantly improve the outcomes.”
1. What does the research focus on?A.The effect of exercise on word learning in children. |
B.The impact of exercise on body development in children. |
C.The children’s growth through speech-language therapy. |
D.The denial link between exercises and body development. |
A.Adds. | B.Introduces. |
C.Owes. | D.Contributes. |
A.Politicians. | B.Engineers. |
C.Reporters. | D.Teachers. |
A.Researchers study speeeh-language therapy |
B.Exercise helps children develop vocabulary |
C.A new way significantly improves the vocabulary |
D.Motor movement aids in the invention of new words |
【推荐3】Are you an “I person” or an “E person”?
According to psychologists, this idea of temporarily switching personalities is called “masking”.
Using the MBTI result to identify and describe someone’s personality seems fun. However, I went too far at one time. My sister was excitedly making a day-to-day travel plan when I remembered from an article that “P” people don’t like to make or stick to plans, so I said to her, “You don’t seem like a ‘P person’.” “Why?” she asked back. “Since when do I need to follow what my personality test tells me to do?”
The MBTI personality test may show something you don’t know about yourself and can even be fun ice-breaker question when meeting new friends. And that’s all it is—fun. Knowing someone’s MBTI result doesn’t mean you really know this person.
A.Even if someone is typically quiet, many online discussions suggest that an “I” person can still act outgoing at times. |
B.These two personality labels in particular are widely discussed online. |
C.It was then that I realized I’d taken the result too seriously. |
D.That is hiding your true personality in specific situations. |
E.Personality labels also help us to tell the difference between people. |
F.But deep down, they mostly enjoy being silent and quiet. |
G.And those four letters of yours don’t define who you are. |
【推荐1】Michael Laffoon has a vivid memory of the day he decided to piece his life back together. “I literally woke up in my van(小货车)and I thought . I can’t do this anymore because I’m going to die,’” he says. “It was just a strong feeling that I had come to the end of a chapter. ”
For eight years, the Santa Cruz, California resident drifted in and out of homelessness because of a serious drug addiction. It was a frustrating, impossible lifestyle. In 2009, Laffoon learned about Homeless Garden Project at a kitchen where he was volunteering. The not-for-profit aims to lift people living on the streets of Santa Cruz out of homelessness through farming. The end goal is that they will leave the farm with stable housing and a full-time job.
After a year and a half of being in the program, Laffoon was able to secure employment and stable housing. He later obtained a degree in horticulture(园艺学). “It was the first step back into normal society-the first open door,” he says.
Trainees are employed to grow fruit, vegetables, flowers and herbs on the farm. They get paid a wage, are given basic job skills training and are matched with a social worker to work through specific goals. The project has helped close to 1,000 people. Over the past five years, 96 percent of graduates have obtained jobs or stable income and 86 percent have found housing.
The project’s staffers say that the project has always had a strong element of community, which is central to the healing process of its trainees, as they often feel like they’ve lost their sense of belonging. Laffoon says that while he was homeless, he spent a lot of his time “trying to be invisible” and felt secluded from the rest of society. The project gave him meaningful work and a sense of belonging, which helped him get back on his feet.
Ella Fleming, the project’s farm manager, has seen how growing food can have a life-changing and inspirational impact on trainees. “We provide a place where it’s safe, it’s nurturing, it’s healthy and there’s an exchange that happens,” she says. “When you’re caring for a plant to try to get it to grow, you’re also giving yourself some self-care to know that you can grow,”she says.
1. What kind of person is Laffoon described as in the text?A.A person who fights his drug addiction. |
B.A person who has experienced homelessness. |
C.A person who gets stable housing and a full-time job. |
D.A person who benefits from Homeless Garden Project. |
A.To employ them to work on the farm. |
B.To provide them with housing and work. |
C.To enable them to make a living in society. |
D.To give them opportunities for volunteering. |
A.Laffoon felt alone in the world. | B.Laffoon felt sorry for himself. |
C.Laffoon felt different from others. | D.Laffoon felt unsatisfied with society. |
A.It’s flexible. | B.It’s enjoyable. |
C.It’s inspiring. | D.It’s comforting. |
【推荐2】More and more English-educated Chinese Singaporean parents are realizing the importance for their children to be not only good at the all-important English language, but also at Chinese. China has become a great political and economic superpower and they want their children to become bilingual.
It is well known that, to master any language, especially one’s mother tongue, one must begin from childhood. But there are challenges and barriers for children of English-speaking homes to succeed in their journey towards bilingualism.
Take my family as an example. While my wife and I are products of English education, we had some foundation in Chinese which we kept up in our working life. But the language of communication in our home is mainly English.
We are glad that our three children had between 8 and 11 years’ Chinese schooling before switching over to English schools. Their foundation in Chinese has become an advantage in their adult life. They can hold their own in the spoken language, but would find it hard to write a business letter in Chinese for lack of usage.
We have a grandson who will be two years old shortly. His parents have given us the unenviable task of making him bilingual. It is a very tough assignment, as we are with him only a couple of hours on most days. For the rest of the time, he is being surrounded by English sounds by his busy parents.
Fortunately, our perseverance is paying off. After eight months, he has been used to hearing Chinese sounds, and even he can now quite comfortably identify common everyday objects in Chinese.
1. Why is it becoming necessary for some Chinese Singaporean children to learn Chinese?A.Because most of the Singaporeans come from China. |
B.Because their parents are missing their motherland. |
C.Because China has become a great political and economic superpower. |
D.Because Chinese is the official language in the UN. |
A.a person who knows English | B.a person who knows Chinese |
C.a person who knows only one language | D.a person who knows two languages |
A.there are challenges for children of English-speaking homes to learn Chinese |
B.his foundation in Chinese is a big advantage in teaching his grandson |
C.he is quite good at teaching small children Chinese |
D.learning Chinese is very popular in Singapore |
A.all the children in Singapore need to learn Chinese |
B.understanding Chinese is becoming an advantage in Singapore |
C.the author’s children know nothing about Chinese |
D.the author feels it easy to teach others Chinese |
【推荐3】Researchers have been trying to uncover the cause of a steady decline of drug and alcohol use in teens. Some suspect it’s due to anti-drug campaigns or the decline of cigarettes as a gateway drug. But another theory has begun to surface. Is a new drug replacing the old ones? Are smart phones taking their place?
I noticed that using my smart phone took away so many life experiences. I hadn’t minded before when my own phone could distract me, but now I felt annoyed when my friends or family used their phones when we were together. Sure it was uncomfortable at first, not having a clutch (紧握) to fall back on when I didn’t feel like talking.But we shouldn’t use our devices as the universal conversation avoider, or as our distraction from the discomfort of human interaction. How can we learn to interact when our phones are on hand at all times to prevent ourselves from doing so?
Still, smart phones can sometimes be wonderful tools. They allow us to take beautiful photos and help us connect with old friends and maintain long-distance relationships. They allow us to have an endless amount of information at our fingertips, and give us directions to whatever destinations. But we must consider how every tool smart phones provide us with can also influence our lives. Not only does smart phone and screen use have an effect on relationships, it can also shape an individual and the brain. Studies have shown that excessive Internet usage can cause increased depression, loneliness, and anxiety in adolescents.
So my advice to teens who feel the same way as I do? My decision to go without a phone was definitely extreme, considering our generation. So try ditching your phone for a week. Observe how it affects your relationships, your mood, and your presence. You just might end up feeling less stressed, happier, and more connected.
1. How does the author introduce the topic?A.By presenting study findings. |
B.By creating a new theory. |
C.By asking questions. |
D.By doing research. |
A.They are perfectly designed. |
B.Their features are striking. |
C.Their operations are too complex. |
D.They have an impact on social life. |
A.Bad family relationship. |
B.Too much Internet time. |
C.Easy access to smart phones. |
D.Harmful online information. |
A.Giving up. | B.Giving away. | C.Turning down. | D.Turning back. |