【推荐1】How much time do you spend doing research before you make a decision? There are people who go over every detail exhaustively before making a choice.     1    Psychologists call this way of thinking a cognitive bias (认知偏见), a tendency toward a specific mental mistake.

To study “jumping”, we examined decision-making patterns among more than 600 people from the general population. We found that jumpers made more errors than non-jumpers on problems that require thoughtful analysis.     2     In a quiz about US citizens, they overestimated the chance that their answers were right significantly more than other participants did — even when their answers were wrong.

So what is behind “jumping”? Psychological researchers commonly distinguish between two pathways of thought: automatic system, which reflects ideas that come to the mind easily and without effort, and controlled system including conscious and effortful reasoning. Jumpers and non-jumpers are equally influenced by automatic thoughts.     3    

It is the controlled system that helps people counter balance mental biases introduced by the automatic system. As a result, jumpers were more likely to accept the conclusion made at first sight without further questioning. A lack of controlled thinking is also more broadly connected to their problematic beliefs and faulty reasoning.

    4     A method called cognitive training can be used to target their biases, which can help people think more deliberatively. In this training, participants are faced with their own biases. They can learn about the missteps and other ways of thinking through the problem at hand. It helps to gradually get rid of participants’ overconfidence.

In everyday life, the question of whether we should think things through or instead jump to a conclusion is a frequent and important one.     5     Sometimes the most important decision we make can be to take some more time before making a choice.

Football T-shirts are more commonly connected with boys than girls. This can often cause a problem when you want to find a cool shirt for a girl.    1     The problem is that they are often harder to find than the ones for boys.

    2     Of course you have to make sure that they are legally allowed to use the logos (商标) and colours of the team you want to support.

    3     The official channels will generally be the large sportswear stores or the official stores of the teams. These stores will be able to use the colours of the teams and even put the name of the person who the shirt is for on it.

If you do not feel like you have to try the T-shirts on, then an online store may be your best choice.    4    

If you want to see what the T-shirt looks like in real life, then going to a store is the best choice. Large sportswear stores often have football shirts.    5     And these stores usually have lower prices than the official stores.

【推荐3】How to Make Friends

Friendship is a very important human relationship and everyone needs good friends. Good friendship has many benefits. It offers companionship, improves self-worth and promotes good health. There are times in our lives such as when we have recently moved into a new town, or changed our jobs or schools. Such changes often leave us without a friend.     1     But for many of us the process is difficult and requires courage. Below are some helpful suggestions on how to make and keep friends.

1. Associate with others.

The first step to making friends is associating with other people. You can go to public places to meet new people. Besides, you will need to make yourself known by becoming an active member of such places.

2. Start a conversation.

Starting a conversation is the second most important step in making new friends.     2     You can always start the conversation. Being able to make small talk is a very useful skill in relating with other people.

3.     3    

Choosing friends with common interests is important in building friendship as these interests would always bring you and your friend together. Hanging out will always be a pleasant experience.

4. Let it grow.

It is a good thing to stay in touch. However, try not to press your new friend with calls, messages or visits as this would likely wear him or her out and finally you may lose your friend.     4     The best friendships are the ones that grow naturally.

5. Enjoy your friendship.

The best way to enjoy your friendship is to allow your friends to be themselves.     5     Try not to change them from who they are to what you want them to be. Become the kind of friend you will want your friend to be to you.

Wealthy Chinese do not have a good reputation（=fame）, a survey by China Youth Daily and Sina.com has found.

The poll（民意调查）, conducted last week, showed about 70 percent of 3,990 interviewees believe the well-off are immoral and not worthy of respect. Only 4 percent thought rich people are good, the survey said.

For the rich, to become popular, they need to do three things, the survey suggested.

First, they need to have a sense of social responsibility. Second, they need to be self -disciplined, and third, they need to have a caring heart.

The number of people who make at least $50,000 a year increases by 15 percent a year and, according to the China Economic Times, the country now has 1.5 million rich people.

The China Youth Daily and Sina.com survey found interviewees questioned how the rich became rich in the first place.

“Some rich people are thought to have accumulated（积累）their wealth through illegal means, such as bribery,” said a post-graduate student at the Communication University of China.

Even so, the survey found wealthy people who abide by（遵守） the law, have a sense of social responsibility and a caring heart, are respected.

The poll showed about 60 percent thought these kinds of wealthy people were worthy of respect.

The survey suggested many voters were much better disposed（怀有好感的）toward rich people from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Western economies——rather than the mainland.

Hong Kong property tycoon（大亨） Li Ka-shing was most highly regarded, followed by Bill Gates, mainland property tycoon Wang Shi and basketball player Yao Ming.

“Rich people on the mainland invest too little in charity and gain too much,” a student from Beijing Sports University said.

Yu Guoming, a professor at Renmin University of China, called on the heads of Chinese companies to think and invest in a long-term way. “Social responsibility is not only about charity, it also connects the company with the government and the public.”

【推荐2】Being responsible can seem hard at first, but if you keep at it, it will become second nature to you.

    1     But to show that you can care for yourself and others, you need to do things before you’re asked. That shows you are responsible enough to see what needs to be done and take care of it.

Place others’ needs before your own. When you have a family, friends, or pets, being responsible may mean placing their needs above your own.     2     What it means is that you may need to take care of yourself later if someone you love has a need right now.

    3     If you want to be responsible, then you have to find a routine that works for you and stick to it. For instance, don’t just study for ten hours in a row and then give up on studying for three weeks; instead, spend one hour every day looking over the course material.

Find solutions for issues instead of casting blame. Problems come up in any relationship.     4     A responsible person looks for solutions instead of trying to decide whose fault it is.

People who are not responsible with their words will shout out the first thing that comes into their heads, including calling another person names. Instead, take time to think your words through.     5     If you find yourself too angry to control what you’re saying, try counting to ten in your head as you take deep, calming breaths. You can even tell the other person, “I need a moment to calm down.”