【推荐1】Get Comfortable Giving Honest Feedback

Should you cautiously tell a coworker she’s been mispronouncing a client’s name? Or would you tell someone about the piece of vegetable left in his teeth?     1     Recent research finds that a common cognitive error may help explain why—and that a simple approach could help overcome it.

In five experiments, study participants took part in real-time interactions in which they gave or received feedback. Those who gave feedback estimated how much the other person wanted to hear a well-intentioned criticism; receivers reported their actual desire for constructive critiques.

    2     The miscalculation was particularly obvious when the feedback was considered rather essential for the result, as well as when those offering the information predicted that doing so would be socially uncomfortable, either for themselves or for the receiver.

The underestimation is likely due to a human tendency to ascribe (归因) different motives and desires to others than we do to ourselves, says Harvard doctoral student Nicole Abi-Esber, who authored the study. People tend to want feedback for themselves, but they underestimate how much others want it, too.     3    

Skipping offering constructive criticism could have consequences. In one study, the subjects were asked to engage in a public-speaking contest. The feedback-givers, again, underestimated the speakers’ desire for constructive criticism.     4     Yet it was the speakers who heard more critical feedback that showed the most improvement.

Is it possible to overcome this and get better at giving feedback when it’s most needed?     5    “Take a second and imagine you are the other person,” Abi-Esber suggests. If you’d want feedback, it’s likely the other person feels the same—and might even be grateful that you took the time to speak up.

A．They chose to give them praises instead.

B．A quick role-exchanging exercise could move the needle.

C．It can also help identify potential problems before they occur.

D．The reason is that they’re not putting themselves in the other person’s shoes.

E．How you ask for feedback may stop you from hearing what you need to hear.

F．Many people hesitate to offer such honest criticism even when the benefits seem obvious.

G．Feedback-givers always underestimated how much others wanted to hear helpful criticism.

【推荐1】Praised writer Jessica Khoury was only four years old when she began to write. Today, she has printed several books for young people, including The Mystwick School of Musicraft Series, The Corpus Trilogy, and The Forbidden Wish. Her latest novel is called The Ruby Code.

I recently spoke with Khoury about her new science fiction (小说) for middle-graders. The book, she told me from her home in South Carolina, is for anybody who has ever thought, “What would it be like for a video game world to come to life?”

Set in a future New York City, the book is, in Khoury’s words, “a high-action scary book.” Readers are introduced to 13-year-old Ash, a silent young gamer. His life circles around his love for virtual (虚拟的) reality games. They offer a chance to stay away from his bad stepfather and the cold-hearted people who laugh at him.

Ash’s life takes an unexpected turn when he is given a small metal box after helping a man in need. It contains an old-style video game called “The Glass Realm”. To his surprise, Ash meets a character named Ruby who was created by artificial intelligence (AI). Her abilities are so huge that she can even rewrite the game.

Ruby’s secret knowledge leads Ash on a painful but exciting adventure. At last, he is able to learn the truth behind a dishonest company.

In The Ruby Code, Khoury seeks the advantages and disadvantages of rapid technological progress. Like many people, she wonders how AI will change life.

“As a writer,” Khoury said, “I think all the time about how long it will be before the robots take my job. But I’m not a person who’s scared of technology. I like to consider not just the worst-case situation but also the best-case situation.”

1. Who is fit to read her new science fiction according to Khoury?

A．Those who are good at modern technology.	B．Those who are interested in writing.
C．Those who want to live in a video game world.	D．Those who love video games like her.

2. How do video games benefit Ash?

A．They let him get secret power.	B．They offer him a lot of knowledge.
C．They prepare him for his future job.	D．They help him hide away from the reality.

3. What causes a turn in Ash’s life?

A．A company’s dishonesty.	B．His sad childhood.
C．His kind behavior.	D．Pleasure from the games.

4. What does Khoury think of technology?

A．She can accept it.	B．She is completely satisfied with it.
C．She is worried about it.	D．She is disappointed by it.

【推荐2】Sherlock Holmes is considered by many people as the greatest detective in fictional literature. He is, in fact, more famous than his own creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the popular series of stories, Holmes is described as “tall and lean, pope-smoking, always in his cape and speaks in a splendid manner”. Doyle gave Holmes’ address as 221-B Baker Street, London, and to this day some visitors to London still go to Baker Street to search for 221-B. Of course, there never was really any such address. Holmes’ flat was supposed to be shared by the lovable, but sometimes clumsy (笨手笨脚的) Doctor Watson who went around with Holmes trying to solve crimes before Holmes did. Poor Dr Watson lost out to Holmes every time.

Doyle gave Holmes a masterly (高超的) skill of deduction—the ability to come up with interesting conclusion from the simplest clues found at the scene of a crime. Doyle said that the description of Holmes was modeled on one of his lecturers at Edinburgh University where he studied medicine. That man was Dr Joseph Bell. Sherlock Holmes first appeared in Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet published in 1887. Holmes was so loved by all that when his author killed him off in one of his stories, readers wrote in anger to complain. They refused to allow Holmes to die! Holmes was brought back to “life” and appeared in further stories.

The stories of Sherlock Holmes have been reprinted many times ever since then. Today we can watch Holmes at work on cinema and television screens as well as on stage.

1. What was Sherlock Holmes?

A．A detective story writer.	B．A lovable but clumsy doctor.
C．A character made up by Doyle.	D．The greatest detective in the real world.

2. Who was Holmes supposed to live with?

A．Doyle.

B．Dr Watson.

C．His lecturers.

D．Dr Joseph Bell.

3. Where did Doyle base his description of Holmes on?

A．The imagination of his own.

B．A famous London doctor.

C．Dr Joseph Bell at Edinburgh University.

D．A model of Sherlock Holmes.

4. What caused Doyle’s readers angrily writing to complain?

A．They could not see any more stories of Doyle.

B．They couldn’t stand Dr Watson’s appearance.

C．They refused to allow Holmes to be more famous than Doyle.

D．They protested Holmes’ death written by Doyle.

【推荐3】Best Short Story Collections Everyone Should Read

If you are on the lookout for great storytelling but don’t want to commit to a full-length novel, then short story collections are the answer. Here we have gathered four of the best short stories and collections, from all sorts of backgrounds and sources, to help you grow your“To Be Read”pile.

Runaway by Alice Munro

This award-winning collection features eight stories by the Canadian author Alice Munro. With straightforward and accessible prose(散文)，Munro tells stories of women and their relationships——with strong themes of love, friendship, and motherhood, among others. The idea of running away is another theme found throughout these stories.

The Complete Stories by Flannel O’Connor

Published in 1972,The Complete Stories actually won the National Book Award that same year. This collection includes 31 stories, twelve of which had never been included in any of O’Connor’s previous collections. They are told from the perspective of characters from the American South, as they deal with social issues like racism, gender roles, and more.

The Refugees by Vied Thanh Nguyen

From Thanh Nguyen comes this Pulitzer Prize winning collection of eight short stories that are all about Vietnamese refugees(难民)who have moved to the US. However,instead of describing the hardships of their trips, Nguyen focuses on the lives they’ve established in their new country. Each story demonstrates a unique immigrant experience as characters move between cultures, countries, relationships, memories, and emotions.

Flowers for Alger-non by Daniel Keys

This classic short story is about the journals of Charlie Gordon, a cleaner with an IQ of 68. Charlie’s luck changes when he is selected for an experiment that purports to turn him into a genius——but everything that goes up must come down in the end.Flowers for Alger-non won the Hugo Award in 1960 for its groundbreaking presentation. Heartbreaking and rich with subtle poignancy,it is likely to remain a staple for centuries to come.

1. Whose collection should you choose if you are interested in the topic on racial discrimination?

A．Alice Munro.	B．Flannery O’Connor.
C．Daniel Keys.	D．Vied Thanh Nguyen.

2. What do we know about The Refugees?

A．Its eight stories share the same characters.

B．It focuses on women and their relationships.

C．It is about the Vietnamese immigrants’ lives in the US.

D．It mainly describes the hardships of Vietnamese refugees’ trips.

3. What do these short stories and collections have in common?

A．They consist of eight stories.

B．They have won certain award.

C．They are told from an immigrant’s perspective.

D．They demonstrate the hardships of Canadian authors.