There’s no doubt that positive thinking impacts one’s life. However, in recent years, I’ve come to understand that perhaps positive thinking can result in toxic (有毒的) positivity, which has negative results. What we should be aiming for instead is emotional validation (确认) .
Toxic positivity is the maintenance of positive thinking even in situations where it isn’t appropriate. “It often comes at the risk of denying(否认) our own real feelings or the feelings of others,” says Nina Vasan, MD. While positive thinking in general is a great thing, toxic positivity isn’t. It’s the act of denying anything negative that’s actually happening, and it can involve making people feel bad for having normal human emotions. Someone practicing toxic positivity might say things like “everything happens for a reason” or “just look on the bright side” when a friend shares something difficult in his/her life.
Vasan tells us that with toxic positivity, emotions like sorrow and anger are pushed aside. However, emotional validation allows you to have your feelings. To be exact, emotional validation is about allowing people to experience their feelings and acknowledging that having negative feelings is real and often important. That doesn’t mean it promotes and encourages negative thinking endlessly, though.
Toxic positivity encourages us to focus only on the positive, which can stop us from dealing with the feelings we need to work through. Practicing emotional validation is a healthier option for you and the ones you love. “This can be as simple as saying ‘I understand you’re really sad’.” explains Vasan. Offering your understanding shows our loved ones that we care about their feelings. Besides, instead of telling someone to look on the bright side, you should offer words and thoughts of support instead.
Toxic positivity has become prevalent, and you probably know a lot of people who dismiss your negative experiences with statements like “you’re too sensitive”. Now you can say: Whatever you’re feeling is temporary and allowing yourself to feel it will help you get through it.
1. What is emotional validation?| A．Avoiding risks in terrible situations. | B．Denying people’s negative feelings. |
| C．Maintaining positive in hard times. | D．Accepting emotional ups and downs. |
| A．Perhaps something fortunate is still waiting for you. |
| B．I’m sure there’s a good reason for what has happened. |
| C．You have every right to feel upset and I am here for you. |
| D．I understand your sadness but being sensitive is no good. |
| A．Creative. | B．Widespread. | C．Challenging. | D．Enormous. |
| A．Admitting negativity is reasonable. | B．Promoting positivity is worthwhile. |
| C．Sticking to positivity is significant. | D．Expressing negativity is inappropriate. |
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【推荐1】While we may think it feels good to complain, complaining has some bad effects associated with it.
Why isn’t complaining beneficial? Research shows that it connects our brain with negativity. The brain is designed to work efficiently. This means that when we repeat a thought, negative or positive, the nerve cells form a bridge between each other to pass information at a higher speed. Therefore, the next time we have a similar type of thought, it is more easily passed. This explains why certain thought patterns become habits.
Yet the harmful effects don’t stop there. A study shows that complaining causes the hippocampus (海马区)，which plays a vital role in problem-solving, to become smaller.
In addition to causing brain damage, complaining also releases a stress hormone cortisol, a kind of chemical the body produces when we meet with some dangers. Constantly having a high level of cortisol results in high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and lower immunity (免疫力).
The ill effects of our complaining aren't just limited to ourselves, they also involve those around us. We tend to mirror the moods of our friends. For this reason, we should be cautious about having stubborn (固执的) complainers in our circle of friends.
The best way to deal with constant negativity is to develop a sense of gratitude. Just like complaining acts as a poison, gratitude acts as a medicine. Research shows it lowers cortisol levels by 23 percent, as well as reduces blood pressure and blood sugar. It also decreases tiredness and depression. Gratitude is the perfect cure for complaining, a behavior that steals our brain power, happiness and physical well-being.
What have you observed about the effects of complaining in your own life or in the lives of others? Have you noticed that when you are grateful, you feel better all over? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
1. What do paragraphs 2-3 mainly talk about?| A．The diseases caused by complaining. |
| B．The decrease of a vital part of our brain |
| C．The bad effects of complaining on brain power. |
| D．The reason why certain thought patterns become habits. |
| A．Gratitude is an effective cure for cortisol. |
| B．Our body produces cortisol when we feel excited. |
| C．Cortisol is a chemical that can cause brain damage. |
| D．Having a high level of cortisol can lead to many health problems. |
| A．Grateful. | B．Accepting. | C．Disapproving. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a medical report. | C．On a website. | D．In a radio program. |
【推荐2】Frustration (挫败感) usually occurs when you feel stuck or trapped, or unable to move forward in some way. It could be caused by a coworker blocking your favorite project, a boss who is too disorganized to get to your meeting on time, or simply holding on the phone for a long time.
Stop and evaluate —
Find something positive about the situation — Thinking about a positive aspect of your situation often makes you look at things in a different way. This small change in your thinking can improve your mood.
| A．Be with people who support you |
| B．Focus on how to improve the situation |
| C．Or you could use the time to relax a little |
| D．When it’s people who are causing your frustration |
| E．If you are frustrated because you failed an important interview |
| F．One of the things you can do is stop yourself and look at the situation |
| G．Whatever the reason, it’s important to deal with feelings of frustration quickly |
【推荐3】Confidence is a belief in oneself, the conviction （坚信） that one has the ability to meet life’s challenges and to succeed.
Confidence is not a fixed characteristic.
Being confident means knowing that you can handle the emotional outcome （结果） of whatever you’ll face.
Confidence is not all-encompassing （无所不包的）：
A realistic appraisal （评价） of one’s abilities enables people to strike a healthy balance between too little and too much confidence.
| A．It’s an ability that can be acquired and improved over time. |
| B．To improve self-confidence, teens should solve problems by themselves. |
| C．You can have high confidence in some areas and low confidence in others. |
| D．Begin by acknowledging every emotion, including difficult emotions, rather than avoiding them. |
| E．Being confident requires a realistic sense of one’s abilities and feeling certain about that knowledge. |
| F．Too little confidence can prevent people from taking risks and seizing opportunities — in school or in their social life. |
| G．People like those who are higher in confidence better than those who are lower in confidence, according to one recent study. |
【推荐1】Walls blanketed in moss(苔藓)are popping up in major cities, along with promises that they can reduce air pollution—but can a few square metres of plant matter really deal with the smog?
A Berlin-based firm, Green City Solutions, believes so. Its moss walls, called the CityTree, are roughly 4 square metres in size. Armed with Wi-Fi sensors to monitor the health of moss, a City Tree functions autonomously and requires very little maintenance(维护). The wall collects rainwater, which is pumped through a built-in irrigation system to the plants, powered by solar energy. As a result, the firm says each CityTree is able to “eat” around 250 grams of particulate(颗粒) matter a day (nearly 90 kgs a year) and removes about 240 metric tons of CO2 annually. It also cools the surrounding air.
Aware that getting the surrounding air in contact with the moss wall is crucial for the CityTree to be effective, the inventors ensure that the location of each installation (安装) is chosen carefully. Spots where pollution is heavy due to traffic and where air flow is limited are picked. The importance of this step is explained by the fact that the waste gas from a car generally goes vertically a few kilometres into the air.
But this doesn’t mean moss walls will necessarily protect people from pollution. In the Netherlands, researchers found that eight walls installed in Amsterdam failed to reduce the concentration of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (N02). Their report concluded that even doubling the number of moss walls would do little to improve their effectiveness.
The CityTree is not meant for parks or to substitute for street trees, but to add greenery to concrete-heavy spaces where planting is not an option. It’s important to remember that street trees provide a whole host of other benefits, including shelter and habitat for urban wildlife, shade and cooling for people on the street, and reduction of urban heat islands.
1. What do we know about the CityTree?| A．It can absorb some air pollutants. | B．It can irrigate other street plants. |
| C．It produces electricity to cool water. | D．It is aimed at saving water in cities. |
| A．The importance of CityTree. |
| B．The function of CityTree. |
| C．How to operate CityTree. |
| D．Where to place CityTree. |
| A．To show that CityTree can’t always work well. |
| B．To prove that CityTree can reduce air pollutants. |
| C．To emphasize the necessity of building moss walls. |
| D．To analyze the reasons for the failure of the program. |
| A．Ambiguous. | B．Disapproving. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Cautious. |
【推荐2】At just 40 years old,hip-hop star Kasseem Dean,more popularly known as Swizz Beatz,has amassed（积累）a track record,lifestyle and nearly$70 million net worth that would inspire most of us to retire early.So why does Dean continue to both work extremely hard and try projects that come with the risk of rejection?
During our interview for Uncommon Drive,a video series for USA&Main that seeks to find out the motivations and magic of world-class business people,Dean provided a memorable answer:“You only have so much time—once it’s gone you don’t get it back.Don’t focus on money;focus on building something greater than yourself.If you’re not making history,you’re wasting your time on Earth.”
When you look at his answer,you will learn two important lessons.The first is in“making history”.Doing so requires awareness.You must fully understand what has and has not been achieved in the market you’ve entered.Dean makes every effort with the goal of creating something important that has not been done before and will be remembered for its impact beyond his years.
The second part of his statement is just as powerful.In this interview,he never once said he is“trying”to make history.Instead,he has told himself that no matter what difficulty there is,it’s just going to happen.“I’m going to make history.”Dean said.
After talking to Dean for nearly 45 minutes,it was clear to me that he has removed all ego（自我）from a statement that might otherwise be misread as false pride.I believe it’s a brilliant hack—rather than focus on all the reasons why a project can’t be realized,he has convinced himself of the possibility.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To lead to the main topic. |
| B．To describe a star’s success. |
| C．To express admiration for a star. |
| D．To explain the meaning of success. |
| A．His desire to be famous. |
| B．His wish to be wealthy. |
| C．His adventurous spirit and imagination. |
| D．His life goal to leave his mark on history. |
| A．He takes a pride in his work. |
| B．He can predict the possibility. |
| C．He always believes in himself. |
| D．He gets prepared for his career. |
| A．How does Kasseem Dean face rejection? |
| B．What makes Kasseem Dean work hard? |
| C．How does Kasseem Dean make history? |
| D．Why doesn’t Kasseem Dean want to retire? |
【推荐3】Everyone looks forward to progress, whether in one’s personal life or in the general society. Progress indicates a person’s ability to change the way he is living at the moment. Progress must lead to a better life and a better way of doing things. All these, however, remain true only in so far as people want to accept technology and move forward by finding new and more efficient ways of doing things.
However, at the back of the minds of many people, especially those who miss the “good old days”, efficiency comes with a price. When communication becomes more efficient, people are able to contact one another no matter where they are and at whatever time they wish .The click of a button allows people miles apart to talk or to see each other without even leaving their homes. With the communication gadets, such as mobile phones and ipads, people often do not take the effort to visit one another personally. A personal visit carries with the additional feature of having to be in the person’s presence for as long as the visit lasts. We cannot unnecessarily excuse our selves or turn the other persons off.
With efficiency also comes mass production. Such is the nature of factories and the success of industrialization today. Factories have improved efficiency. Unskillful tasks are left to machines and products are better made and produced with greater accuracy than any human hand could ever have done. However, with the improvements in efficiency also comes the loss of the personal touch when making these products. For example, many handcrafts(手工艺品) are now produced in a factory. Although this means that supply is better able to increase demand, now that the supply is quick and efficient, the demand might fall because mass production lowers the quality of the handcraft and it is difficult to find unique designs on each item.
Nevertheless, we must not commit the mistake of analyzing progress only from one point of view. In fact, progress has allowed tradition to keep up. It is only with progress and the invention of new technology that many old products can be brought back to their old state. New technology is required for old products to stay old.
It is people’s attitude towards progress that causes the type of influence that technology has on society. Technology is flexible. There is no fixed way of making use of it. Everything depends on people’s attitude. The worst effects of progress will fall on those who are unable to rethink their attitudes and views of society. When we accept progress and adapt it to suit our needs, a new “past” is created.
1. According to Paragraph 1, progress can benefit people when they are willing to _______.| A．live a better life | B．look for better methods |
| C．change ways of living | D．accept technology and advance steadily |
| A．tools | B．messages |
| C．barriers | D．skills |
| A．describing a process | B．using examples |
| C．following time order | D．making classification |
| A．Progress can suit the needs of daily life. |
| B．People review the past with great regret. |
| C．Technology should be introduced in a fixed way. |
| D．People’s attitude decides the use of technology. |
