【推荐1】Many people think that listening is a passive business. It is just the opposite. Listening well is an active exercise of our attention and hard work. It is because they do not realize this, or because they are not willing to do the work, that most people do not listen well.

Listening well also requires total concentration upon someone else. An essential part of listening well is the rule known as ‘bracketing’. Bracketing includes the temporary giving up or setting aside of your own prejudices and desires, to experience as far as possible someone else’s world from the inside, stepping into his or her shoes. Moreover, since listening well involves bracketing, it also involves a temporary acceptance of the other person. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will seem quite willing to open up the inner part of his or her mind to the listener. True communication is under way and the energy required for listening well is so great that it can be accomplished only by the will to extend oneself for mutual growth.

Most of the time we lack this energy. Even though we may feel in our business dealings or social relationships that we are listening well, what we are usually doing is listening selectively. Often we have a prepared list in mind and wonder, as we listen, how we can achieve certain desired results to get the conversation over as quickly as possible or redirected in ways more satisfactory to us. Many of us are far more interested in talking than in listening, or we simply refuse to listen to what we don’t want to hear.

It wasn’t until toward the end of my doctor career that I have found the knowledge that one is being truly listened to is frequently therapeutic (有疗效的). In about a quarter of the patients I saw, surprising improvement was shown during the first few months of psychotherapy (心理疗法), before any of the roots of problems had been uncovered or explained. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but chief among them, I believe, was the patient’s sense that he or she was being truly listened to, often for the first time in years, and for some, perhaps for the first time ever.

1. What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 2?

A．How to listen well.	B．What to listen to.
C．Benefits of listening.	D．Problems in listening.

2. According to the author, in communication people tend to ________.

A．listen actively	B．listen purposefully
C．set aside their prejudices	D．open up their inner mind

3. According to the author, the patients improved mainly because _______.

A．they were taken good care of.	B．they knew they were truly listened to.
C．they had partners to talk to.	D．they knew the roots of problems.

4. What type of writing the article likely to be?

A．Science fiction	B．A news report.
C．A medical report.	D．Popular science

【推荐3】How to Deal with Depression

You are all familiar with mood swings, the dark feelings of sadness and disappointment that attack you at times. Now, why does depression take hold of your mind? It could be that you feel let down in life. It could be your dissatisfaction with people or the situations around you. These emotions are natural and should pass with time. The key is to cross over and grow from these experiences.     1    

●    2    

If you’re dealing with failure, reflect why things went wrong. Change your approach and take another look at things. Remove yourself from the situation and take an outsider’s perspective. Think about your needs that are always fulfilled in life and be thankful for that.

● Take a break and relax.

Stop. Breathe. Relax. Sometime you need to take a break and explore something else. If a certain thing has frustrated you, take a weekend off and go on a trip with friends.     3    

● Bear in mind not everything can be changed.

    4     And they are wise enough to move on. American poet Maya Angelou once said, ‘If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.’

● Stay away from things that disturb you.

When it comes to relationships, always look at things that work for you.     5     Stay away from others who pull into negativity.

A．Take another look at your problem.

B．Here are some ways to deal with it.

C．Understand, accept and be thankful.

D．This will give you the energy to start again.

E．You will find having a friend is really a blessing.

F．Keep in touch with those who understand and support you.

G．People with a positive attitude know certain things can’t be changed.

【推荐1】Love and Friendship

They are both so much related to each other. And both are so dissimilar! What are the differences between friendship and love? Is platonic（柏拉图式的）friendship possible between persons of the opposite sex?     1    

What is friendship? Why do we call a person our friend? When do we call someone a very good friend? If we care for a person, if we are always ready to help that person and if we share most of our thoughts with that person, he/she is our good friend. We can always count upon our good friends in an emergency. We are always sure that our friends will understand why we act in a certain way.     2     The friendship is so deep and the relationship is so intimate, that most of the things are automatically understood by our friends.

    3     In a relationship with deep love, all the sharing that we discussed above is taken for granted. But love transcends（超越）all this. In love, we are attached to a particular person, while in friendship, one may have many friends. A loving relationship makes one so much attached to the other that one gets pained if his/ her beloved is hurt! Love also involves a physical element.     4     This is a vital difference. Nature gives us love so that the species can go forward. Nature does not give us friendship.

Your heartbeats will never increase in anticipation of meeting your friend.     5     You will not feel totally lost, if you don’t meet your friend for a few days. You will not have dreams in your eyes thinking about your friend. But in love, you will do all this and much more. Indeed, there is no comparison between love and friendship.

A．What about love?

B．Friendship does not have that.

C．My answer is “Yes”.

D．Let us try and understand.

E．The physical element may include hand in hand while walking.

F．We need not explain anything to our very good friends.

G．You will not lie awake at night thinking about your friend.

【推荐2】Intelligent people are more likely to trust others, while those who score lower on measures of intelligence are less likely to do so. Oxford University researchers based their finding on an analysis of the ‘General Social Survey’.

The authors say one explanation could be that more intelligent individuals are better at judging characters and may spend more time building relationships with people they can trust. Another reason could be that smarter people are better at weighing up situations and assessing whether or not the other person will hold up his or her end of a bargain.

“Intelligence is shown to be linked with trusting others.” said the study’s lead author, Noah Carl of Oxford University,“ This finding supports what other researchers have argued, namely that being a good judge of character is a distinct part of human intelligence.”

In addition, the study shows that individuals who are more trusting are also happier with their lives and had higher levels of physical health. The Oxford researchers found, however, that the links between trust and health, and between trust and happiness, are not explained by intelligence. The findings confirmed that trust is a valuable resource for an individual, and is not simply a measure of intelligence.

The authors say the research is significant because the study of social trust could have far-reaching implications in public welfare, as social trust contributes to the success of important social institutions, such as welfare systems and financial markets.

According to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, trust is in increasingly short supply in current generation. This decline threatens world leaders’ ability to handle some of today’s key challenges like global warming, and the political system. There are good reasons to think that governments should try to develop more trust in society.

Distrust usually causes friction in personal relationships, careers and politics among others, says Stephen Covey. Although majority of people say that trust can never be restored once it’s broken, Stephen feels it can be brought back. “It’s not easy, it takes time, but you do it through your behavior, not just things you say.”

1. It can be concluded from the analysis of the General Social Survey   that ______.

A．intelligence accounts for the connection between trust and health

B．judgment of characters determines the level of intelligence

C．intelligent individuals spend less time on interpersonal relationship

D．intelligent people tend to show more trust in others

2. What does the underlined phrase in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Make the best of a situation.	B．Stick to one’s promise as agreed.
C．Figure out the true value of a bargain.	D．Make an assessment of a deal.

3. According to the research, higher level of social trust is______.

A．a basic step to deal with global warming	B．a decisive basis for stable political system
C．a complete solution to interpersonal conflicts	D．a contributing factor to successful public institutions

4. When it comes to rebuilding trust, Stephen is most likely to agree that______.

A．actions always speak louder than words	B．Trust is the proper fruit of knowledge
C．mind is largely determined by behavior	D．behavior is a mirror to shows one’s image

【推荐3】Are you new to experiencing relationships? Well，let me give you advice on how to have a healthy relationship with your partners.

Be an honest person with them. Don't hide things from them，and don't lie. Don't be afraid to say things that aren't very flattering about yourself. Getting them to trust you is the most important element in any relationship. If there's no trust, there's nothing there.    1    

    2    Now. respect isn't just simply treating them nicely. There’s a lot more to it. You have to learn to adjust to their liking. Basically，learn to study your partners' moods, wants and needs. Don't just think about yourself，but think about what your partners need as well.

Make sure you are encouraging to your partners. Always be willing to help them and give them honesty and positive at the time. Make them feel you are someone they can really count on (指望)and build a future with.    3    

Make sure you have a good sense of humor with them. Laughter is the key to happiness. Laugh a lot with them，and joke with them. Laughter may seem silly，but it's the secret to a lot in life. It will keep the sparks alive.    4    

Make sure the communication is good. This usually goes along with trust，so always communicate how you feel even if it's something that upsets you.    5     If they did something that made you unhappy, tell them about it in a respectful manner. It's important to communicate this to them，not to keep it bottled up.

A．Make sure you give them respect.

B．Laughter keeps the relationship strong and lasting.

C．Your partners will be able to count on you when necessary

D．Show them your personality.

E．So please be honest and they'll learn to open up to you.

F．Don't start to neglect them and make them feel unwanted.

G．Instead of screaming, talk to them.