People disagree about meaningful and small matters on a daily basis. Sometimes you know if you speak your mind you will upset someone. However, you often must express your opinion even if you know others will disagree. By choosing your words carefully you can avoid a long-term offense(冒犯) .
“Ask people about their perspective(观点). Before being honest about how you feel, it’s important to know their perspective. This gives you a chance to show genuine interest and have a conversation.
·Put yourself in their shoes. One of the simplest ways to avoid hurting feelings is to imagine how they will respond to your statements.
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·Be polite in your responses. Whenever you try to avoid hurting others it is best to speak with kindness. Simple acts of kindness can make a big difference. They convey respect and show that you value the other person. This situation isn’t all about you speaking your mind.
·Express your perspective as opinion, not fact. This shows you value their perspective, even if you know the facts back you up. If they have an open mind, facts will change their perspective. If they do not have an open mind, facts will feel like personal attacks.
| A．They have a right to be incorrect. |
| B．It’s about them feeling valued. |
| C．Control your words and body language. |
| D．If they said that to you, would you be upset? |
| E．Listening to others’ opinion is a very powerful way. |
| F．Use facts and try to avoid letting your emotions run high. |
| G．This may also give you opportunities to speak up and be honest. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】When communicating with others, we often focus on what we should say.
Focus fully on the speaker. You can’t listen in an active way if you’re constantly checking your phone.
Display your interest in what’s being said by using body language. Nod occasionally, smile at the person, and make sure your posture is open and inviting.
Avoid interrupting or trying to redirect the conversation to your concerns by saying something like, “you think that’s bad, let me tell you what happened to me.”
| A．Try to set aside judgement. |
| B．Be aware of individual differences. |
| C．It will make you feel more self-confident. |
| D．Listening is not the same as waiting for your turn to talk. |
| E．Encourage the speaker to continue with “yes”or “uh huh”. |
| F．Thinking about something else also implies you are not an active listener. |
| G．However, effective communication is less about talking and more about listening. |
【推荐2】Self-criticism (自我批评) is a mental habit of negatively analyzing and judging ourselves and our actions. If we don’t find a way to overcome self-criticism, we won’t be able to live a happy and satisfying life.
Stop Negative Thoughts
Thought stopping is one of the best secrets of how to overcome self-criticism. Interrupting your thoughts helps you change how you think about yourself, thus helping you feel better.
Another strategy is to replace negative self-critical thoughts with positive realistic statements. For instance, if you set a goal, be realistic about it by giving yourself enough time to achieve it. In fact, having a constant desire to achieve immediate success can ruin your confidence.
Avoid Perfectionism
Another secret is to let go of the need to be perfect. It’s all right to set high standards for yourself.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
| A．Be realistic |
| B．Focus on strengths |
| C．It’s normal to feel like that everyone has a better life than you |
| D．Remember it’s from your mistakes that you get to improve yourself |
| E．If you’ve been stuck in negative thoughts, here’s what you need to do |
| F．It’s important to note that changing your negative thought patterns can take time |
| G．However, falling short of your goals and expectations can make you feel worthless |
We are all called upon to make a speech at some point in life, but most of us don’t do a very good job. Probably you will get nervous, forget what you want to say, talk too long, and bore the listeners. Later you think, “I’m just not good at public speaking. I hope I never have to do that again.”
Cheer up!
| A．Never forget your listeners. |
| B．It doesn’t have to be that bad. |
| C．Give it a try and see what happens. |
| D．Say what you have to say and then stop. |
| E．Ask yourself the purpose of your speech. |
| F．Take several deep breaths before your speech. |
| G．Spend plenty of your time doing your research. |
【推荐1】Let’s be real: apologizing can be difficult. Nobody likes to admit that they were wrong, or that they offended somebody. However, you still have agreed-upon ways to acknowledge that you did something wrong and to express your remorse to others. When you have harmed someone, a genuine, well-given apology demonstrates that you care about them, allows you to take responsibility for your actions, rebuilds trust, and prevents the further deterioration of relationships. It can also help you avoid the shame and guilt of wronging someone from eating away at your self-esteem.
A proper apology should express your understanding that you've done something wrong. Telling somebody “I'm sorry you feel that way!” is not an adequate apology. You should also be aware of over apologizing; it can have negative effects, too. So try to make an effective apology when the situation calls for one.
As Professor Karen A. Cerulo from the University of New Jersey explained, an effective apology has several elements. Number one: don't wait. Forget your ego. Unless you're involved in a legal situation, where you're advised not to speak, you should make an apology right away. Second, don't apologize for what people thought. Instead of saying, “Tm sorry that you misunderstood me!” or “I'm sorry that you misinterpreted or misread my actions!”, apologize for what you did—not for what other people might have thought about it. Third, don't give context. The “why” of what you did is less important to people than your regret and remorse. Finally, there's really a successful formula that you need to use: identify your victim right up front, then express remorse, and, if possible, make restitution.
Dr. Ben Ho, an associate professor of economics at Vasser College, says that people often want to see an apology that costs something. This cost doesn't have to be financial; it can come in the form of admitting your incompetence in making the previous error or promising to do better in the future.
As for promises, avoid the ones that can't be kept. Don't say that you’ll ensure that this will not happen again if you not confident it won't. It could come back to bite you, Martin Stone of Public Relation agency Tank explains. And do remember that the use of "but” can hugely change the tone of an apology. As Stone points out, “I'm sorry but …” sounds like you are making excuses and aren't actually taking any form of responsibility.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To tell you not to harm others. | B．To persuade you to make apologies. |
| C．To remind you to reflect on your behaviors. | D．To advise you to improve relationships with others. |
| A．As formal as possible. | B．As positive as possible. |
| C．Neither serious nor forced. | D．Neither inadequate nor excessive. |
| A．When people misunderstand you. | B．When you are held legally responsible. |
| C．When you are forced to do something wrong. | D．When you don't know whom you have harmed. |
| A．A previous error. | B．A weak apology. | C．A false promise. | D．A terrible excuse. |
【推荐2】First the robots came for our jobs. Now they’re coming for our hobbies. Google’s DeepMind AI lab has been busy the past few years, creating programs to take on human players across a variety of games. In 2016 its AlphaGo beat the best Go player in the world. Earlier this year, its Alpha Star defeated two middle-tier players at the popular online game StarCraft II. Now it’s learning to win at multiplayer games.
“Artificially intelligent agents are getting better and better at two-player games, but most real-world endeavors require teamwork,” DeepMind’s researchers wrote in a paper published in Science in June.
To be sure, computers have been proving their dominance (优越) over humans in one-on-one turn-based games such as chess ever since IBM’s Deep Blue beat Russian chess master Garry Kasparov in 1997.
However, successfully using teamwork to win in multiplayer games with complex environments was difficult to achieve.
For this purpose, DeepMind’s researchers designed AI agents that taught themselves how to play first-person game Quake III Arena. The team, led by Max Jaderberg, worked on a modified (修改的) version of Quake III Arena.
The game mode they chose was “Capture (抢) the Flag”. All the players must work together to steal the other team’s flag while safeguarding their own.
The AI agents “trained” with 12 hours of game data, then matched up against professional game testers. The AI won 75 percent of the time, even when its reaction time artificially slowed down to human levels and when their aiming ability was similarly reduced.
And in order to make improvements, the programmers used various kinds of “rewards” to help the AI players weigh their goals and actions to help them cooperate in the teamwork. They also used randomized maps for each new match.
“That meant the solutions that the agents find have to be general –– they cannot just memorize a sequence (系列) of actions,” said co-author Wojciech Czarnecki.
The only time humans were able to beat the AI agents was when they teamed up together. A team consisting of one human and one AI agent had a five percent greater win probability than a team of just AI agents.
Ethan Gach said at the video game news website Kotaku, “It suggests that the AI program is able to adapt to playing with non-AI teammates.” In the near future, AI may cooperate with human beings in some other fields, such as medicine and other branches of science.
1. What might be the most difficult task for AI agents in multiplayer games?| A．Understanding the rules. |
| B．Cooperating with other players. |
| C．Memorizing complex actions. |
| D．Increasing reaction speed. |
| A．They gave various “punishments” when AI agents lost the games. |
| B．They made AI agents team up with non-professional human players. |
| C．They limited the time for AI agents to complete difficult tasks. |
| D．They put them through thousands of games with different situations. |
| A．AI players perform better than humans in a team game. |
| B．AI programs should be offered more game data. |
| C．AI players are able to do well with human players. |
| D．AI programs have been successfully applied in the field of medicine. |
| A．generalized | B．specialized | C．updated | D．memorized |
| A．Researches on DeepMind AI | B．Training AI Agents |
| C．Teaming up with AI | D．AI Competing with Human Beings |
【推荐3】It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than, to open it and remove all doubt.
-Mark Twain
You can have something extremely smart, useful or funny to say, but if you say it at an improper time, you could make yourself look foolish.
Throughout history many famous, noteworthy people have taken Mark Twain's words to heart. These wise people knew when to talk and when to keep silent. Many leaders have to learn when to talk and when to keep silent even when it might be difficult to do so. All leaders must choose their words carefully, picking the right time to speak, so that their words can have the greatest impact.
If you learn to develop this skill of knowing when to hold your tongue, you will also become wise, even if people think you are not. Some people, in fact, will underestimate you because they do not know what you are thinking all the time. This can give you an advantage in many situations. When people underestimate you, they do not focus on you, leaving you to make and perform plans without being noticed.
If you think before you speak, you can also improve your listening skills, which is a very important and useful skill to have. Listening is another key trait(特征)for a leader to have, and it is harder to achieve than many people think. First, you have to be quiet, and then you have to listen attentively, with all your attention on what the person is saying to be a good listener. When you learn to stop and think before you speak and when you learn to become a good listener you will be well on your way to becoming a good leader. By being able to listen to the people that work with you and for you, you will be able to make informed decisions.
1. The quotation(引言)from Mark Twain functions as________.| A．an example | B．a thread | C．a comparison | D．a model |
| A．influential people are able to express themselves freely |
| B．many important people didn't take Mark Twain's words seriously |
| C．leaders should attach great importance to when, how and what to say |
| D．the public will not understand them if famous, noteworthy people keep silent |
① You could be underestimated by others. ② People often think highly of you.
③ You can polish up listening skills. ④You will improve your relationship with others.
| A．①② | B．①③ | C．③④ | D．②④ |
| A．He That Talks Much Errs Much | B．Facts Speaks Louder than Words |
| C．Even Homer Sometimes Nods | D．A Still Tongue Makes a Wise Head |
