1 . How We Talk about Fear Matters

Lately, there seems to be plenty to fear in the world. How we talk about what we fear might offer clues to how we perceive that emotion socially and culturally.

Get the root of fear.

    1    . In Anglo Saxon times, “fear” primarily referred to sudden danger. The root of the word dates back to “pēr” from Indo-European about 6,000 years ago. This root suggests that fear developed from a sudden (frightening) experience you passed through.

Figure out the emotional meaning of fear.

Whether emotions are viewed positively or negatively varies from culture to culture.    2     . For instance, in English, the word “anxious” can be used to mean “worried” or “eager”. But the word meaning “anxious” just means “regret” in Dargwa. Therefore, many English speakers may not view anxiety as negatively as Dargwa speakers.

Find out a fearful pattern.

In looking at such patterns across the major language families, researchers found that the word “fear” was often associated with anxiety, envy and grief in Indo-European languages. But in Austronesian languages, “fear” more often was associated with surprise.     3     .

    4    

How we talk about fear changes how we react to it. When we talk about what frightens us, it may be useful to disrupt associated meanings. In addition, how our language categorizes an emotion seems to impact whether we perceive those emotions negatively or positively.

In conclusion, fear is something that can be changed by cultural and linguistic experience.    5     . Perhaps Roosevelt was right when he in famously said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

A．Talk more about fears

B．Change our perception of fear

C．The word fear has a long history in English

D．There seemed a fearful pattern across the major language families

E．This is based on what people have learned to associate with emotion words

F．It opens the door to potential ways to change how we talk about and react to it

G．This makes speakers of the latter languages associate this emotion with a less negative sense

2 . One of the cores of emotional intelligence is self-regulation, an important skill in the workplace. Like any skill, mastery of emotional self-control requires intentionality and practice.     1    .

Pause to Mentally Distance

When you notice your typical physiological experiences associated with strong negative emotion, what should you do? Mentally step out of your immediate experience. Asking yourself any question, or imagining what you might look like to others right now, will do the trick. At that point, although still physiologically keyed up, you will be able to ask yourself, “What is the best course of action right now?” or “What advice would I give someone else who is in my shoes?”     2    .

Take Control of Your Self-Talk

We’re frequently unaware of how much self-chatter is going on in the background of our minds. Such self-talk might not be in fully articulated (铰接式的) words or phrases, but instead little flashes of thought. Becoming aware of your self-talk can be difficult. Why is this an important skill to develop?     3    . To genuinely ease a strong negative emotion requires tackling the source by examining the underlying belief and how accurate, reasonable, or useful it is.

Seek Support from Partners

Ask others you trust to help you recognize when your emotions seem to be getting the best of you.     4    . Agree on a gesture or word that might serve as a signal that your trusted individual wonders whether you’re riding the led-by-your-limbic-system train. Of course, there will be times they’re wrong. So, it’s important not to respond defensively when you get that signal. Reacting with anything other than gratitude ensures that your partner won’t take that risk again.

Cultivate (培养) Curiosity

Our brains are wired to draw conclusions and form judgments at lightning speed, and those are frequently the cause of our negative emotions.     5    , but we tend to run with them, sparking the self-talk that follows. Generally working to be more curious about other people’s experiences, including their self-identified motives for their behavior, helps avoid making hasty judgments.

A．They are comfortable with all emotions

B．Those judgments are not necessarily accurate

C．Doing so provides you with choices as to how to act

D．Explain your developmental goals and sincerely ask for help

E．Stay focused on coming up with an answer and following through on it

F．Because it is those background beliefs that fuel our emotional responses

G．Here are four ways you can develop greater emotional self-management

3 . Perhaps you’ve stopped doing what you want because you’re afraid of what others think of you. You feel that you must do what they expect and that you must meet their expectations, otherwise you’ll lose their approval.     1     Then, you’ll be able to do what you want freely.

Think about yourself, about what you really like and are interested in. You must lead your life independently.       2     However, you might feel afraid to do it because you’ ve always done everything to gain the approval of others. You need to get out of that zone, move to new places, and explore your full potential.

By surrounding yourself with people who think like you, you’ll realize that you don’t feel judged. Then, you’ll start doing what you really want.     3     Your new friends will integrate into your life and you’ll also keep your genuine friends. On the other hand, those who are always ready to see the negative and question what you’ re trying to do will drift away.

To overcome your fear of what others think and of their non-approval, you should start talking about your plans, For instance, you might want to tell a handful of friends about your wishes and dreams.     4     You’ll feel confident in yourself and you’ll be able to go on your new path without any fear.

It’s unavoidable that not everything will be plain sailing, and you’ll find obstacles along your way.     5     People in your environment often don’t understand what you do no matter how much you explain it, so ignore them.

A．There is no need to think about what you want.

B．You don’t have to change your circle of friends.

C．Your life belongs to you, as well as your actions.

D．By talking to them, you’ll be able to organize your plans and ideas.

E．If this is the case, it’s time to start working on your self-esteem (自尊).

F．You must do what you want without being affected by what others think.

G．However, you must trust in yourself and seek the necessary strength to move forward.

4 . It’s nice to feel like a hero or to be the centre of attention every once in a while. Walking barefoot down the worm road, cheered on by the villagers of Bradstone, one would have thought that I should feel full of pride and joy. Those feelings might have been nice, except for this one tiny fact: I had no idea where I was heading, even when I heard my name being shouted out upon entering the village.

Earlier, after painfully recovering consciousness beside the road, the only important things I could remember were my name, Jonathan Grey, and a horribly uncomfortable feeling that I had forgotten something which could result in life or death. So I had followed the road. Shortly I noticed that I had somehow also lost track of my shoes.

I had ended up in Bradstone. Many villagers hurried over and screamed my name. One older woman particularly threw her arms around my waist. “ You made it! I knew you were special,” she cried, “My baby is finally home! ” At a loss for words, with no idea what to do, the best I could offer the crying woman was to put my arms around her, too. When she settled down, she pulled back to look at me properly. “How are you? Really? Oh, you will have to report to Mr. Fredrick first… ”

I was not sure how to answer the woman’s — my mother’s? — questions, so I decided to be honest. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure who Mr. Freddrick is, or what I must report to him. ”

My mother took a deep breath, then took my hand to lead me into the house. “ Your father will be home soon, so get settled in. I’ll be outside if you need me. ” Taking one last look around, my mother let out a sigh. For the time being, home this would have to be. Breathing deeply, I gathered my courage and mentally prepared myself for what was now my new life.

1. What can we know about Jonathan?

A．He enjoyed the welcome he received.	B．The villagers were very sorry for him.
C．He had never been the centre of attention.	D．The villagers knew who he was.

2. What happened to him when Jonathan recovered consciousness?

A．He felt relieved.	B．He was in pain.
C．He forgot his name.	D．He regained his memories.

3. Why did Jonathan hug the crying woman?

A．He would not let her go.	B．He recognized his mother.
C．He didn’t know how to reply.	D．He was glad to have found her.

4. How did Jonathan feel at the end of the text?

A．He tried to make his mother pleased.

B．He was worried about meeting his father.

C．He was uncertain if he had the courage for a new life.

D．He decided to temporarily accept the present situation.

5 . What happens when we experience emotions?

In brief, emotional responses have four parts. There is a bodily (physiological) response, an interpretation in the mind, feelings, and an effect on behaviour. These do not happen in any special order - they happen at the same time and affect each other.     1    

To understand the physiological response, imagine you are frightened by an aggressive, noisy dog. Your brain sends messages throughout your body. It does this by releasing a chemical called adrenaline, which the blood carries to other parts of the body. Then, the bodily sensations of being frightened begin. Blood drains from your stomach (giving a feeling we describe as a "knot in the stomach"). The blood vessels（血管）in the face become narrower (which makes you become white). Similar processes exist for other emotions.     2     This helps the person get ready for a fight.

The second aspect of emotion is interpretation in the ind of events and feelings. This is both conscious and unconscious. In fact, the more you think about the dog, the more frightened you become. Thinking like this sends both your feelings and your physical arousal to new heights.

    3     In one, the brain senses the body's state of arousal. The other comes from memories of your body's reactions in similar situations in the past. So, when you see the angry dog, your brain may remember your feelings from past experiences with angry dogs.

Finally, emotions can also affect behavior.     4     In this, the person either becomes aggressive or runs away. Responses may also include facial expressions and sounds, such as crying, screaming or shouting. There may also be gestures, such as waving arms.

A．The “feeling” aspect of emotions comes from two sources.

B．We will illustrate this process with the most carefully studied of all emotions: fear.

C．In response to the aggressive dog, this could be the so-called "fight-or-flight" response which appears to be part of our biology.

D．We should make clear, however, that emotions are not completely fixed by our biology.

E．With anger, for example, more blood flows to the hands, and more energy is released.

F．Fear, for example, undoubtedly helped people thousands of years ago to respond to dangerous situations.

6 . Shyness is normal and it is not considered as a mental problem. All people have been shy at one time or another. Even the most confident people experienced being shy.     1    .

You probably are wondering why you are shy. It may be because of the environment you were used to or the way you were brought up. Certain events or incidents in the past may also lead to the reason why you are shy now.     2     Most shy people have shy parents and relatives and it is not surprising to find out that they too have become shy persons.

One of the negative sides of being shy is having the tendency to be passive. Most of the time shy people can’t stand up for themselves and what they believe is right.     3    This apparently influences their social life as well as work, family and other aspects of their life.

While shyness has negative aspects, it has positive sides. Shy people are usually good observers and do not get themselves into too much trouble because they try to observe their environment or any situation before they act.     4     They can also make great friends. Since they have difficulties in social scenes, making friends seems to be a must. Therefore, they value their friends wholeheartedly and have proven to be loyal and thoughtful friends.

    5     Some of them born with shy parents have successfully battled against being shy. This contributes to their constant self-improvement, developing self-esteem and trying to be exposed to new environments.

A．But in most cases, shyness proves to be genetic.

B．They are sensitive and accustomed to getting suspicious.

C．Because some people are born to be shy, they let it go hang.

D．So if you’re feeling shy, don’t worry because you are not alone.

E．They are not hot-headed and think twice before making any decisions.

F．Although shyness is something from birth, it can be improved over time.

G．They avoid crowds by nature and stay away from groups and social interactions.