Charles Darwin formulated the most successful theory in the history of biology: the theory of evolution. He was also responsible for another grand theory: the theory of emotion, which dominated his field for more than a century. Its core principle was that the mind consists of two competing forces: the rational and the emotional.
We now know that, on the contrary, emotions enhance our process of reasoning and aid our decision-making. In fact, we can’t make decisions, or even think, without being influenced by our emotions.
Consider anger, for example. Backed by the threat of attack, anger creates incentives (动机) for others to comfort the angry individual. Your mental calculations increase the importance you place on your own welfare and goals at the expense of others’. Coaches tap into anger as a motivational tool because the focus on the self encourages athletes to push themselves to achieve their goals. Anger also causes you to perceive less risk.
The new view of emotion may not correspond to the way Darwin saw it, but it does support one of the basic conclusions of his theory of evolution. Humans are not as different from non-human animals as people believed. What can we learn from this? The first and most crucial step is self- awareness.
| A．Emotions play a critical role in shaping our thoughts and decisions, subtly influencing the framework of our reasoning even when we believe we are thinking rationally. |
| B．He believed that emotions played a constructive role in the lives of non-human animals, while the usefulness of emotions was largely replaced by the evolution of reason in humans. |
| C．That can produce better judgments in situations where risk aversion (厌恶) is inappropriate, as when you are analyzing stocks (股票) or playing poker. |
| D．Anger, while often perceived negatively, can sometimes fuel our motivation and reduce our perception of risk, enabling more decisive actions in certain situations. |
| E．Studies show that those with high levels of emotional intelligence fare better in their personal and professional lives. |
| F．If emotions aid rational reasoning, how does that work. |
Coping With the Sunday Scaries
A few years ago, I was in the kitchen of a friend’s house preparing a meal. When we all sat down to eat, my friend’s wife wolfed down her supper and then disappeared into another room to do some work. He smiled and said, “Sunday nights are the new Monday mornings around here.”
I was surprised at the time. Now, I find myself
Apparently, my Sunday-night anxieties and Monday-morning blues are not unique to me alone. A new study led by Ilke Inceoglu from the University of Exeter found that this phenomenon often takes the form of mental concerns about the week ahead, as well as feelings of nervousness and difficulty with sleeping. “It’s as if your mind moves away from
Inceoglu found that these Sunday scaries were particularly pronounced
What should we do about the “Sunday scaries”? Researchers have offered some useful suggestions that
3 . Noah reached for his guitar, remembering his father as he did so, thinking how much he missed him. He strummed once, adjusted the tension on two strings, then strummed again. This time it sounded about right, and he began to play.
Soft music, quiet music. He hummed for a little while at first, then began to sing as night came down around him. He played and sang until the sun was gone and the sky black. It was a little after seven when he quit, and he settled back into his chair and began to rock. By habit, he looked upward and saw Orion and the Big Dipper, Gemini and the Pole Star, twinkling in the autumn sky. He started to run the numbers in his head, then stopped. He knew he’d spent almost his entire savings on the house and would have to find a job again soon, but he pushed the thought away and decided to enjoy the remaining months of restoration without worrying about it. Besides, thinking about money usually bored him. Early on, he’d learned to enjoy simple things, things that couldn’t be bought, and he had a hard time understanding people who felt otherwise. It was another trait he got from his father.
Clem, his hound dog, came up to him then and nuzzled his hand before lying down at his feet. “Hey, girl, how’re you doing?” he asked as he patted her head, and she whined softly, her soft round eyes peering upward. A car accident had taken her leg, but she still moved well enough and kept him company on quiet nights like these. He was thirty-one now, not too old, but old enough to be lonely. He hadn’t dated since he’d been back here, hadn’t met anyone who remotely interested him. It was his own fault, he knew. There was something that kept a distance between him and any woman who started to get close, something he wasn’t sure he could change even if he tried. And sometimes in the moments right before sleep came, he wondered if he was destined to be alone forever.
The evening passed, staying warm, nice. Noah listened to the crickets and the rustling leaves, thinking that the sound of nature was more real and aroused more emotion than things like cars and planes. Natural things gave back more than they took, and their sounds always brought him back to the way man was supposed to be. “It’ll keep you from going crazy,” his father had told him the day he’d shipped out. “It’s God’s music and it’ll take you home.” He finished his tea, went inside, found a book, then turned on the porch light on his way back out. After sitting down again, he looked at the book. It was old, the cover was torn, and the pages were stained with mud and water.
It was Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, and he had carried it with him throughout the war. It had even taken a bullet for him once. He rubbed the cover, dusting it off just a little. Then he let the book open randomly and read the words in front of him: This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless. Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done. Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best. Night, sleep, death and the stars. For some reason Whitman always reminded him of New Bern, and he was glad he’d come back. Though he’d been away from fourteen years, this was home and he knew a lot of people here, most of them from his youth. Like so many southern towns, the people who lived here never changed, they just grew a bit older.
1. The underlined sentence in paragraph two is the equivalent of “_________”.| A．he hated those who were unable to appreciate simple things in life |
| B．he didn’t see eye to eye with people who liked to save money |
| C．he had difficulty in figuring out how he got this trait from his father |
| D．he didn’t understand why people were so materialistic |
| A．Noah often played the guitar and observed the stars. |
| B．Clem the dog showed great affection for her master. |
| C．Noah was destined to be alone since no woman seemed interested in him. |
| D．Noah planned to restore his house before landing himself a job. |
| A．Patients suffering from mental disorder can be cured by nature. |
| B．The closer you are to nature, the closer you are to your true self. |
| C．Where there is God’s music, there is home. |
| D．A good book is a man’s best company. |
| A．had been a treasure but was now too damaged to read |
| B．recorded the lives of New Bern’s people who never changed over the years |
| C．was beyond Noah’s understanding so he randomly picked up some words to read |
| D．stirred a feeling of nostalgia in Noah |
| A. influence B. devoted C. physically D. circumstance E. affected F. overall G. financially H. decision I. positive J. strive K. joyful |
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If you know joyful people, you will probably notice common traits among them. Joyful people are often healthy, both
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