The ingredients of love
In modern times, finding love seems more central to people’s lives. Then, researchers wonder, can love, a highly valued emotional state, be created?
To help determine the ingredients of attraction, one research paired 164 college classmates and had them talk for 3, 6 or 10 minutes to get a sense of each other’s individuality. Then students were asked to predict what kind of relationship they might build with their partners. After nine weeks, they reported what happened. Reports showed their initial judgments often held true. All these students seemed to distinguish at an early stage who would best fit into their lives.
Scientists have also turned to nonhumans to increase understanding of attraction. Many animals give off pheromones — natural chemicals that can be detected by, and then can produce a response in, other animals of the same species. Pheromones can signal that an animal is either ready to fight or is feeling open to partnerships. In contrast, humans do not seem to be as gifted as other animals at detecting such chemicals. Smell, however, does seem to play a part in human attraction. Although we may not be aware of chemicals like pheromones consciously, we give and receive loads of information through smell in every interaction with other people.
Being fond of someone seems to have a number of factors, including seeing something we find attractive. Researchers had people judge faces for attractiveness. The participants had 0.013 seconds to view each face, yet somehow they generally considered the images the same as people who had more time to study the same faces. The way we assess attractiveness seems to be somewhat automatic. When shown an attractive face and then words with good or bad associations, people responded to positive words faster after viewing an attractive face. Seeing something attractive seems to cause happy thinking.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . All of us have taken an instant dislike to someone, and then felt guilty about being too judgmental. But now it seems we should place more trust in our first impressions. Most people can correctly judge a total stranger following a short meeting, according to scientists.
And in general, the more confident the people are, the more likely they are to be correct in their assumptions. Jeremy Biesanz, who led a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia, said: “Many important decisions are made after very brief encounters — which employee to hire, which person to date, which student to accept”. Although our first impressions are generally accurate, it is necessary for us to recognize where they may be not good enough.
The researchers arranged for two groups of more than 100 people to meet in a meeting. Much like speed-dating, the volunteers spoke to everyone in their group for three minutes each. At the end of each three-minute chat, they were asked to rate each other’s personalities, and how well they thought their impressions “would coincide with someone who knows this person very well”.
To find out what the person was “really” like, the scientists had his friends and family fill out his personality reports. Generally speaking, the more confident the volunteers felt in accurately rating another’s personality, the closer their ratings were to those of the other person’s friends and family, the researchers said.
However, the participants with the highest accuracy were those who rated themselves moderately(适度)accurate — those highly confident of their judgment were less successful. The scientists concluded that, although we know people are different from each other, a good judge of character knows that in many ways people are mostly alike. For example, almost everyone would prefer being kind to being unfriendly.
Therefore, while first impressions can be generally accurate, they are not conclusive in working out whether somebody really is “better” than someone else.
1. The volunteers joined a meeting which was ______.A.interesting | B.complex | C.serious | D.brief |
A.agree with | B.appeal to | C.get along with | D.set an example to |
①Being talkative ②Good social relationships
③A proper degree of confidence ④Knowing that people are mostly alike
A.①② | B.②③ | C.③④ | D.④① |
A.many important decisions are made with the help of strangers |
B.people tend to have better impressions on friends than on strangers |
C.we shouldn’t depend on first impressions completely to judge others |
D.accurate judgments on others can help us make as many friends as possible |
A.We should not doubt our ability to judge others. |
B.Our first impressions on a stranger are usually accurate. |
C.Confidence determines whether people can succeed or not. |
D.It’s an important task to make a good judgment about strangers. |
3 . Picking up after your dog is interesting, but it must be done. Most dog owners understand the importance of picking up their dogs’ waste, so it can be especially frustrating to see dog owners that obviously refuse to perform this duty.
Ask them directly. Talking to another dog owner about picking up their dogs’ waste can be uncomfortable. However, asking the owner directly to pick up after their dog will often work to fix the problem.
Use a friendly tone. Although you are probably fed up and mad at a dog owner that isn’t cleaning up after their dog, approach them in a friendly manner. Yelling at them may make them defensive and angry.
Give them a reason. It’s possible this person doesn’t realize how their neglect in picking up after their dog is negatively affecting those around them.
A.Be honest |
B.Raise some dogs |
C.If you want to help them to sweep their waste |
D.And they will likely do more harm than good, too |
E.When you ask them to pick up their dogs’ waste |
F.There are many reasons people don’t pick up after their dogs |
G.Figuring out how to convince these owners to change their ways can be difficult |
4 . Your manager stops you and says she needs to have a word about your performance in the recent project. She begins by praising you for the good work you’ve done on the project, and you wonder if this is the praise that starts off the typical “feedback sandwich”.
However, when feedback becomes such a routine, employees can start to perceive positive feedback as simply a form of sugarcoating the negatives, thus decreasing its value. Instead, positive feedback should not simply be seen as something to cushion the negative.
Cultivate a “growth mindset”. Many of us tend to focus our praise on the end result and seeming inborn talents. For example,
Create a culture of offering positive feedback. Make giving positive feedback part of your team culture. Don’t just wait for special moments to give feedback. Offer informal positive feedback when making small talk.
A.you have a real talent for organizing events. |
B.You know how the feedback sandwich goes. |
C.Attempt to inject some positivity into negative feedback. |
D.you really put a lot of effort into making this event a success. |
E.Don’t always follow positive feedback with negative feedback. |
F.Feedback doesn’t have to only come from the higher ranks either. |
G.It should also be delivered so as to reinforce and encourage good performance. |
5 . Only about 20% of U.S.adults say they have a best friend at work.Should the other 80% start looking for one?Yes and no.
But if becoming best friends with your coworkers feels too daunting (使人气馁的),or just not your style,you can still benefit from social support.When most people hear “social support”,they think of emotional support,like venting (发泄) to a coworker over coffee, Heaney says.
A.But it comes in many forms |
B.Research on the topic is clear |
C.The goal isn’t necessarily to make lifelong friends |
D.It’s easy to talk yourself out of making these gestures |
E.It s often considered equal to smoking 15 cigarettes a day |
F.That could mean seeking input from people at all levels of the company |
G.There’s no doubt that social support in the workplace is important for your health |
6 . Initial conversations can have a huge impact on how relationships develop over time. People are often stuck in the impressions they think they might have made the minute they finish speaking with someone for the first time: “Did they like me or were they just being polite?” “Were they deep in thought or deeply bored?”
To find out whether these worries are necessary, we have conducted nearly 10 years of research. In our studies, participants in the UK talked with someone they had never met before. Afterward, they were asked how much they liked their conversation partner and how much they believed that their conversation partner liked them. This allowed us to compare how much people believed they were liked to how much they were actually liked.
Time and time again, we found that people left their conversations with negative feelings about the impression they made. That is, people systematically underestimate how much their conversation partners like them and enjoy their company — a false belief we call the “liking gap”.
This bias (偏见) may seem like something that would occur only in initial interactions, but its effects extend far beyond a first impression. Surprisingly, the liking gap can constantly affect a variety of relationships, including interactions with coworkers, long after the initial conversations have taken place. Having a larger liking gap is associated with being less willing to ask workmates for help, less willing to provide workmates with open and honest feedback, and less willing to work on another project together.
There are numerous strategies to minimize your biased feelings. One place to start is shifting your focus of attention. Try to direct your attention to your conversation partner, be genuinely curious about them, ask them more questions, and really listen to their answers. The more you’re zeroed in on the other person, and the less you’re focused on yourself, the better your conversation will be and the less your mind will turn to all the things you think you didn’t do well.
1. Why did the author carry out 10 years of research?A.To dismiss national concerns. | B.To check out a potential bias. |
C.To enhance human communication. | D.To develop harmonious relationships. |
A.Fewer chances of new projects. | B.Underestimation of their ability. |
C.Bad relationships with people around. | D.Low willingness to interact with others. |
A.Restate opinions. | B.Deliver warnings. | C.Give suggestions. | D.Make a summary. |
A.Liking Gap May Influence Work Performances |
B.First Impressions Rely On Initial Conversations |
C.People Probably Like You More Than You Think |
D.How People Like You Matters Less Than You Assume |
7 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.
Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease (润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. “Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk, ” he explains. “The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them. ”
In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction (互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. “It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,” says Dunn. “But interactions with peripheral (边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.”
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. “Small talk is the basis of good manners,” he says.
What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?A.Addiction to smartphones. |
B.Inappropriate behaviours in public places. |
C.Absence of communication between strangers. |
D.Impatience with slow service. |
8 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.
Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease (润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. “Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,” he explains. “The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.”
In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction (互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. “It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,” says Dunn. “But interactions with peripheral (边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.”
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. “Small talk is the basis of good manners,” he says.
1. What is important for successful small talk according to Carducci?A.Showing good manners. | B.Relating to other people. |
C.Focusing on a topic. | D.Making business deals. |
A.It improves family relationships. | B.It raises people’s confidence. |
C.It matters as much as a formal talk. | D.It makes people feel good. |
9 . Being vulnerable (脆弱的) is not a choice. In our life it is a
Vulnerability
When some people claim that they have no vulnerability, they are
Indeed, it’s not easy for us to admit our vulnerability in front of others. In order to protect ourselves, we tend to
A.goal | B.trick | C.secret | D.reality |
A.open | B.decorate | C.close | D.design |
A.turns out | B.consists of | C.refers to | D.relies on |
A.habits | B.faith | C.rights | D.nature |
A.approach | B.option | C.experience | D.reason |
A.follow | B.analyse | C.remove | D.acknowledge |
A.eager | B.tired | C.difficult | D.excited |
A.hesitating | B.complaining | C.cheating | D.waiting |
A.motivated | B.unwilling | C.puzzled | D.unafraid |
A.friendship | B.wealth | C.performance | D.thought |
A.deal | B.meet | C.agree | D.struggle |
A.obviously | B.cautiously | C.safely | D.gratefully |
A.preference | B.decision | C.emotion | D.bravery |
A.affected | B.impressed | C.occupied | D.touched |
A.characteristic | B.relationship | C.action | D.standard |
10 . If you identify as a people-pleaser, you might feel like it’s impossible to change. Well-meaning friends can try to encourage you to just be yourself, but no matter how hard you try, you can’t shake that urge to keep everyone happy.
Lots of times, people who try to please other people are extremely quick to react in social settings. They know what to say right away and they move into care taking immediately.
As you slowly start to become aware of your needs and even state them out loud, it can bring in some essential changes in your relationships. You might realize that as you mature, some friendships are not as rewarding or even as equal as you would like them to be.
A.So, it’s time to end the relationship. |
B.Change your habits and please yourself. |
C.Slow down and check in with yourself before reacting. |
D.This could be because, since childhood, they have developed this habit. |
E.However, that doesn’t mean you always have to cut people out of your life. |
F.Therefore, here’s how to slowly stop people-pleasing and start being yourself. |
G.General polite behavior to one person can be people-pleasing to someone else. |