1 . In conversations with strangers, people commonly tend to think they should speak less than half the conversation time to be likable. But we’ve discovered this idea is wrong. Our data shows that people tend to think they should speak about 45% of the time to be likable in a one-on-one conversation with someone new. However, it appears speaking up a bit more is actually a better strategy.

In our research, we randomly assigned people to speak for 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% of the time in a conversation with someone new. We found that the more they spoke, the more they were liked by their new partners. This was only one study with 116 participants, but the outcome is supported by other researchers’ findings. For example, a previous study randomly assigned one in a pair to take on the role of “speaker” and the other to take on the role of “listener. ” After engaging in 12-minute interactions, listeners liked speakers more than speakers liked listeners because listeners felt more similar to speakers than speakers did to listeners. This outcome suggests the reason people prefer those who speak up: Learning more about a new partner can make you feel like you have more in common with him or her.

Further, we assigned people to speak for up to 70% and even 90% of the time. The result shows it is not an ideal strategy. Our research does not suggest people hold down a conversational partner but rather that they feel comfortable speaking up more than they usually might.

Research like ours can help people gain a ‘more reasonable understanding of social interactions with new people and become more confident about how to make a good first impression. It has the obvious benefit of allowing us to carefully control speaking time. However, it does not reflect more natural conversations. Future research should figure out whether our findings generalize to more natural interactions.

1. What is the common belief concerning conversations with strangers?

A．Speaking a little less is preferred.

B．Speaking half the time is the best.

C．Listeners are more likable than speakers.

D．Listeners fail to control the conversations.

2. How was the research carried out?

A．By analyzing speaking habits.

B．By making comparisons.

C．By listing examples.

D．By collecting data.

3. What is the disadvantage of the research?

A．The conversation time is limited.

B．Further study is hard to continue.

C．The findings are less widely appliable.

D．Interactions with strangers are missing.

4. In which situation can the research finding be applied?

A．Attending a family gathering.

B．Partying with your friends.

C．Meeting a new teacher.

D．Making a public speech.

2 . One person’s happiness causes a chain reaction that benefits not only their friends, but their friends’ friends, and their friends’ friends’ friends. The effect lasts for up to one year. The opposite, interestingly, is not the case: Sadness does not spread through social networks as strongly as happiness. Happiness appears to love company more so than misery.

Focusing on 4,739 individuals, Christakis and Fowler, who co-authored this study, observed more than 50,000 social and family ties and analyzed the spread of happiness throughout this group. The researchers found that when an individual becomes happy, a friend living within a mile experiences a 25 percent increased chance of becoming happy. A co-resident spouse (配偶) experiences an 8 percent increased chance, siblings (兄弟姐妹) living within one mile have a 14 percent increased chance, and for next-door neighbors, 34 percent. But the real surprise came with indirect relationships. Again, while an individual becoming happy increases his friend’s chances, a friend of that friend experiences a nearly 10 percent chance of increased happiness, and a friend of that friend has a 5.6 percent increased chance.

The researchers also found that, contrary to what your parents taught you, popularity does lead to happiness. People in the center of their network groups are the most likely people to become happy, and then there are chances that increase to the extent that the people surrounding them also have lots of friends. However, becoming happy does not help migrate a person from the network fringe (外围) to the center. Happiness spreads through the network without changing its structure.

“Imagine a bird’s eye view of a backyard party,” Fowler explains. “You’ll see people in groups at the center, and others on the fringe. The happiest people tend to be the ones in the center. But someone on the fringe who suddenly becomes happy, say through a particular exchange, doesn’t suddenly move into the center of the group. He simply stays where he is—only now he has a far more satisfying sense of well-being.”

Next time, if you’re happy and you know it, thank your friends—and their friends. And while you’re at it, their friends’ friends. But if you’re sad, hold the blame.

1. Who will be more likely to become happy as a man is happy according to the research?

A．His wife.	B．His next-door neighbors.
C．His brothers and sisters.	D．A friend of his friend.

2. Why does Fowler mention a backyard party in Paragraph 4?

A．To explain a rule.	B．To clarify a concept.
C．To describe a fact.	D．To make a prediction.

3. What does the research aim to tell us?

A．Happiness changes social structures.

B．A social network is a double-edged sword.

C．Happiness goes hand in hand with sadness.

D．Happiness spreads through social networks.

4. What do we know from the last two paragraphs?

A．Friends’ friends may bring you happiness.

B．Your friends are to blame for your sadness.

C．Your friends decide whether you are happy.

D．The happiest friends at party are on the fringe.

3 . Your neighbors are probably the first line of defense in case of any problematic situation.     1     It gives you an assurance that you have people close by looking out for you. Here are easily applicable tips on creating stronger neighbor relationships.

The first step is introducing yourself when you move to a new neighborhood or when a newcomer moves in. Leave them a note under their door to introduce yourself.     2     It doesn’t have to cost you a fortune and opting for a potted plant or baked biscuits will do. These actions present excellent opportunities to connect with them.

Be respectful of your neighbors. It’s in poor taste to have regular insensitive parties at your place causing disturbances. Before your party, it’s good practice to notify your neighbors. Besides, avoid chatting them up for hours on end, which may be inconvenient, especially if you don’t know their schedules.     3     When you borrow anything, return it in due time. If you accidentally break their things, replace them without being asked to.

    4     You could offer to babysit your neighbors’ kids, help with snow removals or even keep an eye on their home when they’re away. Such acts of reaching out to your neighbors make for stronger relationships.

As Emma Seppälä put it, “social connectedness generates a positive feedback loop (圈) of social, emotional and physical well-being.” It feels so easy to just stay home without having to engage with your neighbors but connecting with them is worth the effort.     5    

A．Remember every small gesture counts.

B．A crisis is a test of communication skills.

C．It can actually boost your mood in the long run.

D．Slipping it in their mailbox further solidifies friendship.

E．It’s essential to ensure you maintain decent relationships with them.

F．Alternatively, you can give them a gift while making yourself known to them.

G．Only by establishing healthy boundaries will you achieve peaceful coexistence.

4 . How To Stop Bein g A People Pleaser

As a recovering people pleaser, I spent much of my life keeping others happy. Breaking this habit meant stepping on a few toes. However, I’ve become a happier person as a result. Here are some tips I used to stop being a people pleaser.

Identify your priorities. Take a moment to think about why you are trying to learn how to stop being a people pleaser.     1     Why do you feel the need to keep them happy? Answering these questions will help you set a goal that you can hold yourself accountable to.

Just say “no”. One reason why people pleasers say “yes” to everything is that they fear disappointing others.     2     If you are a people pleaser, you are likely to spend lots of energy trying to control how people feel about you. The best thing you can do is let them feel their feelings. It will feel liberating to free yourself from being responsible for someone else’s reaction.

    3     Saying “no” is a good way to set better boundaries in your important relationships. All healthy relationships have their own boundaries. If you haven’t set boundaries in your relationships, the odds are that at some point you will end up feeling pressured to do something you don’t want to do.

Accept yourself. Many people pleasers are insecure about who they are.     4     Check out our summary of Brené Brown’s the Gifts of Imperfection to learn how to accept your imperfections and love yourself.

Remember that you cannot please everyone. No matter what you do there will always be someone who is unhappy with your choices.     5    

A．Learn to set healthy boundaries.

B．Don’t mix up your boundaries with others’.

C．Who are the people that you feel the need to please?

D．Spend some time learning to love yourself for who you are.

E．So why bother trying to please everyone if it isn’t possible?

F．But saying “no” is the best way to take care of your own needs.

G．That is why the more you seek security, the less of it you have.

5 . Having a good sense of humor makes you more enjoyable to be around.     1     . Here’s how you can develop your sense of humor.

●Surround Yourself with Humor

You learn more effectively when you fully expose yourself to a subject. Similarly, you can improve your sense of humor by surrounding yourself with humor. Watch stand-up comedians. Listen to programs that amuse you.Read humorous books.     2     .

●Learn What Amuses You

    3     . We amuse our friends by praising a change they made. However, when it comes to being funny, don’t change your sense of humor to amuse other people. Instead, start with what amuses you.Then, if you think the other person will also be amused with it, share it with them.

●Think About Timing and Audience

You don’t have to be funny all the time, so don’t expect that of yourself. When you catch yourself trying to be funny, slow down. Simply speak slower so you’re not as likely to stop and repeat yourself. Try speaking at 60-70 % of your usual rate.     4     .

●    5    

You don’t need to seize every single opportunity to be funny. If you’re in the middle of a bad joke, just end it. “You know what, now that I’m telling it, it’s not as funny as it sounded in my head,” can be a bit of an awkward end and hurt your pride a little bit, but it saves everyone time and patience. In the long run, they’ll respect your taste.

A．Be Creative, Not Silly

B．Pause in between sentences

C．There’s a lot of fun out there

D．You might also do better at work

E．Know When to Pull the Plug on Yourself

F．You can also try your hand in the real world

G．A lot of times, we say things purely to please others

6 . False Memories or Parallel (平行的) Realities?

Here is a common situation: You’re talking with someone about an event, only to discover that you both remember things quite differently. Usually, you’d put it down to a poor memory, but what if it wasn’t just one person who remembered things differently? What if it was millions?

In fact, this isn’t a “what if” situation. It’s known as the Mandela Effect, and it was first noticed in 2009 by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome. Broome was chatting with people about the South African activist Nelson Mandela, and she commented how sad it was that he had died in prison in the 1980s.     1     Actually, he'd been released in 1990, become president of South Africa, and died in 2013.

Broome was so shocked at this that she started an investigation.     2     People have memories of movies that never existed, and famous words that were never spoken. There is even a group who clearly recall seeing maps showing that New Zealand was northeast of Australia (it’s southeast ). So what in the world is going on?

    3     In each reality, history is shaped by different events, and the Mandela Effect occurs when some of us shift from one reality to another. Therefore, those who remember Nelson Mandela dying in the 1980s aren’t wrong. They’re just remembering events from their original reality.

More likely, however, is that the Mandela Effect has to do with how our brains store information.     4     Many people remember Pikachu’s tail having a black tip on the end of it, when in fact it was always yellow. “Aha!” you cry. “Parallel realities!” Probably not. Consider instead that people often ignore unfamiliar details and transform information to make it more understandable. In the Pikachu example, his tail may not have a black tip, but his ears certainly do. Thus, both his ears and tail are misremembered as having black tips.     5    

All things considered, if you’re stuck arguing with someone about whose version of events is correct, it may indeed be easier to agree that neither of you is wrong. You just come from different realities.

A．Before we explain let’s look at an example.

B．It turns out she wasn’t the only one who’d experienced this.

C．If several people make these memory errors, the false memory gets stronger socially.

D．The story of Nelson Mandela is not the only example of this type of false group memory.

E．Some claim the Mandela Effect happens because we live in one of many parallel realities.

F．Many in her group agreed, while others mentioned that Nelson Mandela had not died in prison.

G．As more incidents of the Mandela effect continue to occur, perhaps more research into the origins will tell us the causes.

7 . 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.

2. What is one effect of people’s liking gap?

A．Fewer chances of new projects.	B．Underestimation of their ability.
C．Bad relationships with people around.	D．Low willingness to interact with others.

3. What does the author intend to do in the last paragraph?

A．Restate opinions.

B．Deliver warnings.

C．Give suggestions.

D．Make a summary.

4. Which might be the best title for the text?

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

8 . Have you had a meltdown lately? An emotional meltdown isn’t exactly a medical disease.     1     It’s a popular term used to describe a situation where we are overcome emotionally of hit a breaking point.

How do you feel after you’ve had a meltdown? Do you feel embarrassed about your behavior?     2     An occasional meltdown doesn’t mean something is “wrong” with you. It may just be an indicator of a challenging time for you.

While most people would rather forget a meltdown as quickly as possible, it can be a learning experience.

If you feel embarrassed about revealing your emotions in public, you might examine how you feel about your feelings. Why isn’t it okay for you to be angry, or to be sad, or to need something from someone else?     3     So, be kind to yourself.

If your meltdown involved raising your voice at other people or behavior like throwing an object in the presence of others, apologize and come up with a plan to manage your emotions differently the next time you’re upset or stressed. If you find this type of behavior is common for you and you’re having difficulty managing it on your own, consider reaching to a psychologist.     4     It damages another person’s attitude and eats into their health.

    5     Your experience serves a basis for reflection. Be kind to yourself and find some helpful ways to deal with meltdowns:

A．It can happen to anyone.

B．Are you a happy person?

C．Learn from every meltdown.

D．There are some negative effects about meltdown,

E．Shaming yourself about your emotion is not helpful.

F．Are you anxious about possible consequences for your outburst?

G．Having an emotional meltdown is never an excuse for abusive behavior.

9 . When romantic partners argue over things like finances, jealousy, or other interpersonal issues, they tend to employ their current feelings as fuel for a heated argument. But thinking about the future helps overcome relationship conflicts, according to a University of Waterloo study just published online in Social Psychological and Personality Science. Alex Huynh, a doctoral candidate in psychology is the lead author of the study, which he published with Igor Grossmann from the University of Waterloo, and Daniel Yang from Yale University.

Previous research has shown that third-perspective reasoning can be a positive strategy for reconciliation (调解) of interpersonal struggles. Huynh and his collaborators investigated whether similar benefit can be induced by simply thinking about the future. Study participants were instructed to reflect on a recent conflict with a romantic partner or a close friend. One group of participants were then asked to describe how they would feel about the conflict one year in the future, while another group was asked to describe how they feel in the present.

The team examined participants’ written responses through a text-analysis program for their use of pronouns — such as I, me, she, he. These choices of pronouns were used to capture participants’ focus on the feelings and behaviour of those involved in the conflict. Written responses were also examined for forgiveness and reinterpreting the conflict more positively, both of which implied the participants’ use of reasoning strategies.

The researchers found that envisioning future relationship affected both participants’ focus on their feelings, and their reasoning strategies. As a result, participants reported more positivity about their relationship altogether, especially when study participants extended their thinking about the relationship a year into the future.

“Our study demonstrates that adopting a future-oriented perspective in the context of a relationship conflict — reflecting on how one might feel a year from now — may be a valuable coping tool for one’s psychological happiness and relationship well-being,” said Huynh.

1. What do romantic partners do in face of most disagreements?

A．They lose faith in their future.	B．They focus on their present feelings.
C．They look forward to a fierce conflict.	D．They care more about financial problems.

2. What does the underlined word “induced” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean？

A．Caused.	B．Explained.
C．Reduced.	D．Improved.

3. What do we know about the study?

A．All the study participants described how they felt both in the present and in the future.

B．Study participants described their recent relationship with their romantic partners or friends.

C．A text-analysis program was employed to examine participants’ use of negative words.

D．The reasoning strategies in participants’ written responses were well worthy of note.

4. What can be the best title of the text?

A．You have a year to solve your interpersonal problems!

B．Thinking about future is essential for relationship maintenance!

C．Your current feelings are the real cause of your heated arguments!

D．Beneficial reasoning is a positive strategy for reconciliation!

10 . When someone hurts you, it can feel good to hang onto the anger and resentment (愤恨) that may bubble up after their actions. However, forgiving others can actually benefit you both mentally and physically.    1     Forgiving yourself for hurting someone else is another tough task. With a little bit of patience, you can learn to forgive yourself or others.

Forgiving is a willingness to move on from an injustice you went through.    2     While you can consciously decide to forgive someone, it may take some time to process your emotions and actually come to terms with your situation.

    3    You yourself value relationship with him or her, and believe that forgiving is worth it. Forgiveness is a decision that should be made thoughtfully, especially if someone did something seriously wrong. Take time to think through your feelings and your reasoning, to better understand the situation.

Avoid giving someone too many chances.    4     But if they are repeatedly and knowingly hurting you, or if they have done something extremely terrible, then you should consider protecting yourself. If someone has shown that they will mistreat you again and again, or that they are willing to do you serious harm, then you need to protect your own well-being.

Take the time to process your emotions. Sometimes, it takes a while to untangle (排解) all your feelings and figure out what to do. That’s okay. Give yourself time and space to process. Helpful processing tools include: Write in a journal about it. Talk to a mentor or trusted person about the situation.    5    

A．Think of some reasons for forgiving yourself.

B．Consider why you want to forgive this person.

C．You may choose to forgive someone once, twice, or three times.

D．Giving too many chances to people who hurt you is not a wise idea.

E．Spend some time focusing on something else, and come back later.

F．It can also help you move on from thinking about what the other person did.

G．Forgiving someone is a tough decision to make, and it doesn’t happen instantly.