1 . Clear and effective communication not only can help you get what you want but also is important to successful relationships with your partner coworkers, bosses, and friends. You take part in some form of communication with others many times a day.
Few people have had any training in listening at all and they don’t know how to communicate with others. If you want to interact effectively with me, you first need to understand me. And you can’t do that with techniques alone.
Unless you understand me and my unique situation and feelings you won’t know how to advise me.
A.Being honest is the first step in good communication. |
B.At first there is not enough trust between two strangers. |
C.However, that doesn’t mean you’re communicating well. |
D.What you say is good and fine, but it doesn’t relate to me. |
E.But most people are not good at expressing themselves in public. |
F.Then, I don’t feel safe enough to express my opinions and my true feelings. |
G.If I sense you’re using some techniques, I will wonder what your purposes are. |
2 . Recently, a topic featuring “Graduates avoid sending resumes out of social anxiety disorder” received many comments on Sina Weibo. It seems that social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia (恐惧症), is affecting many people’s lives. Over 80% of university students who took part in a survey tended to avoid social interaction due to an assumed social phobia.
For those who have a social phobia, everyday social situations cause strong fear beyond their control because they fear being watched or judged negatively by others.
Having a social phobia can mean physical symptoms like blushing (脸红), upset stomach, or having trouble catching your breath. The good news is that it is treatable.
I used to be so shy that I avoided greeting people I knew by pretending to scroll (滚屏) on my phone or turning in another direction.
A.After all, they are not making you any better. |
B.Understand it’s perfectly fine to make mistakes. |
C.Here are some tips for overcoming a fear of social interaction. |
D.But is avoiding social interaction equal to having a social phobia? |
E.However, my attitude began to change when I met a senior journalist. |
F.But if you only feel a bit uncomfortable, it might mean you are just shy. |
G.Shy people avoid socializing because they take others’ opinions seriously. |
3 . We often think about relationships on a scale from positive to negative. We are drawn to loving family members, caring classmates and supportive mentors. We do our best to avoid the cruel uncle, the playground bully and the jerk boss.
But the most toxic relationships aren’t the purely negative ones. They’re the ones that are a mix of positive and negative. We often call them frenemies, supposed friends who sometimes help you and sometimes hurt you. But ifs not just friends. It’s the in-laws who volunteer to watch your kids but belittle your parenting. The manager who praises your work but denies you a promotion.
Everyone knows how relationships like that can tie your stomach into a knot. But groundbreaking research led by the psychologists Bert Uchino and Julianne Holt-Lunstad shows that ambivalent (矛盾情绪的) relationships can be damaging to your health — even more than purely negative relationships.
I had assumed that with a neighbor or a colleague, having some positive interactions was better than all negative interactions. But being cheered on by the same person who cuts you down doesn’t reduce the bad feelings; it increases them. And it’s not just in your head: It leaves a trace in your heart and your blood.
Even a single ambivalent interaction can cause harm. In one experiment, people gave impromptu speeches on controversial topics in front of a friend who offered feedback. The researchers had randomly assigned the friend to give ambivalent or negative comments. Receiving mixed feedback caused higher blood pressure than pure criticism. “I would have gone about the topic differently, but you’re doing fine” proved to be more distressing than “I totally disagree with everything you’ve said.”
The evidence that ambivalent relationships can be bad for us is strong, but the reasons can be harder to read — just like the relationships themselves.
The most intuitive reason is that ambivalent relationships are unpredictable. With a clear enemy, you put up a shield when you cross paths. With a frenemy, you never know whether Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde is going to show up. Feeling unsure can disrupt the body’s calming system and activate a fight-or-flight response. It’s unsettling to hope for a hug while also preparing for a likely quarrel.
Another factor is that unpleasant interactions are more painful in an ambivalent relationship. It’s more upsetting to be let down by people you like sometimes than by people you dislike all the time. When someone stabs you in the back, it stings more if he’s been friendly to your face.
1. Which of the following can be counted as a frenemy?A.Your neighbour’s kid who advises you to study hard but idles away his own time. |
B.Your classmate who admires your diligence at first, but doubts your intelligence later. |
C.Your mother’s friend who encourages you to spend more time on homework but less on smart phones. |
D.Your father’s colleague who proposes you to do a moderate amount of homework while ensuring adequate sleep. |
A.Ambivalent relationships have a permanent effect on your well-being. |
B.The common cause for high blood pressure is ambivalent relationship. |
C.Ambivalent interactions will be more painful if it is done consciously. |
D.The negative impact of ambivalent interactions is direct and strong. |
A.devalue | B.appreciate | C.respect | D.abuse |
A.Some Negative Relationships Are Bad for Your Health |
B.Your Most Ambivalent Relationships Are the Most Toxic |
C.The Reasons for Ambivalent Relationships Are Unpredictable |
D.Some Positive Relationships Are Better than All Negative Ones |
4 . As a professional life and relationship coach, Allison Cowan has over 21 years of experience in teaching and supporting others to achieve their goals. She has dedicated her career to helping her clients gain power and awareness in their lives.
As a coach, Allison inspires her clients to overcome obstacles and achieve goals. However, her practice has come with its own share of challenges. Expanding her knowledge to meet diverse client needs has involved lots of trial-and-error searching.
Initially, Allison spent a hard time building strong and trustworthy relationships with her clients. She knew trust was critical to finding and retaining clients but was frustrated at how long the trust-building process takes.
Allison soon learned that there was no single right way to coach. To meet her clients’ different needs, she needed to become more efficient at supporting their diverse learning styles. To overcome her challenges as a coach and offer better service, she began looking for ways to customize her coaching solutions.
During her search, Allison realized Positive Psychology is a field with many different goals. “It covers so many areas, including whatever a client may go through,” she recalled. Later, she began using self-reflection tools to help her clients develop self-acceptance and self-forgiveness. She even discovered a way to help clients without a coaching goal find their purposes. She said, “There’s a lot of blame. The more they stay in blame mode, the more angry they are, and they are not able to move forward with acceptance and forgiveness. But we can find solutions in Positive Psychology.”
Whether Allison was helping clients build self-confidence, understand their attachment styles, or reframe their challenges, she quickly found that she was also learning all the time. By completing the homework Allison assigned to them, her clients were also changing. They were more engaged with their coaching and making more significant progress between their sessions. That made Allison proud. She said, “They grow and move forward at a quicker pace. That’s what coaching is about.”
1. Why is Allison’s initial trouble mentioned in the text?A.To show her special efforts. | B.To stress her defeated career. |
C.To prove the difficulty in coaching. | D.To give the reason for setting goals. |
A.She used the same coaching ways to teach them. |
B.She coached them according to their own needs. |
C.She tried her best to change their learning styles. |
D.She helped them overcome their challenges in life. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Unclear. |
C.Supportive. | D.Dismissive. |
A.Allison’s clients misunderstood what coaching is about. |
B.Allison learned to build self-confidence all the time. |
C.Allison’s clients helped her complete homework. |
D.Allison and her clients benefited each other. |
5 . We’ve all had things to apologize for. Whether on the playground or at the office, intentionally or not, we’ve hurt people. Research shows that apologies benefit us in many ways, which can reduce stress and ease heart rates, as well as boosting relationship well being and cooperation.
Like so many other habits that are good for us, apologies must overcome our own mental barriers. When people know they’ve made a mistake and hurt somebody, they may still remain silent in the face of their wrong doings.
First, the offender (冒犯者) may not be concerned with the relationship, especially if they have little empathy for the other person. The second barrier is the perceived threat to one’s self-image. Some people fear that apologizing will be both humbling and prove that they aren’t a good, moral person.
While this too is a possibility, in most cases the opposite is true, because people have a tendency to overestimate the negative consequences of apologizing and underestimate the benefits of apologizing. But once we’ve actually apologized, we both feel better, and it can really have a positive impact.
A.Have you ever said sorry to somebody? |
B.But then why are apologies so difficult? |
C.A true apology is a gift to another person. |
D.In some cases, it may take time for the person to forgive and forget. |
E.Finally, people may simply underestimate the effectiveness of their apology. |
F.But even if you make the apology, don’t think the conflict is over automatically. |
G.According to the researchers, there are three mental barriers to explain this silence. |
6 . All relationships require work, though it may not always feel like work.
Listen to others. The most important skill in communication is the ability to listen to others. Rather than doing all the talking, take time to stop and hear what others have to say.
Be polite and positive. When you are the one speaking, do it in a way that considers others’ feelings and leaves a positive impact. Think about what you want to say before you say it.
Be honest and sincere. Another communication skill is to make sure you speak with honesty and sincerity.
A.Keep an open mind. |
B.Look for common ground. |
C.Avoid interrupting other people. |
D.Ask questions that help you understand them more deeply. |
E.Don’t be afraid to apologize if you say something unintended. |
F.You will build relationships with others when you tell them the truth. |
G.That could mean calling a friend, or getting together with your family for the holidays. |
7 . Have you ever been in mid-conversation with someone, when you look over and find them standing in the same position as you or holding the same facial expression? It may seem like they have consciously copied you, but it is much more likely that it is the chameleon (变色龙) effect at play.
The chameleon effect is the unconscious imitation of another person’s gestures or behavior. Just as a chameleon attempts to match any environment’s colors, people acquire the behavior of others to bring them closer together and help make their interactions smooth.
The chameleon effect was confirmed in an experiment by psychologists John Bargh and Tanya Chartrand in 1999. The part of their experiment included 78 people, who each spoke with an experimenter. During the test, Bargh and Chartrand studied whether participants would copy the actions of someone they hadn’t met before, like moving the foot and touching the face. The second part measured the impact that copying someone has on the person being imitated.
In the first stage, participants increased their face touching by 20% and their foot movement by 50% while in conversation about a photograph with the experimenter. The individuals weren’t aware of what they were being studied for, and the photograph was used to catch their attention to insure unconscious acts. The second stage involved half of the participants being copied, and then rating the likability of the experimenter. The results, showed that those who were imitated scored the experimenter higher. It has shown that when someone copies our behavior, we develop more positive feelings about them. These interactions could be a person unconsciously willing to be liked, and forming a moment of connection.
The main reasons behind humans’ imitation are positive. However, when people carry this chameleon effect to the extreme, they can lose their sense of self. Those who change their entire personalities in different groups often go undetected. But more common signs of the chameleon effect are easier to notice. Next time you are in a social gathering, take a look around and you might just see some chameleons for yourself.
1. Why do people imitate others’ behavior?A.To show admiration for others. | B.To adapt to the surroundings. |
C.To establish a connection with others. | D.To attract others’ attention. |
A.By directing their attention to a photo. | B.By keeping an eye on their actions. |
C.By telling them the purpose of the study. | D.By evaluating the impacts of imitation. |
A.People tend to like those who imitate their behavior. |
B.Too much of the chameleon effect can be beneficial. |
C.People imitating others are not easy to be detected. |
D.The copied movements help people to feel relaxed. |
A.Students adopt teachers’ accents for fun after class. |
B.People change their habits to please others on purpose. |
C.A comedian copies a celebrity vividly on stage. |
D.A husband and his wife share similar behaviors over time. |
8 . Social Masking
Amanda is always an expert at working the room. She would adopt the manner of the people around her to fit in while hiding her true personality. This is social masking, the process of hiding your natural way of interacting with others so you can feel accepted.
In a world that often tells us to just be ourselves, you might wonder why we are still dependent on these social masking behaviors. “Social masking happens because we as a species want to be included,” says Tara. “It has been a tribal thing of being together rather than being on our own, from a historical perspective.
There is a huge difference between naturally identifying with someone and consciously social masking.
A.Social maskers do not try hard to match other people in pace and tone. |
B.Social masking is something we all engage in to some extent. |
C.Social maskers are not trying to fox anyone. |
D.When we are in natural identification with someone, it happens naturally, and there is very little effort involved. |
E.It’s adopted by people unable to naturally act in a way considered socially acceptable. |
F.That is, it’s an ancient part of our evolution to socialize, rather than be anti-social or a misfit. |
9 . Go on a 15-minute Tour
Didn’t someone say that life is about the journey, not the destination?
To commit some time to the journey, take some time to walk around where you work and notice your surroundings.
After your first observation tour, select a different day to tour your workspace for moods. Other people’s moods can provide you with critical clues about how things are going.
Schedule 15 minutes to tour your workplace twice a week for a month and be sure to avoid making too many assumptions or conclusions — just simply observe.
A.You’ll be amazed at what you see along the way. |
B.Spare a little time to closely monitor each person’s progress. |
C.Notice what people may be feeling when you drop by to talk briefly. |
D.During any workday, take just 15 minutes to observe neglected things. |
E.You generally love the breathtaking landscape and people’s performances. |
F.Going on a short tour will help you get in tune with other people and their emotions. |
G.To become socially aware, remember to enjoy the journey and notice people along the way. |
10 . Your neighbors are probably the first line of defense in case of any problematic situation.
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.
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.
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.
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. |