Dale Carnegie rose from the unknown of a Missouri farm to international fame because he found a way to fill a universal human need.
It was a need that he first 1 back in 1906 when young Dale was a junior at State Teachers College in Warrensburg. To get an 2, he was struggling against many difficulties. His family was poor. His Dad couldn't afford the 3 at college, so Dale had to ride horseback 12 miles to attend classes. Study had to be done 4 his farm-work routines. He withdrew from many school activities 5 he didn't have the time or the 6. He had only one good suit. He tried 7 the football team, but the coach turned him down for being too 8. During this period Dale was slowly 9 an inferiority complex (自卑感), which his mother knew could 10 him from achieving his real potential. She 11 that Dale join the debating team, believing that 12in speaking could give him the confidence and recognition that he needed.
Dale took his mother's advice, tried desperately and after several attempts 13 made it. This proved to be a 14 point in his life. Speaking before groups did help him gain the 15 he needed. By the time Dale was a senior, he had won every top honor in 16. Now other students were coming to him for coaching and they, 17, were winning contests.
Out of this early struggle to 18 his feelings of inferiority, Dale came to understand that the ability to 19 an idea to an audience builds a person's confidence. And, 20 it, Dale knew he could do anything he wanted to do—and so could others.
However wealthy we may be, we can never find enough hours in the day to do everything we want. Economics deals with this problem through the concept of opportunity cost, which simply refers to whether someone's time or money could be better spent on something else.
Every hour of our time has a value. For every hour we work at one job we could quite easily be doing another, or be sleeping or watching a film. Each of these options has a different opportunity cost—namely, what they cost us in missed opportunities.
Say you intend to watch a football match but the tickets are expensive and it will take you a couple of hours to get to and from the stadium. Why not, you might reason, watch the game from home and use the leftover money and time to have dinner with friends? This—the alternative use of your cash and time—is the opportunity cost.
For economists, every decision is made by knowledge of what one must forgo—in terms of money and enjoyment—in order to take it up. By knowing precisely what you are receiving and what you are missing out on, you ought to be able to make better-informed, more reasonable decisions. Consider that most famous economic rule of all: there's no such thing as a free lunch. Even if someone offers to take you out to lunch for free, the time you will spend in the restaurant still costs you something in terms of forgone opportunities.
Some people find the idea of opportunity cost extremely discouraging: imagine spending your entire life calculating whether your time would be better spent elsewhere doing something more profitable or enjoyable. Yet, in a sense it's human nature to do precisely that—we assess the advantages and disadvantages of decisions all the time.
In the business world, a popular phrase is “value for money.” People want their cash to go as far as possible. However, another is fast obtaining an advantage: “value for time.” The biggest restriction on our resources is the number of hours we can devote to something, so we look to maximize the return we get on our investment of time. By reading this passage you are giving over a bit of your time which could be spent doing other activities, such as sleeping and eating. In return, however, this passage will help you to think like an economist, closely considering the opportunity cost of each of your decisions.
Most damagingly, anger weakens a person's ability to think clearly and keep control over his behaviour. The angry person loses objectivity in evaluating the emotional significance of the person or situation that arouses his anger.
Not everyone experiences anger in the same way; what angers one person may amuse another. The specific expression of anger also differs from person to person based on biological and cultural forces. In contemporary culture, physical expressions of anger are generally considered too socially harmful to be tolerated. We no longer regard duels (决斗) as an appropriate expression of anger resulting from one person's awareness of insulting behaviour on the part of another.
Anger can be identified in the brain, where the electrical activity changes. Under most conditions EEG (脑电图) measures of electrical activity show balanced activity between the right and left prefrontal (额叶前部) areas. Behaviourally this corresponds to the general even-handed disposition (意向) that most of us possess most of the time. But when we are angry the EEG of the right and left prefrontal areas aren't balanced and, as a result of this, we're likely to react. And our behavioural response to anger is different from our response to other emotions, whether positive or negative.
Most positive emotions are associated with approach behaviour: we move closer to people we like. Most negative emotions, in contrast, are associated with avoidance behaviour: we move away from people and things that we dislike or that make us anxious. But anger is an exception to this pattern. The angrier we are, the more likely we are to move towards the object of our anger. This corresponds to what psychologists refer to as of ensive anger: the angry person moves closer in order to influence and control the person or situation causing his anger. This approach-and-confront behaviour is accompanied by a leftward prefrontal asymmetry (不对称) of EEG activity. Interestingly, this asymmetry lessens if the angry person can experience empathy (同感) towards the individual who is bringing forth the angry response. In defensive anger, in contrast, the EEG asymmetry is directed to the right and the angry person feels helpless in the face of the anger-inspiring situation.
The expression, “everybody's doing it,” is very much at the center of the concept of peer pressure. It is a strong influence of a group, especially of children, on members of that group to behave as everybody else does. It can be positive or negative. Most people experience it in some way during their lives.
People are social creatures by nature, and so it is hardly surprising that part of their self-respect comes from the approval of others. This instinct (天性) is why the approval of peers, or the fear of disapproval, is such a powerful force in many people's lives. It is the same instinct that drives people to dress one way at home and another way at work, or to answer “fine” when a stranger asks “how are you?” even if it is not necessarily true. There is a practical aspect to this: it helps society to function efficiently, and encourages a general level of self-discipline that simplifies day-to-day interaction.
For certain individuals, seeking social acceptance is so important that it becomes like an addiction; in order to satisfy the desire, they may go so far as to abandon their sense of right and wrong. Teens and young adults may feel forced to use drugs, or join gangs that encourage criminal behavior. Mature adults may sometimes feel pressured to cover up illegal activity at the company where they work, or end up in debt because they are unable to hold back the desire to buy a house or car that they can't afford in an effort to “keep up with the Joneses.”
However, peer pressure is not always negative. A student whose friends are good at academics may be urged to study harder and get good grades. Players on a sports team may feel driven to play harder in order to help the team win. This type of influence can also get a friend off drugs, or to help an adult take up a good habit or drop a bad one. Study groups and class projects are examples of positive peer groups that encourage people to better themselves.
Schools try to teach kids about the dangers of negative peer pressure. They teach kids to stand up and be themselves, and encourage them to politely decline to do things that they believe are wrong. Similarly, it can be helpful to encourage children to greet the beneficial influence of positive peer groups.
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When we read newspapers, we often come across such English words as “AIDS” and “PK.” When we watch TV, we frequently hear words like “NBA” or “PM2.5.” When we speak, we automatically use words like “OUT” or “Bye-bye.” English words and expressions like these are getting popular. They have already become part of our daily language. And 239 English words have been included in the latest Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese.
The inclusion has started a heated discussion. A group of scholars signed a letter of complaint over the inclusion of these English words, which, they think, goes against Chinese language policies. They not only worry that Chinese is borrowing an increasing number of English words but are also concerned that the inclusion may hurt the dignity of the Chinese language. However, others are in favor of the inclusion because it is hard to say whether it will threaten the Chinese language. They believe the selection is mostly a result of their function and use in daily life.
[写作内容]
1）用约30个单词写出上文概要;
2）用约120个单词发表你的观点,
内容包括: (1)支持或反对汉语词典收录英语词汇; (2)用2- 3个理由或论据支撑你的观点。
[写作要求]
1）可以支持文中任一观点,但必须提供理由或论据;
2）阐述观点或提供论据时,不能直接引用原文语句;
3）作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称;
4）不必写标题。
[评分标准] 内容完整,语言规范,语篇连贯,词数适当。
