You will need to keep in touch with the head office of the organization.

You Are What You Think

Do you see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty？ Do you keep your eye upon the dough-nut(油炸圈饼), not upon the hole？ Suddenly these cliches(陈词滥调)are scientific questions, as researchers scrutinize the power of positive thinking.

A fast-growing body of research—104 studies so far, involving some 15,000 people—is proving that optimism can help you to be happier, healthier and more successful. Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hopelessness, sickness and failure, and is linked to depression, loneliness and painful shyness. "If we could teach people to think more positively," says psychologist Craig A. Anderson of Rice University in Houston, "it would be like inoculating(接种)them against these mental ills."

1. Influence on their abilities

"Your abilities count," explains psychologist Michael F. Scheier of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, "but the belief that you can succeed affects whether or not you will." In part, that's because optimists and pessimists deal with the same challenges and disappointments in very different ways.

Take, for example, your job. In a major study, psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania and colleague Peter Schulman surveyed sales representatives at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. They found that the positive thinkers among long-time representatives, sold 37 percent more insurance than did the negative thinkers. Of newly hired representatives, optimists sold 20 percent more.

Impressed, the company hired 100 people who had failed the standard industry test but had scored high on optimism. These people who might never have been hired, sold 10 percent more insurance than did the average representatives.

How did they do it？ The secret to an optimist's success, according to Seligman, is in his "explanatory style". When things go wrong the pessimist tends to blame himself. "I'm no good at this," he says, "I always fail." The optimist looks for other explanations. He blames the weather, the phone connection, even the other person. That customer was in a bad mood, he thinks. When things go right, the optimist takes credit while the pessimist thinks success is due to luck.

Negative or positive, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy(预言能力). "If people feel hopeless," says Anderson, "they don't bother to acquire the skills they need to succeed."

A sense of control, according to Anderson, is the real test for success. The optimist feels in control of his own life. If things are going badly, he acts quickly, looking for solutions, forming a new plan of action, and reaching out for advice. The pessimist feels like a toy of fate and moves slowly. He doesn't seek advice, since he assumes nothing can be done.

2. Influence on their health

Optimists may think they are better than the facts would justify—and sometimes that's what keeps them from getting sick. In a long-term study, researchers examined the health histories of a group of Harvard graduates, all of whom were in the top half of their class and in fine physical conditions. Yet some were positive thinkers, and some negative. 20 years later, there were more middle-age diseases among the pessimists than the optimists.

Many studies suggest that the pessimists' feeling of helplessness undermines the body's natural defenses, the immune system. Dr. Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan has found that the pessimist doesn't take good care of himself. Feeling passive and unable to avoid life's blows, he expects ill health and other misfortunes, no matter what he does. He eats unhealthy food, avoids exercise, ignores the doctor, has another drink.

3. What underlines pessimism and optimism？

Most people are a mix of optimism and pessimism, but are inclined in one direction or the other. It is a p

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

A.keeping

B.to be kept

C.kept

D.to keep

You can get the change you need by buying a pencil.

A．True

B．False

To justify a conclusion, you need to persuade someone.()

参考答案：错误

A.don't you

B.doesn't it

C.need you

D.need it

回答题

Text l

It" s a time when school， homework， active social lives and part-time jobs keep teenagers （少年 ） busy from early in the morning until late at night. They are likely to try to make up for a lack of sleep by "sleeping in" on the weekends. Unfortunately， this causes irregular sleep and actually makes the problem worse.

Most teenagers are not able to fall asleep until late at night. Since many teens aren"t sleepy until around 11 p.m.， but need to be at school by 7: 30 or 8: 00 A.m.， they cannot get enough sleep. During puberty（青春期）， the biological clock in the brain naturally re-sets to a later time， and this causes teens to fall asleep later. Then， when it" s time to get up， a teen" s body clock is likely to still be producing the night-time hormones（荷尔蒙）. This makes it hard for them to feel active and energetic in the morning.

A growing body of research suggests that starting high school later improves attendance， achievements and grades. A few years ago in an important study， test scores on the SAT college entrance exams in Edina， Minnesota jumped more than 100 points on average， when the morning school bell rang an hour later. Unfortunately， most schools are not set up to start later and fail to satisfy teen"s sleep needs.

What effect does "sleeping in" on the weekends have on teenagers？ 查看材料

A.Improving their health.

B.Weakening their energy.

C.Disturbing their biological clock.

D.Making up for their hormone loss.

Before the interview, you need to learn something about the company.()