4．Is Positive Thinking Powerful？
The﹩11billion self-help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like"I never do anything right"into positive ones like"I can succeed"．But was the positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right？Is there power in positive thinking？
Researchers in Canada just published a study in Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect：it can simply stress how unhappy they are．The study's authors，Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick，begin by using older research showing that when people get feedback （反饋） which they believe is overly positive，they actually feel worse，not better．If you tell your friend who is not very clever that he has the potential of an Einstein，you're just underlining his faults．In the 1990s，a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton conducted an experiment．The participants were asked to write essays opposing financial support for the disabled，expressing little sympathy for them．When these participants were later praised for their sympathy，they felt even worse about what they had written．
In this experiment，Wood，Lee and Perunovic measured 68students'self-respect．The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes．Every 15seconds，one group of students heard a bell．When it rang，they were supposed to tell themselves，"I am lovable．"Those with low self-respect didn't feel better after the forced self-approval．In fact，their feelings turned significantly worse than those of members of the control group，who weren't urged to think positive thoughts．
The study provides support for newer forms for psychotherapy （心理治療） that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them．In the fighting，we not only often fail but can make things worse．Meditation （靜思） techniques，on the contrary，can teach people to realize their shortcomings from a larger，more realistic perspective．Call it the power of negative thinking．
67．What is the finding of the Canadian researchers？B
A．There can be no simple solutions to psychological problems．
B．Encouraging positive thinking may do harm to people．
C．The power of positive thinking is limited．
D．Unhappy people cannot think positively．
68．The underlined part in Paragraph 2probably meansC．
A．you are pointing out the mistakes he has made
B．you are not taking his mistakes seriously enough
C．you are stressing the fact that he is not intelligent
D．you are not trying to make him feel better about his faults
69．What do we learn from the experiment of Wood，Lee and Perunovic？D
A．Self-approval can bring a positive change to one's feelings．
B．People with low self-respect seldom write down their true feelings．
C．It is important for people to continually improve their self-respect．
D．Forcing people to think positive thoughts may lower their self-respect．
70．It can be learned from the last paragraph thatC．
A．people can avoid making mistakes through meditation
B．different people tend to have different ways of thinking
C．meditation may prove to be a good form of psychotherapy
D．the effects of positive thinking differ from person to person．
分析 本文屬于說明文閱讀，作者通過這篇文章主要向我們描述了鼓勵一個人積極向上總是會有好的結果嗎？文章通過一個研究說明這樣做未必有我們預料的結果．
解答 67．B．細節題．根據第二段trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect：it can simply highlight how unhappy they are．說明我們讓人們認為他們積極，實際上可能會有相反的結果，故B正確．
68．C．句意理解題．根據本句If you tell your friend who is slow to learn that he has the potential of an Einstein，you're just underlining his faults．你告訴他，他學習方面速度慢，但是有潛力，你等于是在加深他認為自己不行的觀點，故C正確．
69．D．細節理解題．根據文章第三段"Those with low self-respect didn't feel better after the forced self-approval"可知強迫人們思考積極的想法可能會降低他們的自尊心；故選D．
70．C．根據文章最后兩句Meditation （靜思） techniques，in contrast，can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger，more realistic viewpoint．Call it the power of negative thinking．可知冥想可能是一種很好的心理治療形式；故選C．
點評 考察學生的細節理解和推理判斷能力，做細節理解題時一定要找到文章中的原句，和題干進行比較，再做出正確的選擇．在做推理判斷題不要以個人的主觀想象代替文章的事實，要根據文章事實進行合乎邏輯的推理判斷．
