大学英语四级阅读理解真题：2010年6月考试真题_大学英语阅读

大学英语四级阅读理解真题：2010年6月考试真题

　　Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply highlight how unhappy they are.

　　The studys authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your dim friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, youre just underlining his faults. In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled. When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written.

　　In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students self-esteem. The

　　participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes. Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell. When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, I am lovable.

　　Those with low self-esteem didnt feel better after the forced self-affirmation. In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who werent urged to think positive thoughts.