Question

DO AS YOU WOULD DONE BY

Why do some people have many friends while others do not? You may even imagine that this ability was something they were born with because it seems so effortless to them. However, it is not so. Let’s look at two psychological experiments which will give you the key to happy interpersonal relations.

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The fist experiment is called the “Hawthorne effect” after Hawthorne, Illinois, where the experiment took place. A group of psychologists examined the work patterns of two groups of workers in the Western Electric Company. Before the experiment the management talked to both groups of workers and explained that they wanted to find the best working environment for them. The psychologists changed the working conditions for one group twice but left the other group alone. They were surprised to find that productivity increase on both occasions and in both groups. They concluded that the increase in productivity came from the attention given to the workers by the management. It had increased their motivation (積極性) and so they had worked harder. In other words, if you take an interest in others they will want to please you and you will have good relations with them.

The second experiment shows what happens to personal relations if you are rude to or ignore others. After Martin Luther King, Jr was killed in the 1960s, a teacher, Jane Elliott, living in an all – white town decided to help her class of young children understand why the Civil Rights Movement had been necessary in America.

She divided the class into two groups: one with blue eyes and the other with brown eyes. Other eye colours such as hazel or green were excluded from his exercise. Then she told the class that brown – eyed people were cleverer than blue – eyed ones because of an agent (化學(xué)作用) for brown colour found in their blood. Blue – eyed people were stupid, lazy and not to be trusted. Jane Elliott did not need to say any more. The brown – eyed students quickly got used to their new role as the leaders of the class. The blue – eyed students became quiet and withdrawn. Then she discovered something very interesting. Four poor brown – eyed readers began to read fluently in a way they had never done before. Jane Elliott had shown that the way people are treated affects not only their behaviour but also their confidence and their performance.

So if you want to be successful and happy, take an interest in others whether they are your classmates or workmates. Congratulate them on their successes and sympathise(同情) with them in their troubles. Remember that the way you treat others will determine their attitude and behaviour to you.

1．What is the main idea of this passage?

       A．How to affect people around us by our behaviour.

       B．How to build happy interpersonal relations.

       C．How to improve productivity in work.

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       D．How to be successful and happy.

2．In the “Hawthorne effect” experiment,          .

       A．psychologists aimed to improve the workers’ performance

       B．psychologists changed working conditions for two groups once

       C．psychologists wanted to find the relationship between motivation and productivity

       D．workers worked hard to please the psychologists and the group leaders

3．The second experiment aims to           .

       A．tell children to treat each other equally

       B．tell children that brown – eyed people are cleverer than blue – eyed ones

       C．tell children why the Civil Rights Movement was necessary in America

       D．tell children that the way people are treated affects their behaviour

4．Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．In the “Hawthorne effect” experiment, both groups worked more efficiently.

      B．Children with hazel or green eyes weren’t included in the second experiment, because they are not suitable for the experiment.

       C．If we want to be treated politely, we should treat others in the same way.

    D．Jane Elliot’s experiment tells us that how people are treated will influence their performance.

Answer 1

A C D B