UNIT 10 Profits of Praise课文翻译大学英语二

UNIT10ProfitsofPraise课文翻译大学英语二UNIT10ProfitsofPraise课文翻译大学英语二UNIT10ProfitsofPraise课文翻译大学英语二资料仅供参考文件编号：2022年4月UNIT10ProfitsofPraise课文翻译大学英语二版本号：A修改号：1页次：1.0审核：批准:发布日期：Unit10ProfitsofPraiseArewetooquicktoblameandslowtopraiseItseemsweare.ItwastheendofmyexhaustingfirstdayaswaitressinabusyNewYorkrestaurant.Mycaphadgoneawry,myapronwasstained,myfeetached.TheloadedtraysIcarriedfeltheavierandheavier.Wearyanddiscouraged,Ididn'tseemabletodoanythingright.AsImadeoutacomplicatedcheckforafamilywithseveralchildrenwhohadchangedtheirice-creamorderadozentimes,Iwasreadytoquit.Thenthefathersmiledatmeashehandedmemytip."Welldone,"hesaid."You'velookedafterusreallywell."Suddenlymytirednessvanished.Ismiledback,andlater,whenthemanageraskedmehowI'dlikedmyfirstday,Isaid,"Fine!"Thosefewwordsofpraisehadchangedeverything.Praiseislikesunlighttothehumanspirit;wecannotflowerandgrowwithoutit.Andyet,whilemostofusareonlytooreadytoapplytoothersthecoldwindofcriticism,wearesomehowreluctanttogiveourfellowsthewarmsunshineofpraise.Why-whenonewordcanbringsuchpleasureAfriendofminewhotravelswidelyalwaystriestolearnalittleofthelanguageofanyplaceshevisits.She'snotmuchofalinguist,butshedoesknowhowtosayoneword-"beautiful"-inseverallanguages.Shecanuseittoamotherholdingherbaby,ortolonelysalesmanfishingoutpicturesofhisfamily.Theabilityhasearnedherfriendsallovertheworld.It'sstrangehowcharyweareaboutpraising.Perhapsit'sbecausefewofusknowhowtoacceptcomplimentsgracefully.Instead,weareembarrassedandshrugoffthewordswearereallysogladtohear.Becauseofthisdefensivereaction,directcomplimentsaresurprisinglydifficulttogive.Thatiswhysomeofthemostvaluedpatsonthebackarethosewhichcometousindirectly,inaletterorpassedonbyafriend.Whenonethinksofthespeedwithwhichspitefulremarksareconveyed,itseemsapitythatthereisn'tmoreefforttorelaypleasingandflatteringcomments.It'sespeciallyrewardingtogivepraiseinareasinwhicheffortgenerallygoesunnoticedorunmentioned.Anartistgetscomplimentedforagloriouspicture,acookforaperfectmeal.ButdoyouevertellyoulaundrymanagerhowpleasedyouarewhentheshirtsaredonejustrightDoyoueverpraiseyourpaperboyforgettingthepapertoyouontime365daysayear

Praiseisparticularlyappreciatedbythosedoingroutinejobs:gas-stationattendants,waitresses-evenhousewives.Doyouevergointoahouseandsay,"Whatatidyroom"Hardlyanybodydoes.That'swhyhouseworkisconsideredsuchadrearygrind.Commentisoftenmadeaboutactivitieswhicharerelativelyeasyandsatisfying,likearrangingflowers;butnotaboutjobswhicharehardanddirty,likescrubbingfloors.Shakespearesaid,"Ourpraisesareourwages."Sincesooftenpraiseistheonlywageahousewifereceives,surelysheofallpeopleshouldgethermeasure.Mothersknowinstinctivelythatforchildrenanounceofpraiseisworthapoundofscolding.Still,we'renotalwaysasperceptiveaswemightbeaboutapplyingtherule.OnedayIwascriticizingmychildrenforsquabbling."Canyouneverplaypeacefully"Ishouted.Susannalookedatmequizzically."Ofcoursewecan,"shesaid."Butyoudon'tnoticeuswhenwedo."Teachersagreeaboutthevalueofpraise.Oneteacherwritesthatinsteadofdrowningstudents'compositionsincriticalredink,theteacherwillgetfarmoreconstructiveresultsbyfindingoneortwothingswhichhavebeendonebetterthanlasttime,andcommentingfavorablyonthem."Ibelievethatastudentknowswhenhehashandedinsomethingabovehisusualstandard,"writestheteacher,"andthathewaitshungrilyforabriefcommentinthemargintoshowhimthattheteacherisawareofit,too."

Behavioralscientistshavedonecountlessexperimentstoprovethatanyhumanbeingtendstorepeatanactwhichhasbeenimmediatelyfollowedbyapleasantresult.Inonesuchexperiment,anumberofschoolchildrenweredividedintothreegroupsandgivenarithmetictestsdailyforfivedays.Onegroupwasconsistentlypraisedforitspreviousperformance;anothergroupwascriticized;thethirdwasignored.Notsurprisingly,thosewhowerepraisedimproveddramatically.Thosewhowerecriticizedimprovedalso,busnotsomuch.Andthescoresofthechildrenwhowereignoredhardlyimprovedatall.Interestinglythebrightestchildrenwerehelpedjustasmuchbycriticismasbypraise,butthelessablechildrenreactedbadlytocriticism,neededpraisethemost.Yetthelatteraretheveryyoungsterswho,inmostschools,failtogetthepatontheback.Togivepraisecoststhegivernothingbutamoment'sthoughtandamoment'seffort-perhapsaquickphonecalltopassonacompliment,orfiveminutesspentwritinganappreciativeletter.Itissuchasmallinvestment-andyetconsidertheresultsitmayproduce."Icanlivefortwomonthsonagoodcompliment,"saidMarkTwain.So,let'sbealerttothesmallexcellencesaroundus-andcommentonthem.Wewillnotonlybringjoyintootherpeople'slives,butalso,veryoften,addedhappinessintooutown.我们是不是指责别人太快而表扬别人太慢呢？看来是的。赞扬的好处珍妮特•格雷厄姆我在纽约一家生意繁忙的餐馆做女侍的第一天，令人精疲力竭的第一天，就要结束了。我的帽子歪了，围裙上污迹斑斑，两脚疼痛。我感到手中盛着食物的托盘越来越重。我又疲倦又沮丧，仿佛什么事情都没法干好。当我为有好几个孩子的一家人开好一份复杂的账单时——因为这些孩子在要冰淇淋时换来换去有十几次之多——我便准备辞职不干了。这时候，那位做父亲的一边把小费交给我，一边对我微微一笑，“干得很好，”他说。“你对我们照顾得真是太好了。”听了这话，我的倦意顿时消失了。我对他也报以微笑。后来，经理问我对第一天感觉怎样时，我说：“好极了！”那两句赞扬的话改变了一切。对于人的精神来说，赞扬就像阳光一样；没有它我们便不能开花生长。然而我们大多数人动不动就对别人刮起批评的寒风，不知为什么却不愿意把表扬的温暖阳光给予我们的同伴。只要一句话就能带来这样的欢乐，我们为什么却不愿意这样做呢？我有一个到处旅行的朋友总是努力学一点她要去访问的国家的语言。她并不是什么了不起的语言学家，但她的确知道怎样用几种语言说一个词——“美极了”。她可以对一个怀抱婴儿的母亲或者对一个从身上掏出全家照的寂寞的推销员用上这个词。这种能力为她在全世界赢得了朋友。奇怪的是我们对赞扬何其慎重。这也许是因为我们很少有人知道怎样大大方方地接受赞扬。相反，我们往往会不知所措，对于我们实际上非常乐意听到的话却耸耸肩膀不屑理睬。由于这种防御性的反应，给人以直接的赞扬就变得极为困难了。一些最宝贵的赞许鼓励之词往往是在信中或通过朋友间接地传达给我们，原因就在于此。当我们想到那些充满恶意的言词传播的速度之快，我们就会感到，人们没有做出更多的努力来传递令人愉快、使人高兴的评语似乎是太遗憾了。对于通常不为人们注意或提及的努力加以赞扬是特别有益的。艺术家因画出一幅绚丽多彩的画而受到赞美，厨师因烧出一顿美餐而受到称赞。但是当你的衬衫被洗得干干净净，烫得平平整整时，你可曾告诉过洗衣店的经理你是多么高兴吗？你可曾因为你的报童每年365天都按时送报上门而夸奖过他吗？那些从事例行工作的人们特别懂得赞扬的意义，如汽车加油站的服务员、女侍者——甚至家庭主妇。当你走进一家住房时，你可曾说过：“多么整洁的房间啊！”几乎没有人这么说过。家庭劳动之所以被认为是沉闷乏味的苦差使，原因就在于此。人们经常对一些比较容易而又令人满意的活动，如插花，加以评论；但对像擦地板这样又苦又脏的工作却不予置评。莎士比亚说过：“对我们的称赞就是给予我们的报酬。”既然在很多情况下，称赞是家庭主妇得到的唯一报酬，因此在所有的人中，她理应得到自己的一份赞扬。母亲们本能地知道，对孩子们来说，一句赞扬抵得上十句责骂。然而对于运用这一规律，我