Question

【题目】Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

The Dangerous Downsides of Perfectionism

In one of my earliest memories, I’m drawing. I don’t remember what the picture is supposed to be, but I remember the mistake. My marker slips, an unintentional line appears and my lip trembles. The picture has long since disappeared. But that feeling of deep frustration, even shame, stays with me.

That’s the thing about perfectionism, a crucially self-defeating way to move through the world. It makes you better at your career and relationships and life in general. Culturally, we often see perfectionism as a positive.

But the disadvantage of perfectionism isn’t just that it holds you back from being your most successful, productive-self. Perfectionistic tendencies have been linked to a long list of clinical issues: depression, social anxiety disorder, eating disorders, and most damaging of all, suicide (自杀).

“Based upon the 60-odd studies that we’ve done, the higher the perfectionism is, the more psychological disorders you’re going to suffer,” says York St John University’s Hill. “Factors often labeled ‘healthy’ perfectionism, like striving for excellence, aren’t actually perfectionism at all. They’re just conscientiousness (尽职尽责)—which explains why people with those tendencies often have different results in studies. Perfectionism isn’t interpreted by working hard or setting high goals. It’s that critical inner voice.”

Take the student who works hard and gets a poor mark. If she tells herself, “I’m disappointed, but it’s okay; I’m still a good person overall,” that’s healthy. If the message is, “I’m a failure. I’m not good enough,” that’s perfectionism.

Perfectionists can make smooth sailing into a storm, a brief ill wind into a category-five hurricane. Eventually, the behaviours perfectionists adapt, actually, do make them more likely to fail.

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Answer 1

【答案】Many of us believe perfectionism is positive. But researchers are finding that it is nothing short of dangerous, leading to a long list of health problems and failure in study or life. Besides, perfectionism is different from conscientiousness in that the former is connected with being particular about oneself.

【解析】

本篇书面表达是概要写作，要求概括：很多人都相信完美主义是积极的，但研究人员发现它是非常危险的，会导致一系列健康问题和学习或生活中的失败，此外，完美主义不同于尽责性，因为它与对自己的挑剔有关。注意词数要求和使用自己的语言。

1、写之前，需要认真仔细地读几遍原文材料，让理解更深刻。

2、遵循原文的逻辑顺序，对重要部分的主题、标题、细节进行概括，全面清晰地表明原文信息。

3、给摘要起一个好标题，比如：可以采用文中的主题句。

4、尽量使用自己的话完成，不要引用原文的句子，篇幅控制在原文的三分之一或四分之一长。