People tend to be more impressed by evidence that seems to confirm some relationship. Thus many are convinced that their dreams are prophetic（预言的）because a few have come true; they  fail to notice the many that have not. Consider also the belief that “the phone always rings when I’m in the shower. ” If it does ring while you are in the shower, the event will stand out and be remembered. If it doesn’t ring, that nonevent probably won’t even be remembered.

People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world. Consider, for example, the common belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths “happen in threes. ” Such beliefs stem from the tendency of people to allow the third event to define the time period. I if three plane crashes occur in a month, then the period of time that counts as their “happening together” is one month; if three crashes occur in a year, the period of time is stretched. Flexible end strengthens such beliefs.

We also tend to believe what we want to believe. A majority of people think they are more intelligent, more fair-minded and more skilled behind the wheel of an automobile than the average person. Part of the reason we view ourselves so favorably is that we use standards that work to our advantage. As economist Thomas Schelling explains, “Everybody ranks himself high in qualities. ” He values: careful drives give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who are polite give weight to courtesy. ” This way everyone ranks high on his own scale.

Perhaps the most important mental habit we can learn is to be cautions（谨慎的）in drawing conclusions. The “evidence” of everyday life is sometimes misleading.

72. In the first paragraph the author states that           .

A. dreams are prophetic because some of them did come true.

B. dreams may come true if clearly remembered.

C. dreams and reality are closely related.

D. dreams cannot be said to be prophetic even though a few have come true.

73. By “things like… ‘happen in threes’” in Para. 2, the author indicates that people believe     .

A. unfortunate events usually happen together.

B. personal misfortunes tend to happen every now and then.

C. misfortunes will occur three times in one’s whole life.

D. misfortunes will never occur more than three times to a person in his lifetime.

74. The underlined word “courtesy” probably means          .

A. good manners.                                     B. suitable speech.

C. friendly relations.                                  D. satisfactory service.

75. It can be concluded from the passage that         .

A. we should not base our conclusions on accidental evidence.

B. there is some truth even in the wildest dreams.

C. one should take notice of other people’s merits（优点）.

D. there is no order or pattern in world events.