Question

Many people think that listening is a passive business. It is just the opposite. Listening well is an active exercise of our attention and hard work. It is because they do not realize this, or because they are not willing to do the work, that most people do not listen well.

Listening well also requires total concentration upon someone else. An essential part of listening well is the rule known as ‘bracketing’. Bracketing includes the temporary giving up or setting aside of your own prejudices and desires, to experience as far as possible someone else’s world from the inside, stepping into his or her shoes. Moreover, since listening well involves bracketing, it also involves a temporary acceptance of the other person. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will seem quite willing to open up the inner part of his or her mind to the listener. True communication is under way and the energy required for listening well is so great that it can be accomplished only by the will to extend oneself for mutual growth.

Most of the time we lack this energy. Even though we may feel in our business dealings or social relationships that we are listening well, what we are usually doing is listening selectively. Often we have a prepared list in mind and wonder, as we listen, how we can achieve certain desired results to get the conversation over as quickly as possible or redirected in ways more satisfactory to us. Many of us are far more interested in talking than in listening, or we simply refuse to listen to what we don’t want to hear.

It wasn’t until toward the end of my doctor career that I have found the knowledge that one is being truly listened to is frequently therapeutic(有疗效的) In about a quarter of the patients I saw, surprising improvement was shown during the first few months of psychotherapy(心理疗法), before any of the roots of problems had been uncovered or explained. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but chief among them, I believe, was the patient’s sense that he or she was being truly listened to, often for the first time in years, and for some, perhaps for the first time ever.

1.The phrase “stepping into his or her shoes” in paragraph 2 probably means _______.

A. preparing a topic list first

B. focusing on one’s own mind

C. directing the talk to the desired results

D. experiencing the speaker’s inside world

2.What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 2?

A. How to listen well.

B. What to listen to.

C. Benefits of listening.

D. Problems in listening

3.According to the author, in communication people tend to ________.

A. listen actively

B. listen purposefully

C. set aside their prejudices

D. open up their inner mind

4.According to the author, the patients improved mainly because _______.

A. they were taken good care of.

B. they knew the roots of problems

C. they had partners to talk to.

D. they knew they were truly listened to

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.D

【解析】

试题分析: 本文是一篇议论文。作者告诉我们善于倾听使交往通畅，双方共同成长。倾听要全聚焦，懂得认同；倾听要精气足，学会海纳百川。最后作者利用倾听心理疗法改变了他的病人，作了一个很好的例证。

1.语意推测题。“his or her shoes”隐喻为下一行的“the inner part of his or her mind”。由上文“Bracketing includes the temporary giving up or setting aside of your own prejudices and desires, to experience as far as possible someone else’s world from the inside.”和下文“Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will seem quite willing to open up the inner part of his or her mind to the listener.”可知“his or her shoes”隐喻为下一行的“the inner part of his or her mind”。因此 “stepping into his or her shoes” 和选项D.“experiencing the speaker’s inside world”意思相通，故选D。

2.A段落大意题。根据第二段中心句“Listening well also requires total concentration upon someone else.”接着从两个方面①An essential part of listening well is the rule known as ‘bracketing’.②Moreover, since listening well involves bracketing, it also involves a temporary acceptance of the other person.来阐述如何善于倾听。故选A。

3.B细节理解题。tend to（有…倾向），由第三段第一行“Even though we may feel in our business dealings or social relationships that we are listening well, what we are usually doing is listening selectively.（即使我们觉得在自己的生意和社交场合会倾听，但只是带着目的有选择性的听。）”以及“Often we have a prepared list in mind and wonder, achieve certain desired results to get the conversation over as quickly as possible or redirected in ways more satisfactory to us.(我们经常头脑里想好听哪些事，听到自己想听的来尽可能快地结束话题或转换话题，听自己满意的。)” 可知在谈话中人们倾向于有目的的听，故选B。

4.细节理解题。根据最后一段第四行“There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but chief among them, I believe, was the patient’s sense that he or she was being truly listened to, often for the first time in years, and for some, perhaps for the first time ever.”可知病人被治好的有一些原因，其中主要是因为病人感觉到许多年来自己第一次被真正倾听。与D意思相符，故选D。

考点：考查日常生活类短文阅读