When I was in primary school, I got into an argument with a boy in my class. I have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson learned that day.
I was convinced that “I” was right and “he” was wrong — and he was just as convinced that “I” was wrong and “he” was right. The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson. She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other.
In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. “White,” he answered.
I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the color of the object.
The teacher told me to go to stand where the boy was standing and told him to come to stand where I had been. We changed places, and then she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, “White.” It was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side was it black.
My teacher taught me a very important lesson that day: You must stand in the other person’s shoes and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their perspective (看法).
【小题1】When brought up to the front of the class, the two students were sitting .A.side by side | B.face to face |
C.back to back | D.facing the blackboard |
A.his side of the object was black | B.his side of the object was white |
C.the other side of the object was black | D.the other side of the object was white |
A.We should imagine that we’re in the other person’s situation. |
B.A teacher should give students a lesson before the class. |
C.A large, round object has two differently colored sides. |
D.A lesson learned in the past should never be forgotten. |
A.Patient. | B.Wise. | C.Rude. | D.Kind. |
Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical connection between ideas. Critical thinking has been the subject of much debate and thought since the time of early Greek philosophers such as Plato and Socrates and has continued to be a subject of discussion into the modern age, for example the ability to recognise fake news.
Critical thinking might be described as the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. In nature, critical thinking requires you to use your ability to reason. It is about being an active learner rather than a passive recipient of information.
Critical thinkers rigorously (严厉地) question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value. They will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the entire picture and are open to finding that they do not.
One of the most important aspects of critical thinking is to decide what you are aiming to achieve and then make a decision based on a range of possibilities.
Once you have clarified that aim for yourself you should use it as the starting point in all future situations requiring thought and, possibly, further decision making. Where needed, make your workmates, family or those around you aware of your intention to pursue this goal. You must then discipline yourself to keep on track until changing circumstances mean you have to revisit the start of the decision-making process.
However, there are things that get in the way of simple decision making. We all carry with us a range of likes and dislikes, learnt behaviours and personal preferences developed throughout our lives; they are the hallmarks of being human. A major contribution to ensuring we think critically is to be aware of these personal characteristics, preferences and biases (偏见) and make allowance for them when considering possible next steps.
The more clearly, we are aware of ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, the more likely our critical thinking will be productive.
【小题1】What will you be by using critical thinking?A.A creative philosopher. | B.A passive recipient of information. |
C.An independent organizer. | D.An active learner. |
A.Setting up direct targets. | B.Coming up with imaginative ideas. |
C.Analysing original reasons. | D.Making various possible decisions. |
A.Personal preferences will change critical thinking. |
B.Individual behaviours will stop you pursuing the goal. |
C.Tastes and preferences vary from individual to individual. |
D.Critical thinking gets in the way of simple decision making. |
A.What is Critical Thinking? |
B.How does Critical Thinking work? |
C.How is Critical Thinking Productive? |
D.What effect does Critical Thinking cause? |
In the summer of 2019, Tomas Quinones was undertaking a “bikepacking” trip, covering some remote desert in Southern Oregon. His trip had been marked with usual minor setbacks. He’d lost shoes. His water supply was sometimes uncertain. But there had also been moments of unexpected kindness: A couple parking beside offered to share their lunch; or the guy in the truck asked if he needed help. On the last day of Quinones’ trip, he was riding down a dusty track when he came upon a man lying unconscious on the ground, who was clearly dehydrated (脱水的). Quinones tried to give some water and waited until the ambulance arrived.
Quinones, who’d received help over the course of his trip, paid it forward. The odds are, if you’ve spent any time in the wild, you’ll have experienced these gestures of kindness from strangers or given them yourself too as Quinones did.
So what is it about being outside in nature that makes people want to help others?
The first explanation is that in the wild, there may not be any other help. According to the “bystander effect” (旁观者效应), the more people who are in the presence of someone needing help, the less likely any of those are to actually provide it. But another idea is that there is something about nature itself that seems to promote “prosocial (亲社会)” attitudes. As a recent study suggests, exposure to nature can stimulate feelings of transcendence — a sense of connection to other people, to the world around us and to the universe.
When we get into the wild, we become weaker. And being in an easily-hurt position makes us look at the world differently. So, in the wild, where we are removed of normal possessions, surroundings and identities, we seem more willing to go the extra mile for someone. It’s in nature, ironically, that we can learn new things about humanity.
【小题1】What can we know about Quinones’ trip?A.Pretty constant water supply was available. |
B.Food was frequently provided from other strangers. |
C.He’d usually encountered dramatic troubles. |
D.He’d travelled to some remote desert on bicycle. |
A.To give further details of Quinones’ trip. |
B.To show the difficulty of Quinones’ trip. |
C.To provide an example for the topic. |
D.To stress the importance of strangers’ help. |
A.It explains people’s getting help easily in nature. |
B.It demonstrates people’s prosocial attitudes. |
C.It reveals people’s indifference in crowds. |
D.It stimulates people’s connecting to people and the world. |
A.We can only learn about people’s personality in the wild. |
B.It is a pity that people don’t often help others in daily life. |
C.It is ironic to help strangers in need when in nature. |
D.We can obtain new knowledge when in nature. |
When my sister Mertie told me she had put out tomato plants last summer, I was quite impressed.
Since she was a garden-beginner, Mertie researched exactly how far apart to space her tomato plants; what kind of fertilizer to use; how to keep away the bugs, etc. Once they were planted, she took care of them daily, anxiously awaiting the juicy tomatoes to appear. But, day after day, her plants were tomato-less while all of her neighbors who had also put out tomato plants were already enjoying the fruit of their labor.
Frustrated, Mertie gave in and went to the market to search fresh tomatoes. While paying, Mertie told the farmer her troubles. The farmer paused to think for a moment and then asked, “Well, what kind of tomatoes did you plant?”
“I think they were called Big Boy,” Mertie remembered.
“Well there’s your problem,” the farmer explained. “Big Boy and Better Boy tomatoes have a 95-day growing period whereas regular tomato plants produce fruit in as few as 70 days…you just have to wait a little longer for the Big Boys.”
With that new knowledge, Mertie went home with excitement, knowing they would be worth the wait.
Thinking about my sister’s gardening experience, I had to smile. She just didn’t know that Big Boy tomatoes took longer--neither did I--but once she discovered that information, she was no longer discouraged and upset about the lack of tomatoes on her plants. Instead, she was encouraged and excited to see them a few weeks later.
It makes me wonder how many of us have “Big Boy” dreams in our hearts, yet we just don’t realize that they are of the “Big Boy” variety so we are discouraged and worn out with the waiting process. Instead of waiting with excitement, we give up on our dreams and figure we must have done something wrong to stop them from coming to pass. Frustrated, we see other people’s dreams coming true, and we wonder why ours haven’t yet been achieved.
【小题1】What is not mentioned in the passage when growing tomato plants?A.Watering them regularly. | B.Keeping them well apart. |
C.Using suitable fertilizer. | D.Controlling pests on them. |
A.Because she grew the wrong kind of tomatoes. |
B.Because they were destroyed by her neighbors. |
C.Because they required more time to produce. |
D.Because she didn’t manage the garden well. |
A.Experiences. | B.Goals. |
C.Time. | D.Imagination. |
A.It’s better late than never. |
B.Success sometimes needs a little patience. |
C.A bad beginning makes a bad ending. |
D.A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. |
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