According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, we might all be braggarts(大话王) in this competitive society addicted to social networking.
Take a close look at your socialnetworking sites. Do you like to post photos of yourself in restaurants to show others what an exciting life you have? Or do you like to write about how happily in love you are? Or perhaps you are of the subtle type who constantly complain about jobs but really just want to impress others with your important position.
According to the results of a series of experiments conducted by Harvard University neuroscientists(神经科学家), the reward areas of our brain——the same areas that respond to “primary rewards” such as food ——are activated when we talk about ourselves. We devote between 30 to 40 percent of our conversation time to doing just that. Unfortunately, Bernstein says, some people can't tell the difference between sharing positive information that others might actually want to know and direct bragging. She suggests that bragging involves comparison, whether stated or implied.
“We are expected to be perfect all the time. The result is that more and more people are carefully managing their online images”. says Elizabeth Bernstein, a columnist with the Wall Street Journal.
But the issue is not limited to the Internet. In a fiercely competitive job market we must sell ourselves on multiple platforms and show that we are better than others. In fact, we have become so accustomed to bragging that we don't even realize we are doing it, says Bernstein. This is harmful to our relationships and puts people off.
Bernstein talked to some experts who said that people brag for all sorts of reasons: to appear worthy of attention; to prove to ourselves we are doing fine and that people who said we would fail are wrong; or simply because we're excited when good things happen to us.
“Feel sorry for them, because they're doing this unconscious, destructive thing that won't help them in the long run，” said Professor Simian Valier, a research psychologist at Washington University.
小题1:The underlined word “subtle” in Para.2 is closest in meaning to “________”．
| A．hidden | B．apparent |
| C．outstanding | D．simple |
小题2:Which of the following is one of the features of braggarts?
| A．They control conversation and only talk about themselves. |
| B．They know well how to share positive information. |
| C．They selfpromote to stand out in their career. |
| D．They don't pay much attention to their online image. |
小题3:What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Braggarts make a good first impression but the effect decreases over time. |
| B．People who like bragging know what they are doing. |
| C．Braggarts always adopt comparison directly to show they are excellent. |
| D．They care much about the feelings of others when talking. |