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 they were truly listened to.

C. they had partners to talk to.                          

D. they knew the roots of problems.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.B

【解析】

试题分析: 人们往往认为倾听是一种被动的行为，其实，恰恰相反，倾听是一种需要集中精力的事情。在本文中作者提到善于倾听会使人们之间的交往更加通畅，使谈话双方共同受益，共同成长。而且作者为了证明其说法，还介绍了自己利用倾听心理疗法改变了他的病人的例子。

1.推理判断题。根据and前面内容to experience as far as possible someone else’s world from the inside,可以得知短语的意思是让人们去设身处地地站到被人的角度是考虑问题，选D。

2.主旨大意题。在第二段作者使用了分总的论证方法，首先提出中心句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。由此判断本段中心是如何做到更好的倾听，选A。

3.细节理解题。由第三段Even though we may feel in our business dealings or social relationships that we are listening well, ….（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… prepared list in mind and wonder, achieve certain desired results to get the conversation over …...(…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。) 可以得知B选项正确。

4.细节理解题。由最后一段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, ……可知病人被治好的原因主要是病人感觉到许多年来自个儿第一次被倾听，故B选项正确。

考点：考查社会科学类短文阅读