Question

Stop Negative Talk

“I’m so fat,” one of your friends says. The girl next to her joins in, “Well, I hate my hair today.” Without thinking, you respond: “No, you are not fat! I am fat. And my hair is flat and boring.”1.

It is easy for people to engage in self-critical conversations, and once it starts there is often pressure for you to join in.2. Maybe it is because “just talking” feels harmless. But before you know it, those opinions flow out of your conversations and into your life, where they start eating away at your self-respect.

3. When you start talking about yourself in a negative way, you are not only affecting your self-respect, but your friends’! When you criticize yourself, your friends might think you have the same standards for them. You have heard that it is important to treat others the way you want to be treated, but there is also value in treating yourself like you treat your friends. If you wouldn’t criticize your friend for the same thing, chances are that you are being too hard on yourself. So, don’t start it.

But what if someone else starts? For example, your friend feels insecure about how well he played in his soccer game, so he puts himself down: “I suck at soccer.”4. Ask him, “Do you really think that? Why?” Maybe he is actually upset about a comment someone made, or is just getting down on himself over one bad play. Whatever it is, talking through the real issue will help him more than slipping into another negative talk.

It is important to talk to your friend about your insecurities, but make sure you are not talking about them just to put yourself down.5. Instead of just focusing on the negative, talk about what makes you and your friends beautiful and unique—including what you love about your body and what you have accomplished. When you show yourself love, you set yourself as an example, and everyone benefits from you positively.

A. Negative talk affects self-respect.

B. Criticizing yourself helps nobody.

C. But why do we hesitate to praise ourselves?

D. But why is it acceptable to talk so negatively?

E. All it takes is just one comment and the negative talk starts.

F. It is better to resist negative conversations and create more balanced ones.

G. Before everyone puts himself down, see if you can get to the root of the problem.

Answer

1.E

2.D

3.B

4.G

5.F

【解析】本文主要讲的是人们很容易参与到自我批评的谈话中，一旦开始，你就会有压力让你参与进来，当你以消极的方式讨论自己时不仅会伤到自己的自尊，还会伤到自己的朋友，和你的朋友讨论你的不安全感很重要，但要保证不是在讨论他们，只是为了让自己失望。

1.考查语境的理解。根据“ Without thinking, you respond: “No, you are not fat! I am fat. And my hair is flat and boring.”___1___”句意:没有思考你就会回答，不，你胖了，我的头发是平的，很无聊。可知，它带来了很多消极的评论。故选E。

2.考查语境的理解。根据“It is easy for people to engage in self-critical conversations, and once it starts there is often pressure for you to join in.___2___ Maybe it is because “just talking” feels harmless. But before you know it, those opinions flow out of your conversations and into your life, where they start eating away at your self-respect”句意:人们很容易参与到自我批评的谈话中，一旦开始，你就会有压力让你参与进来。故选D。

3.考查语境的理解。根据“When you start talking about yourself in a negative way, you are not only affecting your self-respect, but your friends’! When you criticize yourself, your friends might think you have the same standards for them. ”句意:当你以消极的方式讨论自己时不仅会伤到自己的自尊，还会伤到自己的朋友。故选B。

4.考查语境的理解。根据“But what if someone else starts? For example, your friend feels insecure about how well he played in his soccer game, so he puts himself down”可知，你的朋友对他在足球赛中的表现表示不安，所以说我很讨厌足球。故选G。

5.考查语境的理解。根据“It is important to talk to your friend about your insecurities, but make sure you are not talking about them just to put yourself down”可知，和你的朋友讨论你的不安全感很重要，但要保证不是在讨论他们，只是为了让自己失望。故选F。

【名师点睛】七选五旨在考查学生对全文整体理解和对信息辨析的能力.做此题时需要先了解文章的整体结构，再综合上下文进行推理判断。解此类题主要从以下六步骤做起：

步骤一：快速浏览一遍七个备选答案，先确定哪个选项适合放在文章的什么位置。通常有三个四个位置：标题，句首，句中，句尾。

步骤二：快速浏览文章，确定文章体裁，抓住文章结构，确定文章体裁有利于预测文章各段主要内容和结构形式，形成重要的选择依据。

步骤三：分析篇章结构，找出各段的主题句或主旨大意。

步骤四：注意各选项中出现的句子衔接手段，寻找句中衔接标志词。

步骤五：区分相似项

步骤六：用代入法，检查答案是否合理。

例如文章的（1），（4）小题根据“ Without thinking, you respond: “No, you are not fat! I am fat. And my hair is flat and boring.”___1___”句意:没有思考你就会回答，不，你胖了，我的头发是平的，很无聊。可知，它带来了很多消极的评论。根据“But what if someone else starts? For example, your friend feels insecure about how well he played in his soccer game, so he puts himself down”可知，你的朋友对他在足球赛中的表现表示不安，所以说我很讨厌足球。