Question

Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it? Are you afraid to ask a boy (girl) for a date？

Many people are afraid to assert themselves (insist upon their own rights). Dr Robert Alberti, author of Stand Up, Speak Out, and Talk Back, thinks it’s because their self-esteem(自尊) is low. “Our whole set-up makes people doubt themselves,” says Alberti. “There’s always a 'superior' around — a parent, a teacher, a boss — who 'knows better’”.

But Alberti and other scientists are doing something to help people to assert themselves. They offer “assertiveness training” courses (AT). In the AT courses people learn that they have a right to be themselves. They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so. They learn to be aggressive(敢闯, 闯劲儿) without hurting other people.

In one way, learning to speak out is to overcome fear. A group taking an AT course will help the timid person to lose his fear. But AT uses an even stronger motive—the need to share. The timid person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels. AT says you can get to feel good about yourself. And once you do, you can learn to speak out.

In the passage, the writer talks about the problem that _______.

A. some people are too easy-going

B. some people are too timid

C. there are too many superiors around us

D. some people dare not stick up for their own rights

The effect of our set-up on people is often to _______.

A. make them distrust their own judgment

B. make things more favorable for them

C. keep them from speaking out as much as their superiors do

D. help them to learn to speak up for their rights

One thing AT doesn’t do is to _______.

A. use the need of people to share

B. show people they have the right to be themselves

C. help people to be aggressive at anytime even when others suffer

D. help people overcome fear

Answer 1

【小题1】D

【小题2】A

【小题3】C

解析:

人要有主见，要敢表达出自己的意见，要维护自己的权益。

【小题1】判断题。自卑的人不敢说“不”，也不敢当众发表自己的意见，那当然是失去了自己的权力。

【小题2】语义理解题。从第2段第3句话 Our whole set-up makes people doubt themselves 可知答案为A。

【小题3】语义理解题。从第3段最后一句话They learn to be aggressive(敢闯, 闯劲儿) without hurting other people 可以做出正确判断。