大学英语2 第10课.docVIP

大学英语精读第二册10 大耳朵英语　 　 2005-09-30 00:33:41　 【打印】 Previous Unit | Next Unit | Back 　Unit Ten　　Click the button to listen to the text　　Are we too quick to blame and slow to praise? Itseems we are.　PROFITS OF PRAISE　Janet Graham　It was the end of my exhausting first day as waitress in a busy New York restaurant. My cap had gone awry, my apron was stained, my feet ached.The loaded tray I carried felt heavier and heavier. Weary and discouraged,I didnt seem able to do anything right. As I made out a complicated check for a family with several children who had changed their ice-cream order a dozen times, I was ready to quit.Then the father smiled at me as he handed me my tip: Well done, he said. Youve looked after us really well. Suddenly my tiredness vanished. I smiled back, and later, when the manager asked me how I d liked my first day, I said, Fine! Those few words of praise had changed everything. Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit; we cannot flower and growwithout it. And yet, while most of us are only too ready to apply to othersthe cold wind of criticism, we are somehow reluctant to give our fellowsthe warm sunshine of praise.Why - when one word can bring such pleasure? A friend of mine who travels widely always tries to learn a little of the language of any placeshe visits. Shes not much of a linguist, but she does know how to say one word -beautiful- in several languages. She can use it to a mother hold-ing her baby, or to a lonely salesman fishing out pictures of his family.The ability has earned her friends all over the world.Its strange how chary we are about praising. Perhaps its because fewof us know how to accept compliments gracefully. Instead, we are embarrassedand shrug off the words we are really so glad to hear. Because of thisdefensive reaction, direct compliments are surprisingly difficult to give.That is why some of the most valued pats on the back are those which come to us i