新视野第大学英语读写教程2_(第三版)_unit_6_课文原文.doc

精品文档 . Door closer, are you? 1?The next time youre deciding between?rival?options, one which is primary and the other which is?secondary, ask yourself this question: What would?Xiang Yu?do? 2?Xiang Yu was a Chinese?imperial?general in the third century BC who took his troops across the?Zhang River?on a?raid?into enemyterritory.?To his troops astonishment, he ordered their cooking pots crushed and their sailing ships burned. 3?He explained that he was imposing on them a necessity for attaining victory over their?opponents.?What he said was surelymotivating, but it wasnt really appreciated by many of his?loyal?soldiers as they watched their?vessels?go up in flames.?But the?genius?of General Xiang Yus?conviction?would be?validated?both on the battlefield and in modern social science research.?General Xiang Yu was a rare?exception?to the norm, a?veteran?leader who was highly respected for his many?conquests?and who achieved the?summit?of success. 4?He is featured in?Dan Arielys?enlightening?new?publication,?Predictably?Irrational, a fascinating?investigation?of seemingly irrational human behavior, such as the tendency for keeping multiple options open.?Most people cant?marshal?the will for painful choices, not even students at the?Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where Dr. Ariely teaches?behavioral?economics.?In an experiment that investigated decision-making, hundreds of students couldnt bear to let their options vanish, even though it was clear they wouldprofit?from doing so. 5?The experiment?revolved?around a game that eliminated the excuses we usually have for refusing to let go.?In the real world, we can always say, Its good to?preserve?our options.?Want a good example??A teenager is exhausted from soccer, ballet, piano, and Chinese lessons, but her parents wont stop any one of them because they might come in handy some day! 6?In the experiment?sessions, students played a computer game that provided cash behind three doors appe