Сборник текстов по психологии для чтения на английском языке с упражнениями Г.В. Бочарова, М.Г. Степанова
.pdfDon’t give your bullies the satisfaction of a reaction. You don’t want them to know it bothers you. They make fun of your shoes? Thank them for the compliment and walk away confidently.
Don’t be an easy target. There’s one thing we want you to fake — just for a while. Walk with an air of confidence and pretend you are in control. Head high, shoulders back, and act as if you are not at all hurt. Eventually, the bullies might believe it and lose interest. And you’ll get so used to being this way that it’ll be second nature.
Don’t believe the lies that the bullies tell about you. Keep telling yourself there’s nothing wrong with you, that they are the ones with the problem — because they are.
Stand up for other students. If you see someone being bullied, pluck up your courage to say, ”Hey! Leave that kid alone!” If you’re too afraid this will put you in the hot seat, talk privately to an adult about the problem.
Finally, if you’re being bullied you’re not alone. Napoleon, Churchill, Madonna, Ronan Keating, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Boy Gorge were all bullied while at school!
I. Find English equivalents for the following words and expressions.
Привязываться к кому либо (приставать); невзлюбить кого либо; вступиться за кого либо; распространять мерзкие слухи; наябедничать на кого либо; чувствовать себя очень одиноким.
II. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions.
To be jealous of one’s victims; to go to so much trouble; with an air of confidence; to have an extremely low opinion of oneself; to be in control; to do long lasting harm to smb.’s psyche.
III.Rearrange the statements as they occur in the text. (Give num bers.)
1.Bullying can take many forms — from physical violence to name calling and spreading nasty rumours.
2.The golden rule if you are being bullied is to talk to someone you can trust, a teacher, parent, older friend or relative.
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3.Bullying is a serious problem in many countries.
4.Bullies get satisfaction from hurting people who are usually weaker than they are.
5.Bullying often starts when people pick on something that is different.
6.Bullies rely on three things: that no one tells, that no one stands up for you and that no one steps in if you seek help.
T e x t 13
ARE YOU A PROCRASTINATOR?
We have to start with the definition of procrastination. In general procrastination is the gap between intention and action. You wake up with the intention to write a report. But for some reason it is aversive, and you keep putting it off. A key point — procrastination involves actively putting something off, not just letting something slide in front of it from a too long to do list.
Only you can tell whether you are a procrastinator. It usually involves some negative feeling when you put off a task, like anxiety or guilt.
If you think of procrastination as a trait, then we all have a certain amount within us. It’s related to conscientiousness, your sense of orderliness, of dutifulness. People who are low on the trait of “conscientiousness also tend to be procrastinators. But for most of us, the “procrastinating” that we do is not problematic. Most likely, we are unduly beating ourselves up for being procrastinators when the real problem is that we live in a world that is loaded with deadlines. And we’re just engaging in a kind after the fact task management.
College, for example, makes procrastinators of many people. Or, rather, it brings that trait out even in people who have low levels of it. There are constant deadlines, and the projects are constantly being foist upon students that complete for their time.
The point is, not all deferring of tasks is procrastination. Dr. Pychyl insists that we make the distinction. There is such a thing as the planning
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fallacy. Most of us are overly optimistic, especially about what we are going to get done. We drag home bulging briefcases for the weekend, even if we know at some level that we can’t possibly do all of it.
We live in a world with lots of deadlines. We put things off as a matter of good task management, but we wind up beating ourselves up and mistakenly attribute it to procrastination. When realistically we probably put too many things on our plate.
Here’s another way that not everything that looks like procrastina tion is procrastination. Like procrastination, depression involves a failure to act. It’s one of the things that characterizes depression — lack of energy and motivation. People who are depressed are likely to beat themselves up for procrastinating, when in fact in their case procrastination is the surface symptoms of mental illness. And it must be handled differently.
So before you beat yourself up for procrastinating, check to see whether you make a career out of it. If you don’t do it in most of the areas of your life, then probably you are not a procrastinator. Now you really have no excuses…. So get moving!
I. Find English equivalents for the following words and expressions.
Откладывать что либо; чувство долга; тащить домой наби тые портфели; отсутствие энергии и мотивации; неправильное планирование; приписывать что либо чему либо.
II. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions.
A procrastinator; sense of orderliness; to beat ourselves up for something (doing smth.); to be loaded with deadliness; surface symptoms of mental illness; to be foist upon smb.
III.Rearrange the statements as they occur in the text (Give numbers.)
1.Procrastination is related to conscientiousness, your sense of orderliness, of dutifulness.
2.In fact in depressed people procrastination is the surface symptoms of mental illness.
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3.There is such a thing as the planning fallacy.
4.In general the procrastination is the gap between intention and action.
5.Not all deferring of tasks is procrastination.
6.Most likely, we are unduly beating ourselves up for being procrastinators when the real problem is that we live in a world that is loaded with deadlines.
7.Like procrastination depression involves a failure to act.
8.Procrastination involves actively putting something off.
T e x t 14
PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOUR
There are colours that we like and colours that we dislike. There are colours that make us feel happy and colours that make us feel sad.
Colours can make a big room look smaller or make a small room look larger. They can warm a cool room or cool a hot, sunny one. Warm colours contain red or yellow, and cool colours contain blue. The warm colours seem to bring things closer, and the cool ones tend to make objects seem farther away.
Colours have a strong influence on us. They can affect our moods and personalities, though we don’t always notice it.
Japanese psychologists made an interesting experiment. They asked a group of strangers to walk round two rooms, one painted red and the other blue. They found that in the red room, the people felt comfortable the moment they entered it. They began talking with each other and even laughing. But when they walked into the blue room, they felt silent.
Experiments have also shown that our blood pressure goes up in red surroundings and becomes lower in blue surroundings.
Blue is calming. A person can work best when surrounded by blue. But too strong a blue or too much of it can become depressing. We often feel cold in a blue room and warm in a red room, yet we may not know that it is the colour that makes us feel this way.
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Red is exciting. It makes us feel happy. It increases our energy. It can also make us eat faster.
Orange, too, can stimulate appetite.
Is it a coincidence that places like McDonald’s use mostly red and orange.
Pink can make us tired. Some institutions in the United States use this colour to cool down angry prisoners and patients.
Green is a calming colour. It helps us feel relaxed and quiet. Turquoise is the colour of communication. If you are shy, wear this
colour. It may help you relax and feel more sure of yourself.
Yellow, we are said, can help concentration and learning. Besides yellow surroundings usually put us in a good mood and make us smile.
Psychologists often use colour in different personality tests.
I. Find English equivalents for the following words and expressions.
Содержать; влияние на кого либо; провести эксперимент; кровяное давление повышается; мерзнуть; успокаивать, утихо миривать.
II. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions.
To warm a cool room or cool a hot, sunny one; to bring things closer; to become depressing; coincidence; to feel relaxed and quiet; to feel more sure of oneself.
III.Rearrange the statements as they occur in the text. (Give num bers.)
1.Our blood pressure goes up in red surroundings and become lower in blue surroundings.
2.Red is exciting.
3.Psychologists often use colour in different personality tests.
4.Yellow can help concentration and learning.
5.Warm colours contain red or yellow, and cool colours contain blue.
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6.They can affect our moods and personalities, though we don’t always notice it.
7.A person can work best when surrounded by blue.
T e x t 15
THE POWER OF COLOR
Today, fashion dictates not only the clothes we wear, but the colors, too. Did you know that colours have had important meanings since ancient times?
If you take a stroll around the fashion department of any high street store today, you’ll be dazzled by the variety of colours, patterns and textures available. However, there is nothing new in this. The truth is that ancient peoples already recognized the magical power of color. For the Ancient Egyptians, the Celts in Britain, the Aztecs in South America, colour was an important part of life.
In many ancient civilizations, people painted coloured circles and lines around their eyes and mouths. Originally they did this to please the gods and scare away evil spirits. But they soon realized that colour could be used to make their faces and bodies beautiful — and cosmetics were born. They were first used to distinguish between different tribes, and also between males and females. Women used colour and pattern to emphasize their body shape. For example, ancient Celtic women painted their bodies blue. By contrast, men tended to use designs that emphasized their strength and skill.
Body painting is one of the most ancient arts of humankind and today it is coming back into fashion.
Until recently, only men used tattoos on their bodies. Now, however, they can be seen on many women and girls, too.
Girls who prefer not to have tattoos paint patterns on their hands and faces with henna, or use removable transfers to decorate their arms and legs. Like their ancient ancestors, they are pursuing an ideal of beauty.
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Eventually, the colours of our clothes became just as important as those used for painting the body. Clothes are a symbol of power. The power in the clothes affects both the person who wears them and the people around him or her. So it’s important to choose the colours you wear carefully. But if you wear it too long, you can start to feel impatient or aggressive. The colour green, on the other hand, is known to calm the nerves and soothe emotions.
The mysterious Aztec and Maya civilizations were not familiar with wool, linen or silk, some of our most popular modern fabrics. But they dyed their textiles with great artistry. For them, every colour had a meaning, either positive or negative. For example, yellow was the symbol of the sun and of ripe corn growing in the fields, and blue meant the wearer had royal ancestors. Red stood for blood. Black symbolized war and death. In ancient Egypt, gold was the colour of the Sun god and the symbol of power. In traditional Asian cultures, white is the colour of sorrow. The blue of the sky, the red of the sun and the paleness of the moon were associated with religious rituals, legends and poetry.
With the passing of time, fashion has become increasingly international.
Today, the same fabrics, colours and designs are available all over the world. Fashion dictates not only the clothes we wear, but the colours, too. Every colour under the sun is available in today’s style parade.
The best thing is to go for the colours that suit you best. Choose a colour that doesn’t make your complexion look too pale, one that doesn’t clash with your hair colour, one that reflects your personality. And remember that colours can influence the way you feel. Wear colours that make you feel confident and relaxed.
Just as in ancient times, the right clothes give you power, make you look good, and help to identify you as part of your group. Today, however, you don’t have to be wealthy to look stylish.
I. Find English equivalents for the following words and expressions.
Поражаться разнообразию цветов; отпугивать злых духов; отличать разные племена; раскрашивание тела; следовать идеа лу красоты; тщательно подбирать цвета.
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II. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions.
To feel impatient; to soothe emotions; to go for the colours that suit you best; to reflect one’s personality; to wear colours; to influence the way smb. feels.
Ш.Rearrange the statements as they occur in the text. (Give num bers.)
1.Eventually, the colours of our clothes became just as important as those used for painting the body.
2.The best thing is to go for the colours that suit you best.
3.In many ancient civilizations, people painted coloured circles and lines around their eyes and mouths.
4.The right clothes give you power, make you look good, and help to identify you as part of your group.
5.Body painting is one of the most ancient arts of humankind and today it is coming back into fashion.
6.The power in the clothes affects both the person who wears them and the people around him or her.
7.Fashion dictates not only the clothes we wear, but the colours, too.
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PA R T II
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T e x t 1
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
To be human is to be curious about ourselves and the world around us. Psychology’s ancestors therefore date to the world’s early writings. Before 300 B.C., the Greek naturalist and philosopher Aristotle theorized about learning and memory, motivation and emotion, perception and personality. Today we chuckle at some of his guesses, like a meal making us sleepy by causing gas and heat to collect around the source of our personality, the heart. But credit Aristotle with asking the right questions.
At the dawn of modern science in the 1600s, British philosophers adopted a down to earth approach to knowledge, rooted in observa tion. One of them, John Locke, rejected the notion of inborn ideas. At birth the mind is, he said, but a “white paper” upon which experience writes.
In 1831, an indifferent student but ardent collector of beetles, mollusks, and shells set sail on what was to prove a historic round the world voyage. The 22 year old voyager was Charles Darwin, and for some time afterward, he pondered the incredible species variation he had encountered, including tortoises on one island that would differ from those on other islands of the region. His 1859 Origin of Species explained this diversity of life by proposing an evolutionary process. From among chance variations in organisms, he believed, nature selects those that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment. Darwin’s big idea — “the single best idea anyone has ever had,” says philosopher Daniel Dennett (1996) — is called natural selection, and it is still with us some 140 years later, having become an organizing principle of biology. Evolution has also become an important principle for psychology. This would surely have pleased Darwin, for he believed his theory explains not only animal structures (such as why polar bear coats are white) but also animal behaviors (such as the emotional expressions associated with lust and rage).
Thinking about thinking continued to evolve until the birth of psychology as we know it, on a December day in 1879. In a small room on the third floor of a shabby building at Germany’s University of
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