选择知识点

It was in New Zealand ________ Elizabeth first met Mr. Smith.

22．If you leave the club, you will not beback in.

You'd better not leave the medicine ________ kids can get it.

Catherine, ________ the alarm clock for 6 o'clock, or you would oversleep and be late for the train.

I sincerely suggest that you try to do your best to finish this project, unless you don't ________ the complaints from all directions.

When____to danger and conflict, men tend to increase blood pressure,____nervous or anxious.

They had walked in wrong directions for quite some time ________ they realized that they had got lost.

In our old neighborhood, neighbors chatted over fences. Newcomers were welcomed with chocolate and bread. It had been easy to find friends there. Our new community was different. It seemed that family roots grew deep, deep as the Mississippi River that flowed past the tiny river town.

   We'd moved to decrease my husband's distance to work. Only thirty miles.

   After living there for six months, I was ready to move back home. I was lonely without a friend. My three boys were lonely. My husband, Lonny, seemed okay, but he spent his days at work.

   Lonny noticed my sinking disposition.

   "Shawnelle, you look unapproachable," he said. He and I were sitting in lawn chairs. Samuel, our three-year-old son, sat in his own little chair.

   "What do you mean?"

   "Body language. You placed our chairs fifteen yards away from everyone else. "

   "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to have friends here." Just then Samuel looked up. "Mom's right, Dad. And we just want to go home."

   That's when I knew that I needed an adjustment. I didn't want my boys to learn that the way to work through a tough time was to use a wounded and bitter attitude.

   Over the next few months I smiled when I didn't feel like it. We signed up for reading programs at the library and often visited parks and the bike path along the river.

   One afternoon Samuel and I climbed up the stairs to the library activity room. A woman who I hadn't seen before sat at a long table with a tiny boy.

   "Hi," she said. "I'm Tammy. Do you need a seat? There's one right here."

   I sat down next to Tammy. Soon class was over, and we still had a lot to say. "Why don't you come over later?" Tammy asked. "I live on a farm. There's plenty of room for the kids to run. "We went. And since that day, we've been back a million times.

   When I look back, I'm grateful for that tough time. I learned to persevere. I'm glad I didn't give up.

   And as for my boys, they learned a lesson too. "Keep moving forward" is what I tell them and "Your heart will follow."

Coffee at a friend's! We sat trying to make conversation while her three children grappled (扭打) with one another on the floor. Suddenly I remembered that I had brought some glass marbles (玩具子弹) with me—a whole bag full. I spilled them out on the floor, in the hope that the little angels would play with them in peace. Far from it: a heated argument broke out. I didn't understand what was happening until I looked more closely. Among the countless marbles there was just one blue one, and the children fought for it. All the marbles were exactly the same size and shiny and bright. But the blue one had an advantage over the others—it was one of a kind. I had to laugh at how childish children are!

   Rata sunt cara, said the Romans. Rare is valuable. In fact, the scarcity error is as old as mankind. My friend with the three children is a part-time real-estate (房地产) agent. Whenever she has an interested buyer who cannot decide, she calls and says "A doctor from London saw the plot of land yesterday. He liked it a lot. What about you? Are you still interested?"The doctor from London—sometimes it's a professor or a banker—is, of course, not true. The effect is very real, though: it causes prospects to see the opportunity disappearing before their eyes, so they act and close the deal. Why? This is the potential shortage of supply. Objectively, this situation is incomprehensible: either the prospect wants the land for the set price or he does not—regardless of any doctors from London.

   In one study, students were asked to arrange ten posters in order of attractiveness—with the agreement that afterward they could keep one poster as a reward for their participation. Five minutes later, they were told that the poster with the third highest rating was no longer available. Then they were asked to judge all ten once again. The poster that was no longer available was suddenly classified as the most beautiful. In psychology, this phenomenon is called reactance: when we are deprived (剥夺) of an option, we suddenly consider it more attractive. It is also known as the Romeo and Juliet effect: because the love between the tragic Shakespearean teenagers is forbidden, it knows no bounds (难以自己).

   In conclusion: the typical response to scarcity is failure in clear thinking. Assess products and services solely on the basis of their price and benefits. It should be of no importance if an item is disappearing fast, nor if any doctors from London take an interest.