新视野第大学英语(第三版)读写教程.pdf

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