How We Form First Impression

　　1　We all have first impression of someone we just met. But why? Why do we form an opinion about someone without really knowing anything about him or her — aside perhaps from a few remarks or readily observable traits.

　　2　The answer is related to how your brain, allows you to be aware of the world. Your brain is so sensitive in picking up facial traits, even very minor difference in how a person’s eyes, ears, nose, or mouth are placed in relation to each other makes you see him or her as different1. In fact, your brain continuously processes incoming sensory information — the sights and sounds of your world. These incoming “signals” are compared against2 a host of “memories” stored in the brain areas called the cortex system to determine what these new signals “mean.”

　　3　If you see someone you know and like at school3, your brain says “familiar and safe. ‘‘If you see someone new, it says, “new — potentially threatening.” Then your brain starts to match features of this stranger with other “known” memories;The height, weight, dress, ethnicity, gestures, and tone of voice are all matched up. The more unfamiliar the characteristics, the more your brain may say, “This is new. I don’t like this person.” Or else, “I’m intrigued. “Or your brain may perceive a new face but familiar clothes, ethnicity, gestures — like your other friends;so your brain says: “I like this person.” But these preliminary “impressions” can be dead wrong4.

　　4　When we stereotype people, we use a less mature form of thinking(not unlike the immature thinking of a very young child)that makes simplistic and categorical impressions of others. Rather than leam about the depth and breadth of people — their history, interest, values, strengths, and true character — we categorize them as jocks, geeks, or freaks.

　　5　However, if we resist initial stereotypical impressions, we have a chance to be aware of what a person is truly like. If we spend time with a person, hear about his or her life, hopes, dreams, and become aware of the person’s character, we use a different, more mature style of thinking — and the most complex areas of our cortex, which allow us to be humane.

　　词汇：

　　trait 特点，特征，特性　　host 一大群，许多 　simplistic 过分单纯化的

　　categorical 绝对的 　jock 骗子　　geek 反常的人 　stereotype 对……产生成见

　　humane 有人情味的，人文的 　sensory 感官的，感觉的　　cortex 脑皮层

　　ethnicity n.种族特点　　intrigue 激起兴趣　 freak 怪人

　　注释：

　　1.Your brain is so sensitive in picking up facial traits, even very minor difference in how a person’s eyes, ears, nose, or mouth are placed in relation to each other makes you see him or her as different：从even开始到as different是个结果状语从句，相当于that even very minor ... .，而that是与主句中的so呼应的。

　　2.against：和……对比

　　3.If you see someone you know and like at school ...：如果你在学校里看见某个你认识而且喜欢的人…… like在这里是动词。

　　4.dead wrong：相当于completely wrong。dead wrong是口语表达用语。

　　练习：

　　1.Paragraph 2 ________

　　2.Paragraph 3 ________

　　3.Paragraph 4 ________

　　4.Paragraph 5 ________

　　A　Ways of Departure from Immature and Simplistic Impressions

　　B　Comment on First Impression

　　C　Illustration of First Impression

　　D　Comparing Incoming Sensory Information against Memories

　　E　Threatening Aspect of First Impressions

　　F　Differences among Jocks, Greeks and Freaks

　　5.Sensory information is one that is perceived through ________.

　　6.You interpret by comparing it against the memories already stored in your brain ________.

　　7.The way we stereotype people is a less mature form of thinking, which is similar to ________.

　　8.We can use our more mature style of thinking thanks to ________.

　　A　a stranger’s less mature type of thinking

　　B　the most complex areas of our cortex

　　C　the immature form of thinking of a very young child

　　D　the meaning of incoming sensory information

　　E　the sights and sounds of the world

　　F　an opportunity to analyze different forms of thinking

　　答案与题解：

　　1.D　本段叙述的是人脑解读感官信息的过程。

　　2.C　本段举例说明第一印象解读的过程，将第二段叙述的内容具体化。

　　3.B　本段对第一印象进行了评论，说第一印象不成熟，simplistic and categorical。

　　4.A　本段说如果我们与某个人多接触，了解他的生活、希望、梦想和性格特征，我们对该人的认识就不会停留在第一印象的阶段，而是进入一个更深的层次。

　　5.E　选E的依据在第二段的第三句。

　　6.D　选D的依据在第二段的最后两句。sensory information的意思就是information perceived through sensory organs(视觉、听觉、味觉、触觉、嗅觉等)。

　　7.C　选C的依据在第四段的第一句，该句是：When we stereotype people, we use a less mature form of thinking(not unlike the immature thinking of a very young child)that makes simplistic and categorical impressions of others.

　　8.B　选B的依据在第五段第二句。

　　译文：对别人的第一印象是怎样形成的

　　对刚刚遇到的人我们都会留下第一印象，为什么?为什么我们会对一无所知的人形成自己的印象——除去一些描述或显而易见的特征?

　　这与你的大脑如何感知世界是息息相关的。大脑对面部特征十分敏感，即使是每个人在眼睛、耳朵或嘴部的细小差异也会使大脑察觉到其不同之处。实际上，大脑一直在不断地对接收到的感官信息进行处理——包括影像和声音。大脑将这些“信号”与储存在脑皮层系统的大量“记忆”相比较以便确定这些新收到的信号的“意思”。

　　如果你在学校看到某个你认识而且喜欢的人，你的大脑会做出“熟悉安全”的判断;如果你看见了一个陌生的人，你的大脑会告诉你“陌生，有潜在的威胁”，紧接着你的大脑会开始将这个陌生人的特征与“已知”的记忆进行比较，包指身高、体重、穿着、种族、手势以及音调等等。特征越不相符，大脑越会告诫你，“这是陌生人，我不喜欢这个人”，或“我很好奇”。大脑也可能观察到一张新面孔，但却有着熟悉的穿着、种族特征和手势——像你的朋友，这时大脑会告诉你“我喜欢这个人”。但这些第一印象却可能是完全错误的。

　　当区分人时，我们使用一种欠成熟的思维方式(与小孩子不成熟的想法一样)去对别人做出简单并且范畴化的判断。(这佯的后果是)我们将人区分为骗子、反常的人或怪人，而不是对人的深度和广度，即历史、兴趣、价值、力量或真正的性格有所了解。

　　但是，如果对模式化的第一印象加以抑制，我们就会有机会对一个人有真正的了解。如果我们花一些时间与一个人在一起，倾听他或她的生活、希望和梦想，了解了这个人的性格，我们才会用一种不同的、更成熟的方式去思考——即用脑皮层中最复杂的区域进行思考，而这会使我们更富有人情味。

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（责任编辑：何莹莹）