It was already half past seven and I was running late again for the dinner appointment with my wife, Eleanor. We had
to meet at the restaurant at seven o'clock. I felt a little uneasy, but to my
，I had a good excuse: A business meeting had
and I'd wasted no time getting to the dinner.
When I arrived at the
，1 apologized and told Eleanor I didn't mean to be late. She screamed, "You never mean to." Well, I
tell she was angry. "I'm sorry but it was not
," I said. Then I told her about the business meeting.
, my explanation seemed to make things worse, which started to drive
mad as well.
Several weeks later, when I
the situation to my friend Ken Hardy, he smiled, "You
a classic mistake. You're stuck
your own way of thinking. You didn't
to be late. But that's not the point. What is
in your communication is how your lateness affected Eleanor." He pointed out that I focused on the intention
Eleanor focused on the result. Thus,
of us felt misunderstood and crazy.
Thinking more about Ken's words, I
recognized the root cause of such disagreement. It's the result of the action that really
.I should have started the conversation by expressing
my actions affected Eleanor and
the discussions about my intention for later, much later and even never.
Later on, after talking to Eleanor and really
her experience of the results
of my lateness, I've managed to be on time a lot more frequently.
| 小题1: | | A．Started | B．Agreed | C．Continued | D．Managed |
|
| 小题2: | | A．Relief | B．Surprise | C．Regret | D．Sorrow |
|
| 小题3: | | A．broken out | B．closed down | C．faded away | D．run over |
|
| 小题4: | | A．House | B．Room | C．Restaurant | D．Supermarket |
|
| 小题5: | | A．Could | B．Must | C．Will | D．might |
|
| 小题6: | | A．Movable | B．Comfortable | C．Acceptable | D．Avoidable |
|
| 小题7: | | A．However | B．Therefore | C．Moreover | D．Otherwise |
|
| 小题9: | | A．spread | B．wrote | C．translated | D．described |
|
| 小题10: | | A．knew | B．made | C．found | D．took |
|
| 小题11: | | A．In | B．beyond | C．For | D．against |
|
| 小题12: | | A．Need | B．Prove | C．Pretend | D．Intend |
|
| 小题13: | | A．Funny | B．Important | C．Possible | D．Simple |
|
| 小题14: | | A．While | B．After | C．Until | D．unless |
|
| 小题15: | | A．All | B．None | C．Both | D．Neither |
|
| 小题16: | | A．Usually | B．Merely | C．Hardly | D．gradually |
|
| 小题17: | | A．Inspires | B．Matters | C．Improves | D．challenges |
|
| 小题19: | | A．Compared | B．Reported | C．Finished | D．saved |
|
| 小题20: | | A．Showing | B．Satisfying | C．understanding | D．destroying |
|
