Birdcage Effect

在生活中，我們會遇到看似微不足道的一些選擇，這些選擇往往被我們輕易忽視，但它們可能會像一只無形的鳥籠，悄無聲息地限制我們的思想和行為，這就是著名的“鳥籠效應(yīng)”。一個(gè)看似簡單的心理學(xué)現(xiàn)象，卻蘊(yùn)含著深刻的人生哲理。

When I was organizing my clothes， I accidentally found a set of Hanfu I only woreonce. Since a Chinese friend gave me a set of ancient?style hair accessories（配飾）， I matcheda whole set of Hanfu. Then， ancient?style articles appeared in my clothes one after another.When I saw them again， I thought of a sentence：I may have been caught by the“birdcage（鳥籠）effect”！

“Birdcage effect（BCE）”is one of the top ten psychological（心理的）problems thathuman beings cannot easily deal with. BCE means that when you get something one day，you will probably prepare more things to match it. There is a story behind it. One day，James， a psychologist， joked with his friend Carlson and predicted that Carlson would sure?ly raise a bird. At first， Carlson didn’t care. When James gave Carlson a birdcage on hisbirthday， friends who visited Carlson’s house believed that he had raised birds. During thatprocess， Carlson kept explaining. In the end he really bought a bird. Like Carlson， manypeople have been or are being caught in the BCE.

My friend Tinny said she wanted to buy a good pen to match a pretty notebook her sis?ter gave her. I joked that she must have been caught in the BCE. But my friend said with asmile：“Why not use the‘birdcage effect’instead？ When I have a beautiful notebook， Iwill want to buy a pen that is smooth and easy to write， and next I will want to buy a book Ilike， and then start to take notes.”

For the first time， I heard that the BCE could be used in reverse. However， this remind?ed me of my middle school days， and I seemed to have used the BCE. One day， I bought amagazine and saw the call for writings published in the magazine， so I started writing. Afterthat， I bought a beautiful notebook to record my feelings. More and more magazines ap?peared in my study， and my interest for writing increased.

How can we stop being caught in the BCE in many things and even use it？ Various“birdcages”unavoidably appear in life， but we can divide them. If it is not in line with theactual situation， it is a“negative birdcage”， so we must learn to stop losses in time. If it is a“positive birdcage”that drives us to develop upward， we can clear our goals up and encour?age ourselves to move towards our goals. At this time， we will find that the BCE is actuallynot so terrible！

跟蹤練習(xí)：

1. Why does the writer talk about Hanfu in Paragraph 1？

A. To describe her life style.

B. To explain the origin of BCE.

C. To introduce Chinese culture.

D. To show an example of the BCE.

2. The words“in reverse”in Paragraph 4 are closest in meaning to .

A. easily and smoothly

B. in a creative way

C. in the other way round

D. forward and backward

3. What can we learn from the passage？

A. The term BCE came from Carlson’s story.

B. James used the BCE to record his feelings.

C. Tinny was caught in the BCE so she bought a good pen.

D. The writer bought a book because he was caught in the BCE.

答案解析：

1.推理判斷題。根據(jù)“I matched a whole set of Hanfu. Then， ancient?style articles ap?peared in my clothes one after another. When I saw them again， I thought of a sentence：Imay have been caught by the‘birdcage（鳥籠）effect’！”可推斷出，作者在第一段談?wù)摑h服是為了展示一個(gè)“鳥籠效應(yīng)”的例子。故選D。

2. 詞義猜測題。根據(jù)“‘Birdcage effect（BCE）’is one of the top ten psychological（心理的）problems that human beings cannot easily deal with. BCE means that when youget something one day， you will probably prepare more things to match it. ”可知，“鳥籠效應(yīng)”是人類無法輕易應(yīng)對的十大心理問題之一，它表示當(dāng)你有一天得到某樣?xùn)|西時(shí)，你可能會準(zhǔn)備更多與之匹配的東西。再根據(jù)“One day， I bought a magazine and saw thecall for writings published in the magazine， so I started writing. After that， I bought a beauti?ful notebook to record my feelings. More and more magazines appeared in my study， and myinterest for writing increased.”有一天，我買了一本雜志，看到雜志上刊登了征稿，于是我開始寫作。之后，我買了一個(gè)漂亮的筆記本來記錄我的感受。越來越多的雜志出現(xiàn)在我的書房里，我對寫作的興趣也增加了。可知，作者利用這個(gè)“鳥籠效應(yīng)”，把它變成對自己有利的東西，這是一種反向激勵(lì)，in reverse和in the other way round意思相近。故選C。

3. 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“There is a story behind it. One day， James， a psychologist，joked with his friend Carlson and predicted that Carlson would surely raise a bird. At first，Carlson didn’t care. When James gave Carlson a birdcage on his birthday， friends who visit?ed Carlson’s house believed that he had raised birds.”可知，“鳥籠效應(yīng)”這個(gè)詞來自于卡爾森的故事。故選A。

難句解析：

1.When James gave Carlson a birdcage on his birthday， friends who visited Carlson’shouse believed that he had raised birds.

當(dāng)詹姆斯在卡爾森生日那天送給他一個(gè)鳥籠時(shí)，去卡爾森家做客的朋友們都相信他養(yǎng)過鳥。

本句是一個(gè)含有時(shí)間狀語從句、定語從句和賓語從句的復(fù)合句，其中“who visitedCarlson’s house”作先行詞friends 的定語從句；“that he had raised birds”作動詞be?lieved 的賓語從句。

2. If it is a“positive birdcage”that drives us to develop upward， we can clear our goalsup and encourage ourselves to move towards our goals.

如果它是一只“積極的鳥籠”，推動我們向上發(fā)展，我們可以明確我們的目標(biāo)，并鼓勵(lì)自己朝著目標(biāo)前進(jìn)。

本句是一個(gè)含有條件狀語從句、定語從句的復(fù)合句。其中“that drives us to devel?op upward”作先行詞“a‘positive birdcage’”的定語。