BBC随身英语: What’s a narcissist like?

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　　自恋者对自身重要性的错觉和缺乏 “羞耻感” 的特征可能会让你恼火，但心理学家在经过研究后说自恋者可能比大多数人更快乐。本期 “随身英语” 围绕表明这种性格特征好处的研究展开讨论。

　　Vocabulary: personalities 词汇:性格

　　It takes all sorts to make a world – so some say. Nobody is the same, and our different personalities and character traits make us what we are. Wouldn’t it be boring if we were all the same? But if someone doesn’t behave or think like you, it can be frustrating. And there’s one personality type that can be very difficult to deal with - narcissism.

　　Narcissists consider themselves the most important person. They’re only interested in their own life, without a care in the world about the people around them. Their lack of empathy makes them come across as arrogant and self-important. If you know someone like this, their narcissistic attitudes might irritate you. But you might find it even more irritating to know that, according to new research, they are likely to be happier than other people.

　　An ongoing study of narcissism by researchers at Queen's University Belfast has found such people might infuriate others but are less likely to be stressed or depressed. Writing about the research, the BBC’s Sean Coughlan says “They might have trampled over others and left a trail of emotional damage around them - but narcissists also seem to be insulated against feeling bad about themselves.” And their heightened sense of self-importance appears to give them "protective" qualities.

　　Researchers have been trying to understand why narcissism appears to be more prevalent in areas such as politics, social media and celebrity culture and why narcissists' shameless, over-confident attitude seems to be rewarded rather than penalised. It does seem that they have the best of all worlds, which is not great news for shrinking violets. And there’s more bad news for those who are shy and retiring: previous research by Queen’s University has also found that a ‘mental toughness’ helps narcissists succeed at work and in their social lives because they can overcome rejection and disappointment. And other tests have found that narcissistic students do better in exams, not because they are more clever, but because of their confidence and assertiveness.

　　But psychologist Dr Kostas Papageorgiou from the research team argues that these personality traits should not be seen as "either good or bad" but as "products of evolution" and "expressions of human nature". So, at the end of the day, we are what we are, and that’s just something we can’t change.

　　词汇表

　　it takes all sorts to make a world 世界之大，无奇不有

　　character trait 性格特征

　　narcissism 自恋，自我陶醉

　　narcissist 自我陶醉者，自恋者

　　without a care in the world 无忧无虑

　　empathy 同理心

　　arrogant 傲慢的，趾高气扬的

　　self-important 高傲自大的

　　infuriate 使大怒

　　stressed 焦虑的，紧张的

　　depressed 抑郁的，消沉的

　　emotional damage 情感伤害

　　heightened 加强的

　　shameless 无耻的

　　over-confident 过分自信的

　　shrinking violet 腼腆的人，害羞的人

　　retiring 不爱与人交往的，孤僻的

　　evolution 进化

　　测验与练习

　　1.  阅读课文并回答问题。

　　1. From the viewpoint of a narcissist, who is the most important person?

　　2. According to research, how stressed or depressed is a narcissist compared with other people?

　　3. True or false? Narcissists get rejected and disappointed at work because of their self-importance.

　　4. Why might narcissistic students do better in exams?

　　5. Which word in the text means ‘happening often/very common’?

　　2.请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

　　1. My brother is so _______. He never listens to my opinion and does what he wants.

　　narcissism                arrogant                      empathy                   depressed

　　2. Some of my friends like to swim in ice cold water for fun! Well, it takes _______.

　　all worlds to make a sort    all sort to make a world

　　all sorts to make a world    all sorts to make a worlds

　　3. Jane is _______ - she took all the glory for winning the race even though she cheated!

　　shameless                self-important             depressed                 retiring

　　4. My friend is no _______ - whenever we go to a karaoke bar, she’s the first to get up and sing!

　　shrink violet              shrinking violets          shrinked violet          shrinking violet

　　5. The train company’s lack of information about the delays started to _______ the passengers.

　　arrogant                    infuriate                       depress                    heightened sense

　　答案

　　1.  阅读课文并回答问题。  

　　1. From the viewpoint of a narcissist, who is the most important person?

　　Narcissists consider themselves the most important person.

　　2. According to research, how stressed or depressed is a narcissist compared with other people?

　　An ongoing study of narcissism by researchers at Queen's University Belfast has found narcissists are less likely to be stressed or depressed.

　　3. True or false? Narcissists get rejected and disappointed at work because of their self-importance.

　　False. Research by Queen’s University has also found that a ‘mental toughness’ helps narcissists succeed at work and in their social lives because they can overcome rejection and disappointment.

　　4. Why might narcissistic students do better in exams?

　　Tests have found that narcissistic students do better in exams, not because they are more clever, but because of their confidence and assertiveness.

　　5. Which word in the text means ‘happening often/very common’?

　　Prevalent. (“Researchers have been trying to understand why narcissism appears to be more prevalent in areas such as politics, social media and celebrity culture.”)

　　2.请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

　　1. My brother is so arrogant. He never listens to my opinion and does what he wants.

　　2. Some of my friends like to swim in ice cold water for fun! Well, It takes all sorts to make a world.

　　3. Jane is shameless - she took all the glory for winning the race even though she cheated!

　　4. My friend is no shrinking violet - whenever we go to a karaoke bar, she’s the first to get up and sing!

　　5. The train company’s lack of information about the delays started to infuriate the passengers.

　　实习编辑：姚依明

　　责任编辑：潘程