Unit 1
Text A Emotion's Role in Decision Making
David Brooks
Revolutions in our understanding of ourselves begin in the oddest ways.One of the breakthroughs that helped us understand the interplay between emotion and decision-making began with a man named Elliot,whose story has become one of the most famous in the world of brain research.Elliot had suffered damage to the frontal lobes of his brain as the result of a tumor.Elliot was intelligent,well-informed,and diplomatic.He possessed an attractively wry view of the world.But,after surgery,Elliot began to have trouble managing his day.Whenever he tried to accomplish something,he'd ignore the most important parts of the task and get sidetracked by trivial distractions.At work he'd set out to file some reports,but then would just sit down and start reading them.He'd spend an entire day trying to decide on a filing system.He'd spend hours deciding where to have lunch,and still couldn't settle on a place.He made foolish investments that cost him his life savings.He divorced his wife,married a woman his family disapproved of,and quickly divorced again.In short,he was incapable of making sensible choices.
Elliot went to see a scientist named Antonio Damasio,who evaluated him with a battery of tests.They showed that Elliot had a superior IQ.He had an excellent memory for numbers and geometric designs and was proficient at making estimates based upon incomplete information.But in the many hours of conversation Damasio had with Elliot,he noticed that the man never showed any emotion.He could recount the tragedy that had befallen his life without the slightest tinge of sadness.
Damasio showed Elliot gory and traumatic images from earthquakes,fires,accidents,and floods.Elliot understood how he was supposed to respond emotionally to these images.He just didn't actually feel anything.Damasio began to investigate whether Elliot's reduced emotions played a role in his decision-making failures.
A series of further tests showed that Elliot understood how to imagine different options when making a decision.He was able to understand conflicts between two moral imperatives.He could prepare himself to make a choice between a complex range of possibilities.
What Elliot couldn't do was actually to make the choice.He was incapable of assigning value to different options.As Damasio put it,"his decision-making landscape[was]hopelessly flat."
Another of Damasio's research subjects illustrated the same phenomenon in stark form.This middle-aged man,who had also lost his emotional functions through a brain injury,was finishing an interview session in Damasio's office,and Damasio suggested two alternative dates for their next meeting.The man pulled out his datebook and began listing the pros and cons of each option.For the better part of half an hour,he went on and on,listing possible conflicts,potential weather conditions on the two days in question,the proximity of other appointments."It took enormous discipline to listen to all this without pounding the table and telling him to stop,"Damasio wrote.But he and his fellow researchers just stood there watching.Finally Damasio interrupted the man's musings and just assigned him a date to return.Without a pause,the man said,"That's fine"and went away.
"This behavior is a good example of the limits of pure reason,"Damasio writes in his book Descartes'Error:Emotion,Reason,and the Human Brain.It's an example of how lack of emotion leads to self-destructive and dangerous behavior.People who lack emotion don't lead well-planned logical lives in the manner of coolly rational Mr.Spock's.They lead foolish lives.In the extreme cases,they become sociopaths,untroubled by barbarism and unable to feel other people's pain.
Out of these and other experiences Damasio developed a theory,which he called the"somatic marker hypothesis,"on the role of emotion in human cognition.Parts of the theory are disputed—scientists differ about how much the brain and the body interact—but his key point is that emotions measure the value of something,and help unconsciously guide us as we navigate through life—away from things that are likely to lead to pain and toward things that are likely to lead to fulfillment."Somatic markers do not deliberate for us.They assist the deliberation by highlighting some options(either dangerous or favorable),and eliminating them rapidly from subsequent consideration.You may think of it as a system for automated qualification of prediction,which acts,whether you want it or not,to evaluate the extremely diverse scenarios of the anticipated future before you.Think of it as a biasing device."
As we go about our day,we are bombarded with millions of stimuli—a buzzing,blooming confusion of sounds,sights,smells,and motions.And yet amidst all this pyrotechnic chaos,different parts of the brain and body interact to form an Emotional Positioning System(EPS).Like the Global Positioning System that might be in your car,the EPS senses your current situation and compares it to the vast body of data it has stored in its memory.It reaches certain judgments about whether the course you are on will produce good or bad outcomes,and then it coats each person,place,or circumstance with an emotion(fear or excitement,admiration or repugnance)and an implied reaction("Smile"or"Don't smile";"Approach"or"Get away")that helps us navigate our days.
Let's say someone touches your hand across a restaurant table.Instantly,the mind is searching the memory banks for similar events.Maybe there was a scene in Casablanca when Humphrey Bogart touched Ingrid Bergman's hand.Maybe there was a date in high school long ago.There was a distant memory of Mom,reaching across and holding hands with you during a childhood visit to McDonald's.
The mind is sorting and coding.The body is responding.The heart speeds.Adrenaline rises.A smile opens up.Signals are flowing from body and brain and back again in quick intricate loops.The brain is not separate from the body—that was Descartes'error.The physical and the mental are connected in complex networks of reaction and counter-reactions,and out of their feedback an emotional value emerges.Already the touch of the hand has been coated with meaning—something good,something delicious.
An instant later,a different set of loops open.This is the higher set of feedback routes between the evolutionarily older parts of the brain and the newer,more modern parts such as the prefrontal cortex.This set of information flow is slower,but more refined.It can take the reactions that have already been made by the first system and make finer distinctions among them.("This hand reaching to touch me across the table is not quite like my mother's hand.It's more like the hand of other people I wanted to have sex with.")It can also flash warnings that lead to intelligent restraint.("I'm so happy right now I want to pick up this hand and start kissing it,but I've got these other memories of freaking people out when I do things like that.")
Even through much of this stage there is still no conscious awareness,argues Joseph LeDoux,another prominent researcher in these vineyards.The touch of the hand has been felt and refelt,sorted and resorted.The body has reacted,plans have been hatched,reactions prepared,and all this complex activity has happened under the surface of awareness and in the blink of an eye.And this process happens not only on a date,with the touch of a hand.It happens at the supermarket when you scan an array of cereal boxes.It happens at the jobs fair when you look over different career options.The Emotional Positioning System is coating each possibility with emotional value.
Eventually,at the end of these complex feedbacks,a desire bursts into consciousness—a desire to choose that cereal or seek that job,or to squeeze the hand,to touch this person,to be with this person forever.The emotion emerges from the deep.It may not be a brilliant impulse;emotion sometimes leads us astray and sometimes leads us wisely.And it doesn't control.It can be overridden,but it propels and guides.As LeDoux writes,"The brain states and bodily responses are the fundamental facts of an emotion,and the conscious feelings are the frills that have added icing to the emotional cake".
Notes to the Text
1.About the Author
David Brooks writes an op-ed column[（北美报纸的）专栏版（与社论版相对）]for The New York Times.Previously，he has been a senior editor at The Weekly Standard，a contributing editor at Newsweek and The Atlantic Monthly，and an op-ed editor at The Wall Street Journal.He is currently a commentator on PBS News Hour and contributes regularly to Meet the Press and NPR's All Things Considered.He is the author of Bobos in Paradise：The New Upper Class and How They Got There and On Paradise Drive：How We Live Now（And Always Have）in the Future Tense.His articles have appeared in The New Yorker，The New York Times Magazine，Forbes，The Washington Post，The Times Literary Supplement，Commentary，The Public Interest，and many other magazines.David Brooks lives in Maryland.And this text is an excerpt taken from The Social Animal：The Hidden Sarces of Love，Character and Achievement.
2.Mr.Spock
He is a character from the US television program Star Trek.Mr.Spock is a man from an imaginary planet called Vulcan,who has pointed ears and is always completely logical,so that his ideas and decisions are based only on facts,not on emotions.He thinks in a very logical way and does not show or understand normal human emotions.He is also known for saying to his commander,Captain James Kirk,"It's life,Jim,but not as we know it".
Words and Expressions
accomplish[əˈkʌmplɪʃ]v. to succeed in doing or completing sth成就，完成，贯彻（计划等），达到（目的）；实行
adrenaline[əˈdrenəlɪn]n. [U]a substance produced in the body when you are excited，afraid or angry，making the heart beat faster and increases your energy and ability to move quickly 肾上腺素
alternative[ɒˈtɜːnətɪv]adj. that can be used instead of sth else 可供选择的，可供替代的
battery[ˈbætrɪ]n. （of）a large number of 一系列，一批，一群
befall[bɪˈfɔːl]v. （befell，befallen）（used only in the third person）（literary）（of sth unpleasant）to happen to sb（仅用于第三人称）（令人不快的事情）降临到（某人）头上；发生在（某人）身上
bias[ˈbaɪəs]v. to unfairly influence sb's opinions or decisions使有偏见；使偏心；使偏向
cortex[ˈkɔːteks]n. （pl.-tices）（anatomy）the outer layer of an organ in the body，especially the brain 外皮；[解剖学]皮质，皮层
deliberate[dɪˈlɪbərət]v. to think very carefully about sth，usually before making a decision仔细考虑；深思熟虑；反复思考
diplomatic[dɪpləˈmætɪk]adj. having or showing skills in dealing with people in difficult situations有外交手腕的；策略的；圆滑的；老练的
distraction[dɪˈstrækʃn]n. a thing that takes your attention away from what you are doing or thinking about 使人分心的事情
eliminate[ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt]v. to remove or get rid of sth/sb 排除；清除；消除
evolutionary[iːvəˈluːʃənrɪ]n. connected with evolution；connected with gradual development and change 发展的；进化（论）的；展开的
file[faɪl]v. to present sth so that it can be officially recorded and dealt with提起，提出
frontal[ˈfrʌntl]adj. （medical）connected with the front part of the head[医]前额的
gory[ˈɡɔːrɪ]adj. involving a lot of blood or violence；showing or describing blood and violence 血淋淋的；残暴的；描述流血和暴力的
hatch[hætʃ]v. to create a plan or idea，especially in secret 策划；（尤指）密谋
highlight[ˈhaɪlaɪt]v. to emphasize sth so that more attention is given 突出；强调
imperative[ɪmˈperətɪv]n. （fml.）a thing that is very important and needs immediate attention or action 重要紧急的事情；必要的事
intricate[ˈɪntrɪkət]adj. having a lot of different parts and small details that fit together错综的，复杂的
lack[læk]vt. （no passive）to have none or not enough of sth 缺少；缺乏
lobe[ləʊb]n. a part of an organ in the body，especially the lungs or brain，frontal lobe 大脑额叶
loop[luːp]n. a shape like a curve or a circle made by a line curving back towards itself，or a piece of wire，string etc.that has this shape（用线、带等打成的）圈，环，匝，框，环孔，线圈
muse[mjuːz]v. to think carefully about sth for some time，ignoring what is happening around 沉思，默想
navigate[ˈnævɪɡeɪt]v. to find the right way to deal with a difficult or complicated situation找到正确方法（对付复杂困难的情况）
override[əʊvəˈraɪd]v. to use your power or authority to change someone else's decision制服，压倒；推翻（决议）
proficient[prəˈfɪʃnt]adj. （in/at sth）able to do sth well because of training and practice熟练的；娴熟的；精通的；训练有素的
proximity[prɒkˈsɪmətɪ]n. （fml.）the state of being near sb/sth in distance or time（时间或空间）接近，靠近，临近
pyrotechnic[paɪrəˈteknɪk]adj. spectacular and usually highly emotional令人眼花缭乱的；引起轰动的
recount[rɪˈkaʊnt]v. （fml.）to tell sb about sth，especially sth that you have experienced讲述，叙述（亲身经历）
refined[rɪˈfaɪnd]adj. （of a substance）made pure by having other substances taken out of it精炼的，精制的
restraint[rɪˈstreɪnt]n. the act of controlling or limiting sth because it is necessary or sensible to do so 克制，抑制
sociopath[ˈsəʊsɪəʊpæθ]n. a person who has a mental illness and who behaves in an aggressive or dangerous way towards other people（因心理障碍而有攻击或伤害他人行为的）反社会者
somatic[səʊˈmætɪk]adj. of，relating to，or affecting the body 身体的；肉体的
stark[stɑːk]adj. （only before noun）complete and total 完全的，十足的
subsequent[ˈsʌbsɪkwənt]adj. （fml.）happening or coming after sth else随后的；后来的；之后的；接后的
tinge[tɪndʒ]n. （usually sing.）a small amount of a colour，feeling or quality微量，少许，一丝，几分（颜色，情感或性质）
traumatic[trɔːˈmætɪk]adj. extremely unpleasant and causing you to feel upset and/or anxious痛苦的；极不愉快的
trivial[ˈtrɪvɪəl]adj. not important or serious；not worth considering不重要的；琐碎的；微不足道的
wry[raɪ]adj. amusing in a way that shows irony 挖苦的；揶揄的；讽刺的
Exercises
I.Read the text carefully and answer the following questions.
1.Why does the author say that the revolutions in our understanding of ourselves begin in the oddest ways?
2.What is wrong with Elliot after his surgery?
3.What is the relationship between one's IQ value and his or her emotion?
4.What does the author mean by pointing out that the second case illustrated the same phenomenon in stark form?
5.What is the somatic marker hypothesis mainly about?
6.What does the Emotional Positioning System do for us in our daily life?
7.Why does the author argue that the brain is not separate from the body?
8.What does the sentence"the emotion emerges from the deep"(the last para.)mean?
II.Paraphrase.
1.Whenever he tried to accomplish something,he'd ignore the most important parts of the task and get sidetracked by trivial distractions.
2.He had an excellent memory for numbers and geometric designs and was proficient at making estimates based on incomplete information.
3.He could recount the tragedy that had befallen his life without the slightest tinge of sadness.
4.He was incapable of assigning value to different options.
5.It took enormous discipline to listen to all this without pounding the table and telling him to stop.
6.In the extreme cases,they become sociopaths,untroubled by barbarism and unable to feel other people's pain.
7.The Emotional Positioning System is coating each possibility with emotional value.
8.It can be overridden,but it propels and guides.
III.Multiple choice.
1.Good health insurance will cover whatever illness____________you.
A.falls B.befalls C.dwells D.encounters
2.She worked hard all morning without____________.
A.trouble B.interrupt C.distraction D.sidetrack
3.There are many____________sources of nutrition to animal meat.
A.replace B.supplant C.alternate D.alternative
4.Some people believe that odors and fragrances affect the body and mind and are____________of healing anxiety,stress,and other sources of disease.
A.capable B.able C.efficacious D.effective
5.In order to be successful as an engineer,she had to become____________at math.
A.proficient B.outstanding C.prominent D.experienced
6.Although the body is made up of many different tissues,these tissues are arranged in an____________and orderly fashion.
A.initial B.internal C.intricate D.incredible
7.Sea mammals must periodically____________from under the sea to breathe.
A.emerge B.appear C.dive D.plunge
8.I don't think it is a____________option for a football player to contradict the referee in a football match.
A.sensitive B.sensual C.sensuous D.sensible
9.Military orders are____________and cannot be disobeyed.
A.effective B.defective C.alternative D.imperative
10.In your first days at the school you will be given a test to help the teachers to____________to a class at your level.
A.locate B.assign C.deliver D.place
11.There are five____________mistakes in this picture.Can you find them and win a prize?
A.intensive B.deliberate C.planned D.calculated
12.At first the company refused to purchase the equipment,but their decision was____________revised.
A.subsequently B.successively C.predominantly D.preliminarily
13.The office has to be shut down____________funds.
A.being lack of B.for lack of C.to a lack of D.being a lack of
14.She may be____________experience,but she learns quickly.
A.lacking B.lacking in C.in need for D.in lack of
15.The doctors don't____________that the patient will live much longer.
A.monitor B.predict C.anticipate D.articulate
IV.Fill in the blanks with appropriate words.The first letter of each word has been given.
1.I had read somewhere that all the greatest discoveries had been made in the b________of an eye.
2.The textbooks should bring out the d________between primary and secondary levels.
3.She was r________and elegant in an imported evening gown.
4.On the whole,good d________relations will be helpful to the development of international trade.
5.People who had bought"cruelty free"cosmetics,not tested on animals,also stood out:77 per cent of themd________of animal experiments.
6.A detective novel usually has an i________plot.
7.The competent secretary was a________to take the minutes for the meeting of the board of directors.
8.It is absolutely i________that the whole international community work together to stop polluting the earth.
9.Most countries in Europe were in a mess during the period s________to World War II.
10.Her family background b________her against businessmen.
11.All eggs look s________,but no two are identical.
12.He urged the millions of protesters to exercise r________.
V.Translation.
Section A Translate the following sentences into Chinese.
1.One of the breakthroughs that helped us understand the interplay between emotion and decision making began with a man named Elliot,whose story has become one of the most famous in the world of brain research.
2.He had an excellent memory for numbers and geometric designs and was proficient at making estimates based upon incomplete information.
3.Damasio began to investigate whether Elliot's reduced emotions played a role in his decision-making failures.
4.There are many alternative sources of nutrition to animal meat.
5.You may think of it as a system for automated qualification of prediction,which acts,whether you want it or not,to evaluate the extremely diverse scenarios of the anticipated future before you.
6.Like the Global Positioning System that might be in your car,the EPS senses your current situation and compares it to the vast body of data it has stored in its memory.
7.It reaches certain judgments about whether the course you are on will produce good or bad outcomes,and then it coats each person,place,or circumstance with an emotion(fear or excitement,admiration or repugnance)and an implied reaction("Smile"or"Don't smile";"Approach"or"Get away")that helps us navigate our days.
8.The physical and the mental are connected in complex networks of reaction and counter-reactions,and out of their feedback an emotional value emerges.
9.It can also flash warnings that lead to intelligent restraint.
10.The body has reacted,plans have been hatched,reactions prepared,and all this complex activity has happened under the surface of awareness and in the blink of an eye.
Section B Translate the following sentences into English.
1.妈妈担心他会被损友引入歧途。（lead somebody astray）
2.艾略特的父母不赞同他的婚事。（disapprove）
3.旅程花了他大半个小时。（the better part of）
4.陪审团认真讨论了五天才裁定他有罪。（deliberate）
5.他们仔细考虑了是否继续谈判的问题。（deliberate）
6.你给孩子起好名字了吗？（settle on）
7.你有其他的解决方案吗？（alternative）
8.我一看见蛇就浑身发麻。（freak）
9.很多埃及人会说几门外语。（proficient）
10.他送给她太多她不需要的鲜花和求爱信。（bombard）
11.虽然战争在即，人们照常忙着自己的事情。（go about）
12.iPhone 5发布之后，苹果公司收到大量有关地图应用程序的投诉电话。（bombard）
VI.Cloze.Fill in each of the following blanks with one suitable word from the box.Change its form if necessary.
organize emotion process value choice basis
associative signal sensitive dependent separate reaction
control accurate infinite accumulate complicated respond
This understanding of decision making leads to some essential truths.Reason and[1]are not[2]or opposed.Reason is nestled upon emotion and[3]upon it.Emotion assigns[4]to things,and reason can only make[5]on the[6]of those valuations.Further,the mind or the self is no one thing.The mind is a blindingly[7]series of parallel processes.There is no captain sitting in a cockpit making decisions.The brain looks like an ecosystem,a fantastically complex[8]network of firings,patterns,[9],and sensations all communicating with and[10]to different parts of the brain and all competing for a piece of[11]over the organism.
We are primarily wanderers,not decision makers.In fact,it is more[12]to say that we are pilgrims in a social landscape.We wander across an environment of people and possibilities.As we wander,the mind makes an[13]number of value judgments,which[14]to form goals,ambitions,dreams,desires,and ways of doing things.The key to a well-lived life is to have trained the emotions to send the right[15]and to be[16]to their subtle calls.
All information[17]is emotional in that emotion is the energy that drives,[18],amplifies and attenuates cognitive activity and in turn is the experience and expression of this activity.
VII.Writing.Read the following excerpt and then write a composition.
Making decisions is something we all struggle with.We worry that we need more time to think things through,or that we need more information,or that we will simply make the wrong decision regardless.But inaction gets you nowhere.Even a bad decision can teach us something valuable.
Adapted from Alicia Smith
Is making a bad decision better than making no decision at all?Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue.Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading,studies,experience,or observations.