本文选自吴应时主编的《大学英语六级阅读真题精读——晨读伴侣》。本书对历年国家大学英语六级考试（CET-6）的仔细阅读部分进行了详尽而精准的分析、翻译和注释，对四六级考生有着事半功倍的效果，对提升整体英语能力也很有帮助。

学习导读：

心理学在当前算是发展得尤为迅速的学科，人们对心理学有着强烈的好奇，与之相伴的是较多的误解。利用心理学来掌控我们的生活，这种想法当然美好，但实际情况是怎样的，是否弄巧成拙呢？这篇文章从设定目标这个生活中很常见的情况出发，围绕着好坏两方面进行了讨论。英语文章但凡显得辩证客观的（俗称critical thinking），都要就双方的观点进行阐述和分析。

[As anyone (who has tried to lose weight 1) knows,] realistic goal-setting [generally] produces the best results. That’s [partially] because it appears people (who set realistic goals) [actually] work [more] [efficiently], and exert 2 [more] effort, [to achieve those goals]. 3

每一个试图尝试减肥的人都知道，设定实际可行的目标通常会产生最好的结果。在某种程度上，这是因为那些设定切合实际目标的人通常工作更有效率，会付出更多努力，从而实现更多目标。

注：1. lose weight 减轻体重。例：

However many experts believe that exercise does have a role to play in helping children to lose weight.

然而，许多专家认为，运动的确能有助于儿童减肥。

[选自：BBC: Link between inactivity and obesity queried]

I agree！After all, I want to lose weight not my health

我同意！毕竟我要减肥而不是减寿。

2. exert vt. 运用；发挥(威力等)；行使(职权、职责等)；产生(影响等)；施加(压力等)；尽力，施加影响等：出(大力)，使(劲)，用(力)，尽(力)，努力。例：

But there's no doubt that I can exert a profound influence on what my kids believe.

但毫无疑问，我可以对我的孩子的信仰产生深远的影响。

[选自：WSJ: Should My Son Be a Political Mini-Me?]

Its best hope is that China can exert influence over Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.

在这一点上最富希望的是：中国可以施加影响于平壤，使其回到谈判桌上来。

3. 这是一个较长的复合句，because引导表语从句至句末，it appears引导省略了that的宾语从句至句末。在该宾语从句中，含有一个who引导的定语从句修饰people。Work和exert为并列谓语，主语为people。

What’s far less 1 understood [by scientists], 2 [however], are the [potentially] (harmful) effects (of goal-setting).

然而，对于目标设定的潜在危害，科学家仍知之甚少。

注：1. far less 远不及。例：

Americans have been perfectly happy with far less wealth than most of us have now, and we could quickly become those Americans again – if only we knew we had to.

美国人民曾经在拥有比现在少得多财富的情况下非常快乐，我们也能够再次成为那样的美国人——只要我们知道我们必需快乐。

But she said officers were using the powers far less than they should be.

但她说，官员使用的权力远远少于他们拥有的权力。

[选自：BBC: You are in: UK]

2. what引导的主语从句作全句的主语。

Newspapers relay 1 [daily] accounts 2 (of goal-setting) (prevalent in industries and businesses) [up and down3 both Wall Street and Main Street], [yet] there has been [surprisingly] little research (on how the long-trumpeted 4 practice of setting goals) may have contributed5 to the current economic crisis, and unethical behavior [in general].

报纸会刊登普遍流行于华尔街和缅因街各工业和商业领域的日常目标设定的各种报道，但令人惊讶的是，很少有研究关注设定目标这种长期受人鼓吹的行为，对当前的经济危机以及不道德行为在总体上产生了怎样的影响。

注：1. relay n. 接替；替换的马；接替人员；接力赛跑

v. 分程传递，转播，使接替。本句中为动词转播意。例：

The satellite will be used mainly to relay television programmes.

这颗卫星将主要用来转播电视节目。

2. account n. 帐单；帐目；描述；说明；报道。本句中为报道。例：

He gave a detailed account of what happened on the fateful night.

他对那个决定命运的夜晚所发生的事情做了一个详细的报道。

Almost 3, 000 people have died in the government’s crackdown, according to some accounts.

据多方报道，在叙利亚政府镇压下，约有三千人丧生。

[选自：CNN: Tanks block access to western Syrian city, activist says]

3. up and down来回地，各处；到处。例：

He looked me up and down.

他开始上下打量我。

From now on we can probably expect slight fluctuations up and down, rather than longer-term trends.

从现在开始，我们或许可以期待小幅度的上下波动，而不是长期的趋势。

[选自：BBC: A tale of midsummer madness]

4. trumpet n. 喇叭，小号。例：

The guide was playing a trumpet, to let all the visitors could hear the interesting echo of the music.

这位导游正在用小喇叭演奏曲子，让大家都可以听到有趣的回音。

v. 吹喇叭，吹捧。例：

Mark, who is trumpeted as the dance talent of his generation.

马克，被吹捧为他那一代的舞蹈奇才。

But war itself is never glorious, and we must never trumpet it as such.

但战争本身决不光荣，我们决不能如此宣扬。

[选自：WSJ: Obama's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech]

5. contribute vt.捐助；捐(款)；贡献出；捐献；投(稿)；撰(稿)。例：

“I don’t think anybody wants to contribute to the extinction of a species,” she adds.“

我不认为任何人想促成一个物种的灭绝，”她补充道。

[选自：CNN: More Than We Can Chew]

The Song Dynasty contributed three great inventions to world civilization.

“宋朝”为世界文明贡献了三大发明。

“Goals are [widely] used and promoted . And yet, the same motivation (that can push people [to exert more effort]) [in a constructive 1 way] could [also] motivate people [to be more likely2 to engage in unethical behaviors],” says Maurice Schweitzer, {an associate professor at Penn’s Wharton School}.

宾西法尼亚沃顿商学院的副教授Maurice Schweitzer说：“由于目标可以产生有利影响，所以受到人们的广泛应用和追捧。这种激励能够促使人们以建设性的方式付出更多努力，然而同时，它也很可能促使人们铤而走险，实施一些不道德行为。”

注：1. constructive adj. 建设性的，确有助益的；积极的；建造的，构造上的；建设的；经过解释的；推定的；推论的。例：

What I want us to do, though, is channel our anger in a constructive way.

但是我希望我们以一种建设性的方式发泄我们的愤怒。

To create a new, more constructive and more rational culture for our national politics.

为我们的国家政策创建一种崭新的，更具建设性的，更理性的文化。

[选自：BBC: News | UK Politics | Text of the Lib Lab deal statement]

2. likely adj. 可信的；似乎有理的；(像是)可靠的；可能是真的，很可能的；可能会发生的，适合的；适当的；如所期望的，有希望的；有出息的；前途有望的,大有可能成功的。文中为可能的之意。例：

Noticing that there was likely to be trouble, the coward sneaked away.

那个胆小鬼看到有可能发生骚乱时就溜开了。

We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and was likely to cause serious offense.

因此，我们的结论是，广告是不负责任的，并有可能造成严重的犯罪行为。

[选自：CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS]

“It turns out1 there’s no economic benefit [to just having a goal] – you [just] get a psychological benefit.” Schweitzer says. “But [in many cases] goals have (economic) rewards (that make them [more] .)”

Schweitzer说：“事实证明，仅仅拥有一个目标并不能实现任何经济效益，它只会让你在心理上受益。但是在很多情况下，那些能产生经济回报的目标往往让目标本身具有激励性。”

注：1. It turns out事实证明，原来。例：

It turns out that the shoulder altered the course of human evolution by giving us survival skills we never could have imagined without it.

其实，正是肩部改变了人类的进化过程，如果没有它，我们可能无法想象出，我们能有现在这样的生存技能。

It turns out, the real birthplace of wine may be in a cave in Armenia.

原来，酒的真正发源地可能在亚美尼亚的一个山洞。

[选自：CNN: Scientists discover 'oldest' winery in Armenian cave]

A prime 1 example (Schweitzer and his colleagues cite) is the 2004 collapse 2 (of energy-trading giant Anron), (where manager used financial incentives [to motivate 3salesmen] [to meet special revenue goals].) The problem, ^Schweitzer says^, is the actual trades were not profitable.4

Schweitzer和他的同事引用一个主要的例子就是2004年能源贸易巨头安然公司的破产倒闭。在安然公司，经理们用财务奖励手段激励销售人员达到特定的销售目标。在Schweitzer看来，真正的问题在于，实际的贸易根本不盈利。

注：1.prime n.最初，初期；春天；黎明；青年；v.灌注，装填；使起动；为...装火药；在...上涂底漆；做准备；adj.最初的；基本的；原始的；原有的。例：

The water-splashing festival is perhaps the prime example of the trans-cultural nature of Xishuangbanna.

泼水节也许是西双版纳跨文化性质的最好例子。

[选自：BBC: The Dai water-splashing festival]

A prime example is…经典写作句型，务必掌握。全书最后的麦当劳宣传文案就用到了该句型。

2. collapse vi. 倒塌，崩溃；垮台。例：

The stands of the stage are going to collapse from the shouting of the crazy audience.

观众们疯狂的叫喊声都快把舞台的柱子震塌了。

n. 倒塌，崩溃；垮台。文中作名词。例：

The rainstorm caused the collapse of the roof.

暴风雨造成屋顶坍塌。

Thousands of people slept outdoors, fearing that the buildings they lived in might collapse.

数千人睡在户外，因为他们担心现在住的建筑物可能随时崩塌。

3. motivate vt. 使有动机，使产生动机；构成行为的动机，激起(行动)，促动，激发…的积极性(或学习兴趣)；使(学习等)生动有趣。例：

To motivate your people better, figure out what they want and how you can give that to them for doing what you want them to do.

更好的激励你的员工，了解他们想要什么，以及明白你为了让他们达到你想要的目的该如何去满足他们的需求。

The approach was designed to motivate people to solve problems through highly assertive exchanges.

该方法的目的是要激励人们通过高度自信的交流去解决问题。

[选自：FORBES: Most Popular]

4. is后面是表语从句，该从句又是一个主系表结构的完整句子。

Other studies have show that saddling1 employees (with unrealistic goals) can compel 2 them [to lie, cheat or steal]. Such was the case [in the early 1990s] [when Sears impose 3 a sales quota [on its auto repair staff].] It promoted employees [to overcharge 4 for work] and [to complete unnecessary repairs] 5 [on a company wide basis] 6.

其他的研究显示，把不切实际的目标强加于员工会迫使他们撒谎、欺骗甚至偷窃。典型的例子就是20世纪90年代初Sears公司为其汽车修理人员设定的销售配额。这促使其员工在工作中额外收费并且公司上下都在做一些不必要的工作。

注：1. saddle  n.鞍，马鞍；鞍状物；车座；鞍状山脊；v.给装鞍；强加；使负担；跨上马鞍。例：

We know that rising costs will saddle millions more families with unaffordable expenses.

我们知道，成本上升将强加给百万家庭一笔无法负担的花销。

[选自：WHITEHOUSE: Health Insurance Reform Right Now]

2. compel v.强迫；迫使。例：

But they almost certainly cannot compel you to unlock your phone without the involvement of a judge.

但没有法官的参与，他们几乎不能强迫你为你的手机解锁。

[选自：CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS]

3. impose vt.加(负担等)于；施加影响；征(税)；罚(款)(常与on，upon连用)；(用欺骗手段)把…硬塞给(或卖给)；骗售。例：

We fight, not to impose our will, but to defend ourselves and extend the blessings of freedom.

我们战斗，不是强加我们的意愿，而是保卫我们自己和传递自由的祝福。

City institutions have always worked behind the scenes to impose changes on company boards.

市机构一直在幕后对公司董事会强加改变。

[选自：BBC: NEWS | Business | The ITV shareholder revolt explained]

4. overcharge n. 过度充电；超载；装药过多

vt. 对……索价过高；使……过度充电

vi. 过度充电；讨价过高。文中为不及物动词，例：

“We can make sure that any entity will not illegally overcharge,” the president said.

总统说：“我们可以确保任何实体将不会非法滥收费用。”

[选自：CNN: Bush ready to release 'optimistic' energy plan]

对于词根charge，有如下词组，须掌握。

in charge of  负…的责任，主管，负责管理，在…控制 (或管理、监督、看管)之下，受…保护；受…托管。例：

No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

除了自己，没人能为我们的快乐负责。

5. 这里to overcharge for work 和to complete unnecessary repairs均为目的状语，动词不定式不能作谓语。比如help sb. [to do sth.]，to do不能作谓语，只能表示帮某人是为了干什么，所以为目的状语。

6. 可以看作地点状语，在这样一个范围之内。其实状语的种类虽如语法一篇通里面所说有十来种，但具体到句子中，因为语言的丰富多样，不一定能准确适配。关键在于自己是否理解了该语素在句子中表达了什么信息。

Schweitzer concedes 1 his research runs counter 2 to a very large body (of literature) (that commend the many benefits (of goal-setting).) Advocates (of the practice) have taken issue [with 3 his team’s use of such evidence as news account] [to support his conclusion] {that goal-setting is [widely] over-prescribed 4.}

Schweitzer坦言他的研究与大量的参考文献背道而驰，这些文件对设定目标的许多好处大加褒奖。提倡设定目标的人们对Schweitzer及其团队引用新闻报道作为证据来支持其结论的做法表示质疑，Schweitzer得出的结论是设定目标的做法被大量滥用了。

注：1. concede v.勉强；退让；承认；让步。例：

Even some defenders of the industry concede that the problem is real and potentially calamitous.

即使是工业的一些捍卫者也承认，这个问题是真实的而且是具有潜在的灾难性的。

[选自：NEWYORKER: Mastering the Machine]

2. run counter 背道而驰。例：

I sensed an odd mix of fatalism and optimism, which both run counter to my own views.

我感觉到其中掺杂着宿命情绪和乐观情绪，但与我的想法背道而驰。

That would run counter to the family tradition of investing for growth.

这将有悖于投资增长的家族传统。

[选自：ECONOMIST: Reliance Industries]

3. take issue with 与…争论；提出异议。例：

Linda doesn’t dare to take issue with her boss.

琳达不敢向她的老板提出异议。

Farmers will take issue with that, but it’s clear that the economic impact of fox hunting is pretty marginal.

农民对此存在异议，但这清楚地表明猎狐对经济的影响是相当有限的。

[选自：BBC: NEWS | UK | Wales | Business as usual after hunt ban]

4. prescribe v.规定，指定；嘱咐；开，为...开；使失效；规定，指定；给医嘱；开药方；要求。文中为开处方之意。例：

The new study should lead obstetricians to prescribe it more often, some experts said.

有专家表示：这项新的研究将会让产科医生更频繁地开这种药。

[选自：MSN: Morning sickness drug shown safe for babies]

[In a rebuttal paper], Dr Edwin Locke writes: “goal-setting is [not] going away 1. Organizations cannot thrive [without being focus on their desired end results] [any more than individual can thrive [without goals to provide sense of purpose].]”

在一篇反驳论文里，Edwin Locke 博士写道：“设定目标并没有过时。各机构如果不能集中精力于他们所渴望的终极目标，那么他们就不能繁荣发展；就像一个人如果没有目标就会停滞不前一样。”

注：1. go away走开，离开，(带某人、某物)逃走；私奔，过时。例

I hoped it would go away.

我希望这种感觉会离去。

There was no guarantee that the topic of Obama's birth would simply go away.

不能保证关于奥巴马的出身的话题会简简单单就成为过去。

[选自：MSN: Analysis: Obama had no choice in 'birther' fight]

But Schweitzer contends1 the “mounting2 causal evidence” (linking goal-setting and harmful behavior) should be studied to help spotlight 3 issues (that merit 4caution and further investigation.) “Even a few negative effect could be so large that they overweight 5 many positive effect,” he says.

但是Schweitzer认为人们应该研究那些表明目标设定和有害行为有联系的“越来越多的偶然性证据”，以便使公众注意到那些值得谨慎对待和深入研究的问题。他说：“甚至少有的几点不利影响也可能压倒众多的积极影响。”

注：1. contend v.奋斗，竞争，斗争；为...斗争；坚决主张，声称。例：

Proponents contend the additional area is needed for new and advanced weaponry and maintaining combat readiness.

支持者主张有必要为全新而先进的武器装备准备额外的区域并保持作战准备。

[选自：CNN: Scoop: The Military Wants More Wild Blue Yonder]

2. mount n.可乘骑的东西；炮架；底座；山峰； v.登上，爬上；骑上；给备马；增长, 上升；安装；镶嵌。例：

But others were skeptical that hackers could use the information to mount an attack.

但也有人对此持怀疑态度：黑客可以利用这些信息来挂载攻击。

[选自：BBC: Unweaving the world wide web]

3. spotlight vt. 聚光照明；使公众注意。例：

Mr. Moriah said Verint's video analytics can spotlight suspicious activities automatically, as they happen.

莫里亚说威瑞特的视频分析可以自动聚焦发生的可疑活动。

[选自：WSJ: Software Finds Place in Posse]

4. merit n.优点，价值，功绩；

v. 值得，应受，应受。文中此意，因为that所代为issues，所以merit无需用第三人称单数，后面的further也同样不需要加s。例：

Is the presence of well-regarded street art enough to merit the preservation of a building?

有备受推崇的街头艺术的建筑物是否足以值得保护？

[选自：BBC: Urban art attracts tourists]

5. overweight adj.超重的，过重的；

n. 超重；

vt. 使负担过重，文中作动词。例

He overweights himself with huge muscles.

他肥胖的身躯令他行动不便。

[选自：21世纪大英汉词典]

“Goal-setting does help coordinate and motivate people. My idea would be to combine 1 that with careful oversight, a strong organizational culture 2, and make sure the goals (that you use) are going to be constructive and [not] [significantly] harm the organization, 3” Schweitzer says.

Schweitzer说：“目标设定确实有助于协调和激励人们。我主张将它与周密的监管及其强有力的组织文化结合。同时要确保你的目标富有建设性，不会给组织造成严重危害。”

注：1. combine vt. 使结合；使联合，使混合；合并。例：

These devices then combine hydrogen and oxygen to make water and liberate electricity in the process.

这些装置在结合氢气和氧气的过程中，产生水并释放电能。

[选自：MSN: A dream of a hydrogen economy]

Education must be combined with productive labor.

教育必须与生产劳动相结合。

combine with与...结合；兼具  例：

We must combine theory with practice.

我们必须学会理论联系实际。

2. to combine that with careful oversight, a strong organizational culture整体作表语，to combine作为动词不定式，不能作谓语，该表语中，可以理解为combine that with culture，即将这个与文化相结合，这个相结合就是my idea了。

3. make sure后面接省略了that的宾语从句，在该从句中，the goals做主语，句子主干是the goals are constructive and not harm the organization.