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In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh(法老) treated the poor message runner like a prince when he arrived at the palace, if he brought good news. However, if the exhausted runner had the misfortune to bring the pharaoh unhappy news, his head was cut off.
Shades of that spirit spread over today’s conversations. Once a friend and I packed up some peanut butter and sandwiches for an outing. As we walked light-heartedly out the door, picnic basket in hand, a smiling neighbor looked up at the sky and said, “Oh boy, bad day for a picnic. The weatherman says it’s going to rain.” I wanted to strike him on the face with the peanut butter and sandwiches. Not for his stupid weather report, for his smile.
Several months ago I was racing to catch a bus. As I breathlessly put my handful of cash across the Greyhound counter, the sales agent said with a broad smile. “Oh that bus left five minutes ago.” Dreams of head cutting!
It’s not the news that makes someone angry. It’s the unsympathetic attitude with which it’s delivered. Everyone must give bad news from time to time, and winning professionals did it with the proper attitude. A doctor advising a patient that she needs an operation does it in a caring way. A boss informing an employee he didn’t get the job takes on a sympathetic tone. Big winners know, when delivering any bad news they should share the feeling of the receiver.
Unfortunately, many people are not aware of this. When you’re tired from a long flight, has a hotel clerk cheerfully said that your room isn’t ready yet? When you had your heart set on the toast beef, has your waiter merrily told you that he just served the last piece? It makes you as traveler or dinner want to land your first fight on their unsympathetic faces.
Had my neighbor told me of the upcoming rainstorm with sympathy, I would have appreciated his warning. Had the Greyhound salesclerk sympathetically informed me that my bus had already left, I probably would have said, “Oh, that’s all right. I’ll catch the next one.” Big winners, when they bear bad news, deliver bombs with the emotion the bombarded(被轰炸的) person is sure to have.
53. In Paragraph 1, the writer tells the story of the pharaoh to ________.
A. make a comparison
B. introduce a topic
C. describe a scene
D. offer an argument
54. In the writer’s opinion, his neighbor was ________.
A. friendly B. warm-hearted
C. not considerate D. not helpful
55. From “Dreams of head-cutting!” (Paragraph 3), we learn that the writer ________.
A. was mad at the sales agent
B. was reminded of the cruel pharaoh
C. wished that the sales agent would have had dreams
D. dreamed of cutting the sales agent’s head that night
56. What is the main idea of the text?
A. Delivering bad news properly is important in communication.
B. Helping others sincerely is the key to business success.
C. Receiving bad news requires great courage.
D. Learning ancient traditions can be useful.
