Close your eyes and think of someone who has hurt you. The offence may be severe or small but deeply painful. He may be a stranger — the driver who caused your accident or someone who took your child. More likely, it is someone close and trusted. It may even be yourself.
Let all the anger and hurt you feel for that wrongdoer gradually come to the surface. Feel your heart beating quickly, your stomach churning (翻腾) and your thoughts racing in dark directions. OK, stop. Now, forgive the offender. Don’t just remember the bitterness, but wish him well and move on — whether he is sorry or not.
Many researchers think forgiveness may be medicine for the body. They have shown that “forgiveness interventions (介入)” — often just a couple of short sessions in which the wounded are guided towards positive feelings for an offender — can reduce pain and depression and increase quality of life among the very ill.
Like proper nutrition and exercise, forgiveness appears to be a behaviour that a patient can learn, exercise and repeat as needed to prevent disease and preserve health. But the new science worries many in mental health who fear that traumatised (精神受创伤的) patients face pressure to forgive when their desire to do so is not fully developed.
While much of the early work on forgiveness has focused on forgiveness of others, scientists are turning up evidence that forgiving oneself may have a more powerful effect on overall health. “Sometimes people hurt us, and we move on, and it might fade,” says Loren Toussaint, a psychologist who with colleagues was the first to establish a long-term link between people’s health and their likeliness to forgive. However, Dr. Toussaint has been surprised to learn that those who hold onto self-blame may suffer more. As he says, “The human mind is sometimes an instrument of suffering.”
68. The first paragraph mainly wants to tell readers that ______.
A. it’s easy for us to remember who has hurt us B. we may be hurt by any person
C. any offence is deeply painful D. to forgive others is to forgive ourselves
69. What does the underlined word “so” in the fourth paragraph refer to?
A. Forgiveness. B. Treatment. C. Health preservation. D. Pain reduction.
70. According to Dr. Toussaint, which of the following may be the most useful thing for our health?
A. Self-blame. B. Forgiving others. C. Showing anger. D. Forgiving ourselves.
71. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Happiness keeps you away from diseases B. Learn to treat yourself well
C. Forgive — and forget the doctor D. How to forgive others