I was attending a party one night given in Sir Ross's honor. During the dinner, the man sitting next to me told a humorous story and spoke of the quotation:“There's a divinity(神)that shapes our ends, /Rough-hew them how we will. ”
The storyteller mentioned that the quotation was from the Bible. He was wrong. I knew that; I knew it positively. There couldn't be the slightest doubt about it. And so, to get a feeling of importance and show my high quality, I chose myself as an unwelcome person to correct him. He stuck to his guns. “What? From Shakespeare? Impossible! Absurd ! That quotation was from the Bible. ”
The storyteller was sitting at my right hand, and Frank Gammond, an old friend of mine, was seated at my left hand. Mr. Gammond had devoted years to the study of Shakespeare, so the storyteller and I agreed to leave the question to Mr. Gammond. Mr. Gammond listened, kicked me under the table, and then said ,“Dale, you are wrong. The gentleman is right. It is from the Bible. ”
On our way home that night, I said to Mr. Gammond,“Frank, you knew that quotation was from Shakespeare. ”
“Yes, of course,”he replied. “Hamlet, Act V, Scene 2. But we were guests on a festive occasion, my dear Dale. Why prove to a man he is wrong? Is that going to make him like you? Why not let him save his face? He didn't ask for your opinion. He didn't want it. Why argue with him?”The man who said that taught me a lesson I would never forget. I not only had made the storyteller uncomfortable, but had put my friend in an embarrassing situation. How much better it would have been if I hadn't become argumentative.
Nine times out of ten, an argument ends with each of the contestants(竞争者)more firmly convinced than ever that he is absolutely right. You can't win an argument. You can't because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it.
【小题1】At the party, the author tried to get a feeling of importance by ___________ .
A.telling a humorous story |
B.showing off his rich knowledge |
C.teaching the storyteller a lesson |
D.correcting the storyteller's mistake |
【小题2】The underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 means that ___________ .
A.he realized he was wrong |
B.he didn't change his mind |
C.he felt sorry for what he said |
D.he wanted to fight with the author |
【小题3】What do we learn about Frank Gammond?
A.He was very humorous. |
B.He was very thoughtful. |
C.He knew much about the Bible. |
D.He didn't know much about Shakespeare. |
【小题4】What does the author learn from his friend Gammond?
A.Having an open mind. |
B.Respecting others opinion. |
C.Never getting into an argument. |
D.Avoiding making mistakes in public. |