Rejection therapy

广东 王永幸

When I was six years old,my first grade teacher had this brilliant idea.She wanted us to experience receiving gifts but also learning the virtue of complimenting（赞美）each other.So she bought all of us gifts and put them in the corner.She had all of us come to the front of the classroom and compliment each other. If we heard our name called, we could go and pick up our gift and sit down.

Well,there were 40 of us to start with,and every time I heard someone's name called,I would give out the heartiest cheer. However, there were three kids left. And I was one of them. Then the compliments stopped. Well, at that moment, I was crying. And the teacher said,“OK,why don't you go to get your gift and sit down?So behave well next year—some⁃one might say something nice about you.”So embarrassed was I that I would die to avoid being rejected in public again.

Unfortunately,this fear even remained after I started my own company.At that time,I was presented with an investment opportunity,and then I was turned down.And that rejec⁃tion hurt me once again.

So this is where I went online and looked for help.Then I found this website,called re⁃jectiontherapy.com.Basically the idea is that you go out and look for rejection, and ev⁃ery time you get rejected at something,you become less sensitive to the pain.Thus I de⁃cided to do this and came up with my own rejection ideas.

Rejection idea one:Borrow 100 dollars from a stranger.I went to where I was working.I came downstairs and I saw a big guy sitting behind a desk.So I just approached him and said,“Hey,sir,can I borrow 100 dollars from you?”

He looked up and answered,“No.Why?”

I just said,“I'm sorry.”Then I turned around and just ran.

I felt so embarrassed.In fact,he invited me to explain myself.I could have explained but I didn't do any of that.All I did was run.That night,I made up my mind that no matter what happens next time,I will not run.I'll try my best to overcome the challenge.

Language Study

Difficult sentences

1.So embarrassed was I that I would die to avoid being rejected in public again.

译文：我如此尴尬，以至于我以后宁愿死也不要在公众场合再次遭到拒绝。

分析：本句是倒装句，So 接形容词embarrassed 位于句首，谓语动词was 需要放到主语I前面。正常的陈述句语序为“I was so embarrassed that...”。

2. Basically the idea is that you go out and look for rejection, and every time you get rejected at something,you become less sensitive to the pain.

译文：从根本上说，这个主意就是你出门找拒绝，当每次你遭到拒绝时，你就会变得对拒绝所带来的伤害不那么敏感了。

分析：本句中is 后接一个表语从句，解释the idea；另外become less sensitive to sth意为“对某事渐渐不敏感”。

Reading Check

阅读上面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。注意：

1.续写词数应为150左右；

2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。Paragraph 1:

Rejection idea two:Getting Olympic doughnuts（甜甜圈）from a doughnut maker.

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Paragraph 2:

I couldn't believe I made it.

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❖写作指导

一、语篇研读

要想续写内容与所给材料内容连贯、衔接紧密，我们必须充分了解所给材料的大意。本文是一篇记叙文，文章分析如下：

Characters Settings the author,the teacher and the big guy When Where Beginning Plots Development Climax when the author was six years old;after he started his own company in his classroom;in his workplace He was one of the three kids who didn't get compliments.He was presented with an investment opportunity, and then he was turned down.He went online and looked for help and then found this website,called rejectiontherapy.com.He came up with his own rejection ideas.He tried to borrow 100 dollars from a stranger and got rejected.Theme Change oneself and build up confidence

二、情节构思

我们可以基于原文和续写段落首句提供的信息，构思要续写的故事情节。这一过程分为四步。

第一步，根据已给出的文本判断文章的立意。

文章介绍了“我”两次被拒绝后，鼓起勇气尝试一个有趣的“拒绝疗法”，比如，找一个陌生人借100 美金。根据文章给出的内容，我们可以推测，“我”希望通过“拒绝疗法”帮助自己克服内心对被拒绝的恐惧。那“我”想出的寻找拒绝的主意和经历让“我”有什么收获呢？这个故事很有可能围绕着“改变自己和建立自信心”这个主题开展。

第二步，根据续写第一段的段首句“Rejection idea two:Getting Olympic doughnuts from a doughnut maker.”和文章的最后一句“I'll try my best to overcome the challenge.”可知，也许“我”会被拒绝，但是“我”会直面挑战。下面是构思续写第一段前应该思考的问题：

（1）Would the author get rejected?Why?

（2）How would the author communicate with the doughnut maker?

（3）What would be the result?

第三步，根据续写第二段所给出的段首句倒推续写第一段要写什么。

根据续写第二段的段首句“I couldn't believe I made it.”，从其中的关键词couldn't believe，我们可以看出，结果让“我”很意外。为什么这个结果让“我”感到很意外呢？为了使这两段衔接自然，我们可以推测续写第一段中，“我”应该成功买到了奥林匹克甜甜圈，这使“我”建立了一些自信。

第四步，围绕续写第二段所给出的段首句进行提问及构思：

（1）Why was the author surprised at the result?

（2）Did the author succeed this time?

（3）How did the author feel about this rejection therapy?

（4）What did the author learn from this experience?

三、润色成篇

在续写的过程中我们要注意“续”的原则，做到主题、情节、语言风格一致。具体如下：

（1）通过分析，本文的主题是弘扬积极乐观的人生观，如敢于尝试、克服恐惧、建立信心，续写时应注意结局的走向；

（2）续写的情节应和原文的开始和发展吻合，要根据主人公的性格特点进行合理的预测，譬如在他两次遭遇拒绝时，他的心理变化等；

（3）文章有多处动作描写和情感描写，且用了so 接形容词位于句首的倒装句和丰富的动词被动语态，续写时应尽量模仿并运用这些语言特色；

（4）续写时应注意句子长短结合，句型多样化，以及语法、用词、标点符号的准确性。