LEEDS, England ─ A Leeds University psychology (心理学) professor is teaching a course to help dozens of Britons forgive their enemies.
"The hatred we hold within us is a cancer," Professor Ken Hart said, adding that holding in anger can lead to problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
More than 70 people have become members in Hart’s first 20-week workshop in London ─ a course he says is the first of its kind in the world.
These are people who are sick and tired of living with a memory. They realize their bitterness is a poison they think they can pour out, but they end up drinking it themselves, said Canadian-born Hart.
The students meet in groups of eight to ten for a two-hour workshop with an adviser every fortnight.
The course, ending in July, is expected to get rid of the cancer of hate in these people. "People have lots of negative attitudes towards forgiveness," he said. "People confuse forgiveness with forgetting. Forgiveness means changing from a negative attitude to a positive one."
Hart and his team have created instructions to provide the training needed.
"The main idea is to give you guidelines on how to look at various kinds of angers and how they affect you, and how to change your attitudes towards the person you are angry with," said Norman Claringbull, a senior expert on the forgiveness project.
Hart said he believes forgiveness is a skill that can be taught, as these people "want to get free of the past".
小题1:From this passage we know that ______.
A．high blood pressure and heart disease are caused by hatred
B．high blood pressure can only be cured by psychology professors
C．without hatred, people will have less trouble connected with blood and heart
D．people who suffer from blood pressure and heart disease must have many enemies小题2:If you are angry with somebody, you should ______.
A．try your best to defeat him or her
B．never meet him or her again
C．persuade him or her to have a talk with you
D．try to build up a positive attitude towards the person小题3: In Hart’s first 20-week workshop, people there can ___.
A．meet their enemies
B．change their minds
C．enjoy the professor’s speech
D．learn how to quarrel with others小题4: If you are a member in Hart’ s workshop, you’ll ______.
A．pay much money to Hart
B．go to the workshop every night
C．attend a gathering twice a month
D．pour out everything stored in your mind小题5: The author wrote this passage in order to ________.
A．persuade us to go to Hart’s workshop
B．tell us the news about Hart’s workshop
C．tell us how to run a workshop like Hart’s
D．help us to look at various kinds of angers