People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world. Consider, for example, the common belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths "happen in threes." Such beliefs stem from the tendency of people to allow the third event to define the time period. If three plane crashes occur in a month, then the period of time that counts as their "happening together" is one month; if three crashes occur in a year, the period of time is stretched. Flexible end points reinforce such beliefs.
We also tend to believe what we want to believe. A majority of people think they are more intelligent, more fair-minded and more skilled behind the wheel of an automobile than the average person. Part of the reason we view ourselves so favorably is that we use criteria that work to our advantage. As economist Thomas Schelling explains, "Everybody ranks himself high in qualities
he values: careful drivers give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who
are polite give weight to courtesy, " This way everyone ranks high on his own scale.
Perhaps the most important mental habit we can learn is to be cautious (谨慎的) in drawing
conclusions. The "evidence " of everyday life is sometimes misleading.
21. In the first paragraph the author states that ____ .
(A) dreams cannot be said to be prophetic even though a few have come true.
(B) dreams are prophetic because some of them did come true.
(C) dreams may come true if clearly remembered.
(D) dreams and reality are closely related.
22. By "things like ..." "happen in threes" (Para. 3, Line 2), the author indicates that people believe ____ .
(A) personal misfortunes tend to happen every now and then.
(B) personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths usually happen together.
(C) misfortunes tend to occur according to certain patterns.
