Have you ever argued with your loved ones oversimple misunderstandings（误解）？Little wonder. We often believe we're more skillful in getting our point across than we actually are,according to Boza Keysar, a professor at the University of Chicago. In his recent study,speakers tried to express their meanings using unclear sentences. Speakers who thought listeners understood were wrong nearly half the time. Here's some good advice to reduce misunderstanding:
(1)Don't trust what you see from the listener. Listeners often nod,look at you or say“uhhuh”to be polite or move the conversation along. But it’s easy to consider these as signs of understanding.
（2）Train the editor（编辑）in your head. If you say，“Beth discusses her problems with her husband,”it’s not clear whether she’s talking to her husband or about him. Try instead,“Beth talks to her husband about her problems.” or”Beth talks to others about the problems with her husband.”
(3)Ask listeners to repeat your message. Introduce your request by saying“I want to be sure I said that right.”Questions like“How does that sound？”or“Does that make sense？”may also work.
(4)Listen well. When on the receiving end,ask questions to be sure you're on the same page. After all,it isn’t just the speaker’s job to make his speech understood.
1. In the last paragraph,the words ”you’re on the same page”mean that______.
Ayou're following the speaker closely
Byou're reading the same page as the speaker does
Cyou should know which page the speaker refers to
Dyour story is written on the same page as the speaker's
