1、请教Henry老师，以字母e开头的单词，e的发音会有三种情况：elapse /ɪˈlæps/，发/ɪ/，evening /ˈiːvnɪŋ/，发/iː/，exercise /ˈeksərsaɪz/ ，发/e/。请问什么时候发哪个音有什么规律吗？

另外一些发/ɪ/和/iː/的单词听不同的人发好像是可以互换，譬如emergency /ɪˈmɜːrdʒənsi/ ，虽然词典上标的是/ɪ/，但我听实际发音有人发的是/ɪ/，有人发的是/iː/。这类单词是否发哪个都行？谢谢老师！

2、我想请教Henry老师一个时态问题：小说的时态都是过去式，因为是已经发生过的事，但是为什么我最近听的audiobook（小说名字是red queen)用的是一般现在时？我想问：小说需要满足什么条件才可以用一般现在时呢？谢谢老师

3、请问Henry老师：I take a decision 与 I make a decision 两个表达有什么区别吗？

【听力文段】mp3

The secret to giving greatfeedback

If you look at acarpenter, they have a toolbox; a dentist, they have their drills. In our eraand the type of work most of us are doing, the tool we most need is actuallycentered around being able to give and receive feedback well.

Humans have been talking aboutfeedback for centuries. In fact, Confucius, way back in 500 BC, talked abouthow important it is to be able to say difficult messages well.

But to be honest, we're stillpretty bad at it. In fact, a recent Gallup survey found that only 26 percent ofemployees strongly agree that the feedback they get actually improves theirwork. Those numbers are pretty dismal.

So what's going on? The waythat most people give their feedback actually isn't brain-friendly. People fallinto one of two camps. Either they're of the camp that is very indirect andsoft and the brain doesn't even recognize that feedback is being given or it'sjust simply confused, or they fall into the other camp of being too direct, andwith that, it tips the other person into the land of being defensive.

There's this part of the braincalled the amygdala,and it's scanning at all times to figure out whether themessage has a social threat attached to it. With that, we'll move forward todefensiveness, we'll move backwards in retreat, and what happens is thefeedback giver then starts to disregulate as well. They add more ums and ahsand justifications, and the whole thing gets wonky really fast.

It doesn't have to be thisway. I and my team have spent many years going into different companies andasking who here is a great feedback giver. Anybody who's named again and again,we actually bring into our labs to see what they're doing differently. What wefind is that there's a four-part formula that you can use to say any difficultmessage well.

OK, are you ready for it? Herewe go. The first part of the formula is what we call the micro-yes. Greatfeedback givers begin their feedback by asking a question that is short butimportant. It lets the brain know that feedback is actually coming. It would besomething, for example, like,

"Do you have five minutesto talk about how that last conversation went?" or "I have some ideasfor how we can improve things. Can I share them with you?

This micro-yes question doestwo things for you. First of all, it's going to be a pacing tool. It lets theother person know that feedback is about to be given. And the second thing itdoes is it creates a moment of buy-in. I can say yes or no to that yes or no question.And with that, I get a feeling of autonomy.

【单词短语】

1. dismal

2. camps

3. tips

4. amygdala

5. wonky

6. pacing

7. buy-in

8. autonomy

【地道美语，长句精练】

1. The tool we most needis actually being able to give and receive feedback well.

2. It's scanningat all times to figure out whether the message has a social threat attached toit.

3. The second thing it does isit creates a moment of buy-in.

【课堂纠音，上节连读】

1. But that does not meanthere's not something going on.

2. I don't know how it worksinto the whole puzzling scheme of things.

3. I mean after all, thiswhole business happened on his watch.