For much of its history, psychology has seemed obsessed with human failings and pathology. The very idea of psychotherapy, first formalized by Freud, rests on a view of human beings as troubled creatures in need of repair. Freud himself was profoundly pessimistic about human nature, which he felt was governed by deep, dark drives that we could hardly control. The scientists who followed developed a model of human life that seemed to many mechanical if not robotic: humans were passive beings harshly shaped by the stimuli and the rewards and punishments that surrounded them. After World War Ⅱ, psychologists tried to explain how so many ordinary citizens could have agreed with fascism, and did work symbolized in the 1950 classic The Authoritarian Personality by T.W. Adorno, et al. Social psychologists followed on. Some of the most famous experiments proved that normal folk could become coldly insensitive to suffering when obeying "legitimate" orders or cruelly aggressive when playing the role of prison guard. A watershed moment arrived in 1998, when University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman, in his presidential address to the American Psychological Association, urged psychology to "turn toward understanding and building the human strengths to complement our emphasis on healing damage." That speech launched today’s positive psychology movement. Though not denying humanity’s flaws, the new positive psychologists recommend focusing on people’s strengths and virtues as a point of departure. Rather than analyze the psychopathology underlying alcoholism, for example, positive psychologists might study the toughness of those who have managed a successful recovery--for example, through organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous. Instead of viewing religion as a delusion and a support, as did Freud, they might identify the mechanisms through which a spiritual practice like meditation enhances mental and physical health. Their lab experiments might seek to define not the conditions that induce wicked behavior, but those that foster generosity, courage, creativity, and laughter. Seligman’s idea quickly caught on. The Gallup Organization founded the Gallup Positive Psychology Institute to sponsor scholarly work in the field. In 1999, 60 scholars gathered for the first Gallup Positive Psychology Summit; two years later, the conference went international, and ever since has drawn about 400 attendees annually. What does the passage say about positive psychology
A. It stresses that human nature is perfect.
B. It rejects the role of religion.
C. It began in 1998.
D. It began in 1950.
Blue collar and government jobs are among the most 1 careers for U.S. graduates, according to U.S. News magazine’s 2008 Best Careers report. U.S. employers are increasingly offshoring professional jobs. This means less jobs 2 college-graduate skills, the magazine says. As in many other countries, U.S. high school students are told that college is the 3 . So there’s a growing 4 of skilled people in jobs that don’t require a college education. But the report also says that some rewarding blue-collar careers, such as technical work in the biomedical equipment and security systems sectors, are more 5 to college graduates. These are more knowledge-based than the usual blue-collar jobs. Government is becoming an employer of 6 . Corporations, fueled by pressures to compete globally, continue to get ever 7 . Non-profit organizations are increasingly strapped for cash. Government is able to pay employees well, 8 their practices are economically sound, the magazine says. The report also indicates that social 9 may be the enemy of contentment in career. People are flocking in greater numbers to careers in the law, medicine and architecture. Yet recent surveys of job satisfaction in those professions 10 a less-than-rosy picture.
A. whether or not
B. now and then
C. off and on
D. so and so