Silent Listening

If something bad just happened to your friend, what would you do? Would you mention it to him and say you feel sorry about it? Would you offer support or advice? According to Ruth Clark, such（1）_____（treat） could mean well, but it might not be what he（2）_____ （real） wants or needs.

Clark asked some college students to imagine some（3）_____ （pleasant） situations, e.g. , a low exam grade or the dad's（4）_____ （lose） of his job. The student were then（5）_____ （ask） how they would like to be treated by a friend who learned of the bad situation from someone else. The results were a little（6）_____ （surprise）. Some said they would want and expect their friend to mention the （7）_____ （annoy） situation, but most of the students in the study（8）_____ （respond） that they would like the friend not to do it. The students made the（9）_____ （decide） for themselves whether to discuss their problem with a friend. So, there is value in being a silent（10）_____ （listen） around a troubled friend.