About 40 percent of Americans think of themselves as shy, while only 20 percent say they have never suffered from shyness at some point in their lives. Shyness occurs when a person’s apprehensions are so great that they　1　his making an expected or desired social response.　2　of shyness can be as minor as　3　to make eye contact when speaking to someone,　4　as major as avoiding conversations whenever possible.
　　“Shy people tend to be too　5　with themselves,” said Jonathan Cheek, a psychologist, who is one of those at the forefront of current research on the topic. “　6　, for a smooth conversation, you need to pay attention to the other person’s cues　7　he is saying and doing. But the shy person is full of　8　about how he seems to the other person, and so he often　9　cues he should pick up. The result is an awkward lag in the conversation. Shy people need to stop focusing on　10　and switch their attention to the other person.”
　　11　, shy people by and large have　12　social abilities than they think they do.　13　Dr. Cheek videotaped shy people talking to　14　, and then had raters (评估者) evaluate how socially skilled the people were, he found that, in the　15　of other people, the shy group had few　16　problems. But when he asked the shy people themselves　17　they had done, they were unanimous in saying that they had been social flops (失败).
　　“Shy people are their own　18　critics,” Dr. Cheek said.　19　he added, shy people feel they are being judged more　20　than they actually are, and overestimate how obvious their social anxiety is to others.