During my career in the past years, I’ve been fired a few times. The last time was about five years ago.
At the time. I co-owned a literary agency. I agreed to take on a giant project for a major client. I worked my tail off about a year, focusing just on this one client. Meanwhile, my partner and associates took care of everyone else. We all thought it was a good bet. But in the end, the client fired me and paired with an agency who promised to get him a major book deal with a New York publishing house and an appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s television show. I was left high and dry with nothing to show for my year-long investment.
The worst part was that I did not see it coming. I thought I had done a great job, and we had enjoyed a long-term personal relationship. But my client had his eye on bigger things and decided I couldn’t take him there, so he abandoned me without discussion.
The thing I finally learned from this experience was that clients and customers can be changeable. So never put all your eggs in one basket.
This wasn’t the only mistake I’d made in my career. Some of the mistakes I had made got me fired. That got my attention and furthered my education in the school of hard knocks.
Chances are that you are going to be fired at some point in your career. Last May, 1.7 million workers in America were laid off or fired. And according to the Labor Department, that was during month of generally good economic news. The trick—after being fired—is to try to push bitterness aside and learn from it. Failure can be a great teacher, but we have to listen.
1. Why did the author only focus on one project?| A．His client required him to do so. |
| B．He considered it would be a safe bet. |
| C．It could give him an appearance on the show. |
| D．There were no other projects in his agency. |
| A．He caused some trouble for his client. |
| B．His client wanted to teach him a lesson. |
| C．He couldn’t satisfy his client’s demands. |
| D．His client was afraid of destroying their friendship. |
| A．He should have spread his risk. |
| B．He should have tired his best to do better. |
| C．He shouldn’t have worked on giant projects. |
| D．He shouldn’t have made friends with his clients. |
| A．Don’t keep suffering, and learn from failure. |
| B．Study further to obtain a higher degree. |
| C．Endure failure, don’t resist and welcome success. |
| D．Get rid of difficult customers as soon as possible. |
| A．To show the importance of failure. |
| B．To tell us how to face getting fired. |
| C．To share a most horrible experience. |
| D．To explain why people easily get fired. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Chuck’s Friend
In the movie Cast Away, Tom Hanks plays a man named Chuck Noland. Chuck is a businessman who is always so busy that he has little time for his friends. He is a successful manager in a company that sends mail all over the world. One day Chuck is on a flight across the Pacific Ocean when suddenly his plane crashes. Chuck survives (存活) the crash and lands on a deserted island.
On the island, Chuck has to learn to survive all alone. He has to learn how to collect water, hunt for food, and make fire. Perhaps the most difficult challenge is how to survive without friends. In order to survive, Chuck develops a friendship with an unusual friend — a volleyball he calls Wilson.
Chuck learns a lot about himself when he is alone on the island. He realizes that he hasn’t been a very good friend because he has always been thinking about himself. During his five years on the island, Chuck learns how to be a good friend to Wilson. Even though Wilson is just a volleyball, he becomes fond of him. He talks to him and treats him as a friend. Chuck learns that we need friends to share happiness and sorrow, and that it is important to have someone to care about. He also learns that he should have cared more about his friends. When he makes friends with Wilson, he understands that friendship is about feelings and that we must give as much as we take.
A volleyball is certainly an unusual friend. Most of our friends are human beings, but we also make friends with animals and even things. For example, many of us have pets, and we all have favourite objects such as a lucky pen or a diary. The lesson we can learn from Chuck and all the others who have unusual friends is that friends are teachers. Friendship helps us understand who we are, why we need each other and what we can do for each other.
1. What does Chuck Noland do?(答案不多于5个词)2. After surviving the crash, what is the most difficult challenge for Chuck?(答案不多于5个词)
3. Who is Chuck’s friend?(答案不多于5个词)
4. What does Chuck learn from his friend?(答案不多于10个词)
5. What is mainly talked about in the passage?(答案不多于10个词)
【推荐2】It was a Sunday night. I circled the neighborhood a few times, looking for a place to park my car. Finally, I found one to the south of my house. It was behind a late-model Jeep. I tried to back into the space, but I failed to see the angles clearly. I heard it before I felt it, the sound of plastic on plastic, like a sheet of sandpaper along the surface of a painted piece of wood. I got out of my car to check the damage. My car was unharmed. However, there were two distinct lines on the Jeep.
Then I noticed a woman, walking her dog, who was now photographing me with her phone. “Hope you’re no planning to drive away,” she said quietly. Until then, I was annoyed with myself for having been careless, but now I was mad with her for taking my picture. How dare she, I thought. She had no respect for my privacy. And how dare she assume I would do the wrong thing? But soon I calmed down because I knew she wasn’t entirely incorrect. I’d made no decision to drive away without leaving ante (预付款) but I’d be lying if I said the idea hadn’t flashed across my mind. It was dark, and aside from her no one was watching. It happens all the time-the hit-and-run in the parking lot.
We all have those desires to behave selfishly, to go against the social contract; it is not the thought but what we do with it that counts. It is the commitment (承诺) to take responsibility, to care for one another, and to think about the greater good that makes this world a better place to stay. The choice to own up was left to me. I left a note with my name and phone number under the wiper blade (雨刮器) of the Jeep.
1. What happened to the author on that Sunday night?| A．He hit a parked car accidentally. | B．He got hurt in a car accident |
| C．He knocked down someone. | D．He failed to find a parking space. |
| A．She blocked his view on purpose. |
| B．She spoke to him in a very rude way. |
| C．She refused to take responsibility for her fault. |
| D．She photographed him without permission. |
| A．A Tragedy Happens in the Parking Lot |
| B．The Greater Good Makes the World Better |
| C．A Note Left Makes a Difference |
| D．Photographing without Permission Disrespects Privacy |
| A．Everyone makes mistakes. | B．Apologizing sincerely matters. |
| C．Avoid conflicts with others. | D．Always do the right thing. |
【推荐3】If you live in America in the 21st century you’ll probably have to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they are doing: “Busy!” “Crazy busy!”. It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the common response is a kind of congratulation: “That’s a good problem to have,” or “Better than the opposite.”
Notice it isn’t generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the ICU or commuting by bus to three minimum-wage jobs who tell you how busy they are. What those people are is not busy but tired. Exhausted! Dead on their feet. It’s almost always people whose busyness is purely self-imposed: work and obligations they’ve taken on voluntarily, classes and activities they’ve “encouraged” their kids to participate in. They’re busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety, because they’re addicted to busyness and dread that they might have to face in its absence.
Almost everyone I know is busy. They feel anxious and guilty when they aren’t either working or doing something to promote their work. It’s something they have chosen. Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a measure against emptiness, obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or tiny or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day.
Idleness is not just a vacation. It is as necessary to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as ugly as rickets. The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration. “Idle dreaming is often the essence of what we do,” wrote Thomas Pynchon. Archimedes’ “Eureka” in the bath, Newton’s apple :history is full of stories of inspirations that come in idle moments.
1. When many Americans say “Crazy busy”, they mean______.| A．they are really tired of their present situation | B．they are really proud of their present life |
| C．they are complaining about their current work | D．their life are full of all kinds of problems |
| A．history is full of interesting stories |
| B．Archimedes and Newton were very busy, so they made great discoveries |
| C．people may get inspiration when they are idle |
| D．inspirations come from hard work |
| A．ambition | B．anxiety | C．busyness | D．dread |
| A．generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the ICU tell you they are busy |
| B．“Dead on their feet” means “being tired out” |
| C．all the kids are self-imposed due to the drive and motivation |
| D．The author seems to agree that idleness is better than busyness |
【推荐1】I was really nervous about English class this year because I was an eleventh grader taking a twelfth grade class. I knew that I wouldn't know anyone in the class, and that scared me a little. But since I didn't know anyone, I had the chance to do something I love almost as much as socializing—people watching.
One of the most interesting girls in the class sat directly behind me. She was always laughing and talking, and she just seemed so happy. She was friendly, too—she was one of the very few people in the class who made any attempt to acknowledge me.
At the end of the year, we were assigned a big project. It was a very open-ended project, where the instructions were basically to read something, then read or watch something else that related to it, and then come up with a class presentation based on what you learned.
The presentations were spread out over the last month of school. The girl behind me presented on one of the very last days. She got up in front of the class, and told how she had read about eating disorders, because she herself had struggled with one. Since it would have been too difficult for her to talk to us about it directly, she and a friend (who had also suffered from an eating disorder) had made a movie, where they interviewed each other about their eating disorders, how they had felt while they were struggling with them, and how they had overcome them. By the end of the presentation, almost everyone was in tears.
The most shocking thing about the whole presentation was how surprising it was. I never expected that she would have had a problem like that. She always seemed so happy and confident; it was hard to picture her counting calories because she thought she wasn’t good enough.
You also never know what kind of impact you have had on people's lives. The courage of the girl behind me to talk about something so personal, and her strength to ask for help and overcome her problems have inspired me.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．The writer was a twelfth-grader. |
| B．The writer liked observing people. |
| C．The English class was too challenging. |
| D．The writer had a few friends in the class. |
| A．She sat directly behind the writer. |
| B．She attempted to disturb the writer. |
| C．She was always laughing and talking. |
| D．She said hello to the writer in some way. |
| A．The writer's presentation. | B．The girl's presentation. |
| C．Eating disorders. | D．A moving movie. |
| A．The girl wasn’t good enough. |
| B．The girl was happy and confident. |
| C．You can never really know a person. |
| D．It takes long to really know a person. |
| A．The Girl behind Me | B．An Open-ended Project |
| C．My English Class | D．Strength to Ask for Help |
【推荐2】No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own efforts.
I learned this lesson from an experience many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.
It was a tradition for the schools old team to play against the new team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to prepare for the Game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my sadness we were beaten. I couldn’t believe I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to realize that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my attitude about their ability and confidence.
I stared doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most important, I began to treat them like winners. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations. We met every day and practiced passing and kicking the football.
Six months after suffering our failure on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continue to improve. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a victory for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn’t what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest thrills of my life!
From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can influence the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and encouraged them. I helped them to see them-selves differently, and they built themselves into winners. Winners are made, not born.
1. When did the author’s team win their first game?| A．Before their training. | B．During the spring practice. |
| C．At the start of the vacation. | D．Six months after their failure. |
| A．Interests. | B．Fears. | C．Excitements. | D．Concerns. |
| A．By building up their confidence. | B．By giving them a lecture. |
| C．By buying them a book. | D．By changing the leader. |
| A．Time is money. | B．Winners are born. |
| C．Losers are always beaten. | D．Practice makes perfect. |
【推荐3】In college, there was a 90-page senior thesis, a paper we were supposed to spend a year on. So I decided I kind of had to go something step by step. But then, those first few months? They came and went, and I couldn’t quite do stuff. Then six months turned into one month, which turned into two weeks. One day I woke up with three days until the deadline, still not having written a word. So I did the only thing I could: I wrote 90 pages over 72 hours, pulling not one but two all-nighters, sprinted across campus, and got it in just at the deadline. It was a very, very bad thesis.
Anyway, today I’m a writer-blogger guy. I write the blog Wait But Why about procrastination to explain what goes on in the heads of procrastinators.
I had a hypothesis(假想) that the brains of procrastinators were actually different than the brains of other people. Both brains have a Rational Decision Maker, but the procrastinator’s instant brain also has an Instant Gratification Monkey. The Rational Decision Maker will make the reasonable decision to do something productive, but the Monkey doesn’t like that plan, who actually takes the wheel. He lives entirely in the present moment and only cares about two things: easy and fun. Sometimes it makes sense to be doing things that are easy and fun, like when you’re having dinner. But other times, it makes much more sense to be doing things that are harder and less pleasant.
That’s when we have a conflict. Well, it turns out the procrastinator has a guardian angel, called the Panic Monster. The Panic Monster is resting most of the time, and he suddenly wakes up anytime a deadline gets too close or there’s danger of public embarrassment, a career disaster or some other scary consequence. And importantly, he’s the only thing the Monkey is afraid of.
See, that’s what is experiencing in a procrastinator’s brain.
1. What’s the purpose of mentioning the experience in my college?| A．To explain why I had a hypothesis. |
| B．To show time passed in the blink of an eye. |
| C．To describe what happened and introduce the topic. |
| D．To demonstrate the task was urgent but I failed to do it. |
| A．Delay. | B．Panic. |
| C．Prohibition. | D．Territory. |
| A．The Panic Monster is usually active for he is the guardian angel. |
| B．An Instant Gratification Monkey is only scared of the Panic Monster. |
| C．A Rational Decision Maker is the one who takes control of the whole situation. |
| D．An Instant Gratification Monkey makes sense to be doing things that are easy and fun. |
| A．My Own Experience about Procrastination. |
| B．Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator. |
| C．A Writer-blogger Guy’s Different Experience. |
| D．An Instant Gratification Monkey and a Rational Decision Maker. |
【推荐1】Five years ago, it would have been more likely that I’d be turning out for Chelsea Football Club than attending the RHS Chelsea flower show, let alone building a garden there. As a promising young footballer, gardening was not part of my vocabulary.
It was after a disaster that I found gardening to be a form of relief. The night of 14 June, 2017 changed my life forever. The Grenfell Tower fire took the lives of 72 people. Living nearby, I was completely broken. I took to the streets to be among others in my attempt to find some comfort or peace of mind. What I encountered changed my attitude entirely.
With no thought or plan, I channelled my energy into greening and beautifying a deserted, unloved community space. I honestly didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but that didn’t matter. I journeyed to every garden centre within reach, asking for plants to be donated to our newly-developed community space. The response was strong. People would walk past and share a smile or some conversation. Phone numbers were exchanged and group chats were created. Dates and times were set for organised gatherings to share our stories, knowledge and history.
What’s eye-catching in the garden is a mangrove (红杉树) sculpture. Made with wood from deforested mangroves, it aims to raise awareness of the harmful impact we are having on the world as we continue to cut down our trees for profit. The building of the garden has been a community effort, and shows what can be done when people pull together and do something positive.
If visitors take one thing from the garden, I hope it is the awareness that we can come together as a community not just to respond to a disaster, but for the future generations who will have to live with the consequences of our actions today.
1. What do we know about the author?| A．He was the founder of a football club. | B．He stayed peaceful during the fire. |
| C．He changed his attitude to gardening. | D．He was the organizer of a flower show. |
| A．To communicate with each other. | B．To find a place free from accidents. |
| C．To purchase cheap green plants. | D．To enjoy the beauty of the mangroves. |
| A．Joint efforts of the community. | B．Supports from the government. |
| C．The author’s deep love for plants. | D．The author’s professional gardening skills. |
| A．Painful Lessons From a Disaster. | B．Unexpected Gains From Gardening. |
| C．Possible Solutions to Deforestation. | D．Friendly Reminders to a Community. |
【推荐2】After a lifetime watching football with my father, a cancer diagnosis means I will have to go alone. And this is my dad’s last match.
Out of the lift, we made directly for the seats. The atmosphere was pleasant, without any final-day tension.
The only goal came just after half an hour. That, I think, was the last goal Dad ever saw, but I can’t be certain he did see it. Several times I’d glanced at Dad; on each occasion his eyes had been gazing out of the stadium.
Half-time came and went. I spent it following him in and out of the toilets, making sure he remembered his way back and meanwhile showing the way to some elders. The second half passed without goals. Dad sat in his seat, waiting for the whistle to end the match.
As soon as the last of the players had passed us, the goodbyes began all around us, the air quickly filling with the usual “see you in August” and “have a great summer”. Dad had tried to hide his tears. But by the time Frank and Dave and all the other matchday friends he’d made over the years had started to say their goodbyes, he could no longer disguise them. The tears streamed from him like I’d never seen before. But it was the noise that accompanied them which was the worst part: a long loud high cry; the cry of a child, yet coming from a man in his seventies. Awkwardly, I put an arm around his shoulders to comfort him. He cupped his hands over his face and continued to sob.
He was trembling when he stood up and reached for my hand as we headed towards the top of the steps.
This was it: the end. 25 years after he’d led me into Old Trafford stadium by the hand for my first game, here I was, leading him by his as he left for a final time. At the top of the steps, he grasped the handrail and began to descend, giving no final glance back at the field as he went.
1. Why is it the author’s father’s last match?| A．Because he suffers from cancer. |
| B．Because football is no longer his favorite. |
| C．Because Old Trafford stadium will get closed. |
| D．Because he is too old to watch the matches alone. |
| A．Feel. | B．Enjoy. | C．Hide. | D．Ignore. |
| A．The loud cry of a child. |
| B．The unusual crying of his father. |
| C．The farewell made to all the friends. |
| D．The embarrassment of comforting his father. |
| A．Funny. | B．Creative. | C．Generous. | D．Caring. |
【推荐3】Since 2009, a small army of cats in the Palace Museum have been receiving global social media attention.
I visited the Palace Museum in the summer of 2018 to research the history of Qing Dynasty. I stayed in a small hotel in one of Beijing's hutong areas for a whole month.
Before setting out to the capital, I had already conducted some background research on the history of the Palace Museum itself and managed to retrieve an article about the famous palace cats.
In the third week, as I was walking through the western gates, I was surprised to spot not one. not two, but three cats on the corner of a porch in front of an office.
I spotted three more cats inside the bamboo garden of the employees’ exercise grounds.
For those cat enthusiasts planning on taking a trip to China's capital, these absolutely adorable security guards are definitely worth spending a day in the palace looking for.
| A．This time, they played with me for a while. |
| B．I greeted the furry guards in Chinese, “Hi! Kitties!” |
| C．These hairy guards are allowed inside the museum walls. |
| D．I took me a 20-minute walk to the museum every morning. |
| E．It wasn't until my last week in Beijing that I finally got to pet one. |
| F．I was determined to spot at least one of them during my stay there. |
| G．During that period of time, I focused on the study of Beijing's traditional customs. |
