A “Growth Mindset” Can Lead to Success

The most successful people are fond of telling us about their passion for their professions. And passion has been believed to be essential to not only their success, but also their happiness.

Unfortunately,     1     some people have a clear “calling” from a young age, many still leave education without knowing their vocation in life. They may spend their whole life without having ever discovered a career that truly     2     (interest) them. In the past ten years, the researcher     3     (demonstrate) that some people tend to see their abilities as “fixed”—they believe that they are either born with a talent for something or they don’t have it completely. What can they do?

Some answers come from the work of Paul O’Keefe. In his mindset theory, the most basic foundation of passion is having an intense interest in     4     you’re doing. Meanwhile, people also have the capacity to cultivate new interests outside their normal fields.     5     (consider) arts students looking at a piece about science, or “techy” students reading an article on literary criticism(文学评论).     6     the students have very little initial curiosity about the subject, with the growth mindset, they will change their ratings of the interest in that new subject after reading the piece.

In addition, a person’s mindset can also determine how long they would be interested in more difficult content and     7     they would plan to deal with the content or not. In one experiment, after     8    (show) a video about black holes, people had to read a challenging academic paper on the subject. The people with the growth mindset maintained their interest: they were     9     (willing) to know about the black holes despite the difficulties of grasping the technical material. By contrast, the flame of interest quickly burnt out in those with the fixed mindset. “Within the span of seven minutes they went from saying ‘this is fascinating’     10    saying ‘no, I’m done,’” says O’Keefe.

Most of us take our ability to walk and talk for granted, but for Malakai, it is a daily challenge and he is overcoming it step by step Malakai weighed less than 4 pounds at birth and has cerebral palsy(脑瘫).His muscles and brain     1    (affect) a lot by this for many years. However, his parents did not notice anything different about him at first. When he was ten months old, he     2     (diagnose) with cerebral palsy. He has very tight muscles and all his four limbs     3     (influence) greatly, making him not strong enough His mother says that one of their big goals was his speech, and they     4     (tell) that he may never be able to talk since the diagnosis. But now he is able to talk and sing to his mom and dad. Up to now, Malakai     5    (treat) for a long time. And his next big goal is to sit, stand, and walk on his own.

Smartphones are an     1     (importance) part of everyday life to most teens today. But are teens addicted to their phones? One out of every two teens in the US and Japan feel they are, according to     2     recent study. 

The study     3     (base) on an April 2017 survey of 1,200 parents and teens. It’s the first such study in Japan,     4     90 percent of parents and teens own smartphones. It’s also the first     5     (compare) those results with     6     (exist) US data from Common Sense Media about digital media use among families in North America. 

Most parents surveyed said     7     (their) believed their teens were addicted to mobile devices. Many of the     8     (adult) said they also felt addicted to their own phones.

Willow Bay, dean of the USC Annenberg in Los Angeles, said, “These shifts are happening     9     (fast) and more dramatically than any change     10     recent history.”

How many credit cards do you have in your wallet? Are you     1     (concern) about getting into debt? Many Americans carry four or five credit cards, but others have more than ten     2     (incredible). Is it a good idea to have so many credit cards?

Some people almost never pay cash. For them, it’s much     3     (convenient) to use a credit card. They use credit cards for everything — food, clothes, gas, and rent. However, when the bills arrive, those     4     have too many cards sometimes can’t afford the minimum payments.

It’s not uncommon to have store credit cards. Some stores usually offer a 10-15 percent discount when you use their credit card. They also offer     5     discounts. But be careful. The interest rates (利率) on these cards can be very high. It’s a good idea to use a store credit card at your favorite store if you shop there frequently. But you should pay off the account balance immediately. That way, you won’t pay any interest.

Financial (财务的)     6     (expert) say that it’s a good idea to have     7     least two cards. Use one card for everyday living expenses, and keep     8     other one for emergencies (紧急情况). They suggest     9     (choose) credit cards with low interest rates, keeping your account balance low, always managing     10     (pay) more than just the minimum payments, and having no more than six cards.

Festivals are becoming more and more    1    (commerce), with businesses    2    (take) advantage of the celebrations. But all in all, festivals reflect people’s wishes, beliefs, faiths and attitudes towards life. They help us understand where we came from, who we are, and what    3    (appreciate). And if you study festivals carefully, you may    4    (surprise) to find that different cultures actually have a lot in common.

The four countries that belong    1    the United Kingdom worked together in some areas.    2    , they also have some differences. For example, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have different education systems and legal systems. They also have    3    (they) own traditions, football teams and so on.

Pupils’ lives spared during Falmont earthquake

On 17 March,476 students and 36 teachers at Falmont Primary School escaped an earthquake     1       hit the country.Only 5 students suffered slight injuries,despite the current figures of 7 killed and over 200     2     (injure) in the disaster area at large.

Alice Brown,head teacher at Falmont Primary School,was teaching     3     the floor began to shake.Her students’     4     (react) was quick and correct——they moved under their desks,head first,and     5     (hold) on to the legs of the desks.At the same time,Miss Brown quickly opened the classroom door,in case it became damaged during the shaking and could not open.There were loud crashes of glass breaking and things falling to the ground,     6     the students remained still and waited calmly and quietly.

The moment the shaking stopped,Miss Brown sensed it was     7     best time for the class to make their escape.She signalled to her students to exit the classroom in an     8     (order) covering their heads with their hands.Within one minute and twenty seconds, the whole class went down the stairs and rushed to the playground. Soon students from other classes arrived too.After a roll call confirmed that all were safe and sound,they relaxed,     9     (hug) each other. “We practise earthquake safety procedures twice a rear,” said Miss Brown, “so the kids were calm enough to protect    10     (they) during the earthquake.”

Newly-developed robotic arms     1    (show) on Tuesday in east China's Anhui Province. The robotic arms, developed by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), have advance grasping abilities compared     2     those on the market. They can complete flexible movements including     3     (pick) up pieces of paper, bowls, soft tofu and cakes and placing them in certain places accurately. With the arms, robots can grasp and place different objects     4     (steady) after judging the shape and size of the item.

The current robotic arms in China can hardly conduct such complex movements,     5     imported robotic arms with such functions are very expensive."The new robotic arms cost no more than 1,000 yuan," said Chen Xiaoping,     6     (direct) of the Robotics Laboratory at USTC, adding that this gives them an advantage for much     7     (wide) application.

According to Chen, the arms     8     (be) first installed on "Kejia",     9     home service robot developed by USTC, and are expected     10     (use) in more fields such as the elderly care services and logistics in the future.