1 . Just being smart doesn’t mean someone will be successful. And just because someone is less smart doesn’t mean that person will fail. That’s one take-home message from the work of people like Angela Duckworth.
She works at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Like many other researchers, Duckworth wondered what makes one person more successful than another. When digging deeper, Duckworth found that the people who performed best shared a quality (品质) independent of smarts. They had what she now calls grit (毅力). Duckworth developed a set of questions to test it.
In one study of people 25 and older, she found that as people age, they become more likely to stick with a project. She also found that grit increases with education. People who had finished college scored higher in the grit test than people who quit before graduation did. People who went to graduate school after college scored even higher.
She then did another study with college students. Duckworth wanted to see how smarts and grit influenced performance in school. So she compared scores on college-entrance exams, which test IQ, to school grades and someone’s score in the grit test. Students with higher grades seem to have more grit. That’s not surprising. Getting good grades takes both smarts and hard work.
But some people counter that this grit means success. Among those people is Marcus Credé, a teacher at Iowa State University in Ames. He recently showed the results of 88 studies on grit. Together, nearly 67,000 people took part in these studies. And grit did not predict success, Credé found.
However, he thinks grit is very similar to someone’s ability to set goals, work toward them and think things through before acting. It’s a basic personality quality, Credé notes — not something that can be changed.
“Study habits and skills, test anxiety and class attendance are far more strongly connected to school grades than grit,” Credé says. “We can teach students how to study well. We can help them with their test anxiety,” he adds. “I’m not sure we can do that with grit.”
1. What can we know from the first two paragraphs?A.Grit decides how smart one might be. |
B.Grit is a quality dependent (依赖的) on smarts. |
C.Success has nothing to do with smarts. |
D.Smart people may not succeed. |
A.Lifestyles. | B.Family tradition. | C.Education. | D.Personality types. |
A.Doubt. | B.Reply. | C.Accept. | D.Warn. |
A.It is strongly related to test anxiety. |
B.It can hardly be taught in school. |
C.It should be paid no attention to in teaching. |
D.It can’t influence students’ school grades. |
2 . Tim Robinson, a former soldier of the British Army, was on holiday in Bridport, Dorset. While enjoying a walk down the beach, Robinson
Though his leg had made him partially
No one seemed to be around. So he
When the coast guard finally came, they couldn’t believe what Robinson had
A.ran | B.fell | C.slipped | D.crashed |
A.leg | B.back | C.ankle | D.heart |
A.wait | B.sit | C.cry | D.listen |
A.painful | B.helpless | C.awake | D.frightened |
A.sports | B.medical | C.military | D.financial |
A.unable | B.unhealthy | C.uninterested | D.unnecessary |
A.long | B.tough | C.aimless | D.pointless |
A.showing | B.shaking | C.flashing | D.raising |
A.seek | B.guide | C.remind | D.attract |
A.stopped | B.continued | C.avoided | D.practised |
A.hour | B.week | C.month | D.lifetime |
A.in spite of | B.as a result of | C.in response to | D.in contrast to |
A.making | B.finding | C.losing | D.feeling |
A.eventually | B.frequently | C.constantly | D.immediately |
A.waited for | B.come across | C.brought about | D.gone through |
A.relieved | B.amazed | C.satisfied | D.confused |
A.attitude | B.advantage | C.responsibility | D.determination |
A.If | B.Because | C.Unless | D.Though |
A.got | B.made | C.taken | D.passed |
A.careful | B.helpful | C.bright | D.useful |
Put simply,
4 . Having faith in something means you trust it completely. People with strong faith are so confident in themselves that they can do anything they set their minds to and get through the toughest times.
Faith improves your daily work. Being faithful in your day-to-day life can help lift your mood.
Faith gives you courage.
Faith helps you in difficult times. Sometimes you may find yourself drowning in despair. Even when you lose your job, suffer the pain of losing a beloved or face any other challenges, remember to have faith.
A.It helps you do the things that scare you. |
B.Faith helps overcome anxiety and stress. |
C.Faith is the key to living a better and fuller life. |
D.It helps you see the positive aspects of all these things. |
E.The power of faith can enrich life in the following ways. |
F.It can help you complete your work with a big smile on your face. |
G.Having faith in yourself and your abilities helps you be more productive. |
5 . The Power of Determination
The little country schoolhouse was heated by an old coal stove. A little boy came to school early each day to start the
One morning they
The
Finally he returned home from the
He worked his way to the white fence (栅栏) around the yard. With great effort, he raised himself
In the end, through his determination he
Still later, this determined young man in Madison Square Garden, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world’s fastest mile!
1.A.fire | B.class | C.game | D.story |
A.left | B.waited | C.arrived | D.hid |
A.clearly | B.quickly | C.suddenly | D.nearly |
A.teacher | B.classmates | C.doctor | D.headmaster |
A.slowly | B.gradually | C.hardly | D.seriously |
A.honest | B.brave | C.careful | D.polite |
A.just | B.also | C.once | D.ever |
A.school | B.yard | C.hospital | D.square |
A.everything | B.anything | C.something | D.nothing |
A.strong | B.stubborn | C.strange | D.smart |
A.Until | B.When | C.Because | D.After |
A.flowers | B.water | C.air | D.fruit |
A.jumping | B.sitting | C.sleeping | D.standing |
A.arms | B.chair | C.legs | D.mother |
A.aside | B.over | C.down | D.up |
A.believed | B.doubted | C.promised | D.suggested |
A.advised | B.allowed | C.refused | D.started |
A.afforded | B.hated | C.forgot | D.wanted |
A.set off | B.got back | C.stood up | D.took away |
A.to | B.for | C.from | D.without |
“Go home and ask your mummy about your blind brother! I am surprised you didn’t know that he is as blind as a bat!” Hearing Nathan’s, I wanted to land a blow on him for making fun of my two-year-old brother, David, but I was more desperate to find out the truth.
With a misty vision, I ran home as fast I could. Still out of breath, I questioned, “Is David blind?” Mother turned to me with tears in her eyes. “Yes, he’s born blind.” It was a heartbreaking moment. Before I could continue any farther, mother hugged me and cried, “I’m sorry, Caleb. Dad and I just didn’t know how to tell you.”
Suddenly, it struck me that David was blind but he could still hear the while conversation. Not wanting him to be affected by it, I stopped crying and went forward and embraced him. “I love you so much, David.” Worry crept upon me: How hard life would be for him!
Little did I know that David was to inspire me so greatly.
As David grew up, he was fairly strong-willed. Despite the challenges that he faced, he continued to attend the school for visually impaired (损害) children. He insisted he would take the bus home on his own. Often, he would walk through the main door looking sheepish (怯弱的) and saying the same phrase, “Sorry Mum, I am late. I boarded the wrong bus again.”
Tough as life was, there was always silver lining of misfortune. Despite not being able to see, he could play a piece of music after listening to it being played once on the piano. He even dreamed of playing solo (独奏) one day on stage. Luckily for him, the school had discovered David’s extraordinary talent.
注意:
1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
One day, David burst through the main door excitedly.
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Tapping the ground with his walking stick, David entered the stage.
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7 . New York’s Central Park has a statue dedicated to him, and there’s even been a movie about him: a sled dog named Balto. Now he is the focus of a DNA study, 90 years after he died, to see what made the dog so famously tough (坚韧).
In 1925, this Siberian husky was part of an expedition in Alaska called the serum run, the goal of which was to bring life-saving medicine to young people that were threatened by a deadly disease in the remote town of Nome, over 600 miles away. Balto led the long-distance stretch, and wound up getting most of the honor.
After Balto’s death in 1933, his remains were preserved and put on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
“Balto’s fame and the fact that he was taxidermized gave us this cool opportunity 100 years later to see what that population of sled dogs would have looked like genetically and to compare him to modern dogs,” said Katherine Moon, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California.
Her team took skin samples from the dog’s belly and reconstructed its genome — the complete set of genes in an organism. They compared this genetic material with that of 680 contemporary dogs from 135 breeds.
Contrary to a legend that thought that Balto was half wolf — as suggested in an animated Universal Pictures film that came out in 1995 — this analysis found no evidence he had wolf blood. It turned out Balto shared ancestors with modern day Siberian Huskies and the sled dogs of Alaska and Greenland.
Moon’s team also compared Balto’s genes with the genomes of 240 other species of mammals.
This allowed researchers to determine which DNA fragments (片段) were common across all those species and have not therefore changed over the course of millions of years of evolution. This stability suggests that these fragments of DNA are associated with important functions in the animal, and that mutations (基因突变) there could be dangerous.
The bottom line from the research was that Balto had fewer potentially dangerous mutations than modern breeds of dogs did, suggesting he was healthier.
1. Why did Moon and her team study the DNA of Balto?A.Balto saved the lives of many people. | B.Balto achieved a long-distance transport. |
C.Balto was a focus of the Central Park. | D.Balto was amazingly tougher than others. |
A.Gene. | B.Evolution. | C.Toughness. | D.Changelessness. |
A.Balto had blood of wolves. | B.Balto had fewer harmful mutations. |
C.Balto was a modern husky. | D.Balto was a special mammal species. |
A.A dog’s heroic act. | B.A great honor to a dog. |
C.A DNA study of a tough dog. | D.A new research into DNA. |
8 . When I was little, I was really little. But my dream was big. I dreamed of being a basketball player. I tried out for the teams at school, but I was never given a chance.
As I got older, I did grow a little bigger, but not a lot bigger. On my 12th birthday, I decided to try a new sport: running. I told Grandpa. “I’m going to be an athlete.”
“Dave.” Grandpa began gently, “if you can’t be big, you can do something big.”
I ran 12 miles on my 12th birthday. On my 13th birthday, I did it again, but I added an extra mile. On my 14th birthday, I ran 14 miles. 15 on my 15th, 16 on my 16th, and you guessed it—17 miles on my 17th birthday.
All this running inspired (激发) another big dream. Someday, I’d run the Boston Marathon (波士顿马拉松赛). I told Grandpa about my decision.
“But, Dave, you haven’t trained for the marathon. Are you sure you’re ready?” Grandpa asked. But he still promised to walk over and cheer me on.
I ran fast that day. But I fell at Mile 18 and was driven to the hospital. Later that night, I called Grandpa and told him I failed.
“No,” he said calmly, “you didn’t fail. You discovered something.”
“I did?” I asked.
“Yes, you discovered that big dreams don’t just come true. They take work. If you train and work hard, I promise to wait for you next year and cheer you on.”
I trained every day, running miles and miles. Sadly, just two months into my training, Grandpa died. He wouldn’t be waiting for my second Boston Marathon. I decided I’d run for him.
That day, I ran fast. “Keep going! You can do it!” His words filled my head as I forced my legs to make each painful step. As I crossed the finish line, I threw my arms in the air and cried, “Grandpa, we did it!”
1. Why did Dave fail to join the school basketball team?A.He couldn’t run fast. | B.He didn’t work hard. |
C.He was not tall enough. | D.He wasn’t a quick learner. |
A.Adding an extra mile. | B.Running on his birthday. |
C.Training for the marathon. | D.Trying out for the basketball team. |
A.Creative. | B.Modest. |
C.Generous. | D.Encouraging. |
A.Dream Big. | B.The Boston Marathon. |
C.Think Twice. | D.The Story of Grandpa. |
9 . There is a dangerous view in today’s society, and it is a restriction to happiness, success, and growth. The view states that human beings are inner fragile (内在脆弱) and that the only way to be happy and successful in life is to protect oneself by avoiding misfortune.
Not only are those statements false, but the actions we take believing them-to be “protective” also usually limit happiness and even stop personal and professional growth. Take sports as an example, seldom do those who play the game of life not to lose ever really win.
Rather than fear and try to avoid all misfortune, perhaps we should accept the misfortune and the occasional crises in life and prepare for them. As a muscle grows stronger with stress, so can people, teams, organizations, even communities. Crisis reveals true strength.
Sports psychologists Fletcher and Sarkar have studied Olympic gold medal winners. They conclude, “Indeed, most of the participants argued that if they had not experienced certain types of stressors at specific times, including highly demanding misfortunes, they would not have won their gold medals.”
Psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun created the term “posttraumatic growth.” They describe it as the experience of positive change that occurs as a result of highly challenging life crises. It is shown in a variety of ways, including an increased appreciation for life in general, more meaningful interpersonal relationships, an increased sense of personal strength, changed priorities, and a richer existential and spiritual life.
The remarkable success stories that can arise after moments of great challenge and failure are countless. Thomas Edison failed thousands of times trying to create a light bulb filament (灯丝) that would light and burn in a consistent manner, but finally created the world’s first practical light bulb. Harland Sanders developed the brand Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in his 60s while recovering from a failed career as a lawyer. There are thousands of other lesser-known people, whose lives are characterized by key moments of great recovery from difficulty. Let us understand that growth arises from challenge and even failure. The myth of fragility and overprotection keeps us all from realizing our full potential.
1. What does the “dangerous view” say about people?A.People are born shy. | B.People are afraid of misfortune. |
C.People want wealth. | D.People are often in need of help. |
A.It’s a must in life and the more, the better. |
B.It mostly comes from our fragile inner heart. |
C.It’s often met by world famous sports stars. |
D.It should be treated with the right attitude. |
A.A failed life is not worth living at all. |
B.People need always lead a worriless life. |
C.Positive changes will occur after crises. |
D.Try not to express our opinions in public. |
A.They made great inventions. | B.They got remarkable support. |
C.They didn’t easily give up. | D.They restricted their potential. |
1. 你的观点;
2. 举例说明。
注意:1. 写作词数应为80左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
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