1 . Do you remember the last time you got excited over a pair of shoes? Sure, you might have appreciated them, but did you jump for joy and act like they were the greatest thing you’d ever seen? You may not think that shoes are something worth going crazy over, but this woman would disagree. After all, she went wild when she put a pair on for the first time in her life.
It’s amazing how often we take advantage of things in life. When we’re used to something, we don’t always appreciate how lucky we are to have it. While we’re here complaining that our WiFi isn’t fast enough and our videos keep buffering, there are people in Africa who don’t even get to eat three meals a day. While most people work hard for the things they own, it’s important to stop and think of what others don’t have every now and again.
That’s what Laura Grier did one day. The woman was in Bwindi National Park, Uganda, when she felt obliged to stop and help someone by the side of the road. The person in question was standing around without any shoes on, and the sight convinced Grier to give up her own footwear. She had more shoes at home, while this woman had never even worn a pair before.
Laura’s generosity was definitely appreciated by the stranger who treated her benefactor to a celebratory dance. The woman couldn’t keep the smile from her face as she went wild in her brand new shoes. Grier was thrilled that her good deed had made the stranger so happy, and she cheered on the Ugandan woman as she danced in the street.
The next time you buy a pair of shoes, remember how lucky you are to have them.
1. Why did Laura Grier give her shoes to the woman?| A．To show her generosity. | B．To get permission to pass by. |
| C．To offer her help. | D．To reward her dance for her. |
| A．Nervous. | B．Excited. | C．Thankful. | D．Lucky. |
| A．Never expect too much of life. | B．Try to know more about Africa. |
| C．Don’t admire what others have. | D．Appreciate what we already have. |
| A．One Woman Overjoyed by Her First Pair of Shoes |
| B．One Lady Forced to Offer Her Pair of Footwear |
| C．Ugandan Woman Dances to Welcome Her Guest |
| D．Grier Greatly Thrilled at Beautiful African Dance |
2 . A study of violinists found that merely good players practised as much as better players, leaving other factors such as quality of education, learning skills and perhaps natural talent to account for the difference.
This finding challenges the 10, 000-hour rule promoted in Malcolm Gladwell’s 1993 study of violinists and pianists. Gladwell states that enough practice will make an expert of anyone. “The idea has been popular and entrenched in our culture for years. It’s not an idiom but an overstatement,” said Brooke Macnamara, the lead author. “When it comes to human skill, a complex combination of environmental factors and genetic factors explains the performance differences across people.”
Macnamara and her colleagues set out to repeat part of the 1993 study to see whether they reached the same conclusion. They interviewed three groups of 13 violinists regarded as best, good, or less accomplished about their practice habits, before having them complete daily diaries of their activities over a week. While the less skillful violinists reached an average of about 6,000 hours of practice by the age of 20, there was little to separate the good from the best, with each reaching an average of about 11,000 hours. In all, the number of hours spent practising accounted for about a quarter of the skill difference across the three groups.
Macnamara believes practice is less of a driver. “Once you get to the highly skilled groups, practice stops accounting for the difference. Everyone has practised a lot and other factors are at play in determining who goes on to a higher level,” she said. “The factors depend on the skill being learned: in chess it could be intelligence or working memory; in sport it may be how efficiently a person uses oxygen. To complicate matters further, one factor can drive another. Children who enjoy playing the violin, for example, may be happy to practise because they do not see it as a trouble.”
The authors of the 1993 study are unimpressed. Macnamara said it was important for people to understand the limits of practice, though. “Practice makes you better than you were yesterday, most of the time,” she said. “But it might not make you better than your neighhour or the other kid in your violin class.”
1. What does the underlined word “entrenched” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Rooted. | B．Advanced. | C．Changed. | D．Unconfirmed. |
| A．It convinced Malcolm Gladwell. | B．It involved violinists and pianists. |
| C．Its process was similar to the 1993 study. | D．Its result is consistent with the 1993 study. |
| A．Practicing for 11,000 hours is their main driver. |
| B．They enjoy keeping diaries about their progress. |
| C．Environmental factors have little relation to their success. |
| D．More practice makes little difference to their further progress. |
| A．What makes an expert? | B．Does practice make perfect? |
| C．The early bird catches the worm | D．Enthusiasm is the key to success |
