1 . What will you do when you feel like a failure? Feeling like a failure is part of the human experiences. Treat yourself with kindness and understand that failure does not define you, but it is a stepping stone on your journey. When you’re ready, take action and challenge yourself.
As some friends were deeply lost in the world of yoga and mindfulness, I’ve personally struggled with the feeling of failure, not on the yoga mat, but on the road to my entrepreneurship(创业). It all began several years ago when I threw myself into the business, driven by my passion and a dream.
In the early days, optimism flowed freely, but financial struggles and sleepless nights soon followed. I questioned my decision and felt like the biggest failure. However, every difficulty became a stepping stone towards growth. I learned more from my failures than from my successes, adapting and growing stronger with each obstacle. I reached out to instructors, friends and family, sought advice and slowly saw a ray of hope. One defining moment came when I gained my first long-term coaching partnership. It was a breakthrough, and my hard work paid off. Over the years, I faced many more failures, but I refused to let them define me.
Today, looking back at my journey, I realize that moments of feeling like a failure were essential to my success. They taught me humility, perseverance and the value of hard work. They shaped me into a successful entrepreneur I am today—someone who doesn’t fear failure but embraces it as a necessary part of the path to success. As we approach the end of the year of graduation, remember that success is not about avoiding failure, but about how we rise after we fall. Let’s support each other on this journey called life. Stay positive, stay inspired and stay true to ourselves.
1. What is the function of paragraph 1?| A．To give the definition of failure. |
| B．To list some examples of failure. |
| C．To introduce the topic of the story. |
| D．To stress the importance of experience. |
| A．Internal motivation. | B．Advice from a coach. |
| C．Family financial crisis. | D．Encouragement from friends. |
| A．To teach is to learn. |
| B．A word spoken is past recalling. |
| C．Constant dropping wears away a stone. |
| D．Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. |
| A．Inspire us with his lessons. |
| B．Persuade us to major in business. |
| C．Recall the key moments of his entrepreneurship. |
| D．Advocate avoiding obstacles on the way to success. |
2 . Denmark retired after practicing medicine for 73 years and then volunteered her services until she couldn’t anymore. She died at the age of 114.
I met her by phone when the pediatrician (儿科医生) couldn’t figure out what was wrong with my baby. On the phone, she talked with me for more than 30 minutes. I took her advice, and my baby was better about 10 days later. She never charged me.
“You keep on doing what you do best as long as you can,” she was famous for the words. And it turned out her advice about actively helping others was as good as her medical advice.
Obviously, we can’t all live as long as Dr. Denmark. But recent research has shown that volunteering provides a longevity boost similar to the effects of adding multiple servings of fruits and vegetables to your daily diet. Specifically, older adults who volunteer are at 24 percent less risk of early death. The positive impact of giving and volunteering on older people goes beyond that. According to the research, adults over 55 who give their time for others have an easier time with everyday tasks. Besides, volunteers experience 250 percent less cognitive decline leading to dementia (痴呆).
According to a new study in the Journal of Happiness Studies, people who volunteer report higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction. The study took it a second step and followed people who began volunteering—monitoring their responses from the time they started volunteering. The longer they volunteered and the more they volunteered, the greater level of happiness they reported.
You may already be volunteering your time. But if you’re not, consider the charities you support. Think about the skills you might be able to offer them. You are likely to be glad about what you do.
1. What can we infer about Denmark?| A．She retired at the age of 73. | B．She volunteered for 73 years. |
| C．She was patient and professional. | D．She once forget to charge the author. |
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
| A．Seek support. | B．Advise about sharpening skills. |
| C．Offer solutions. | D．Encourage people to volunteer. |
| A．The kindness of a doctor. | B．The benefits of volunteering. |
| C．The process of being a volunteer. | D．The struggle of child-raising. |
3 . Michael stands in a circle with the other boys. At the center of it is Coach Dave, a former college wrestler, now wrestling coach. “I honestly believe each kid can win every match,” Coach Dave says. “And I tell them that.”
The mental strength gained from a coach is as important as physical strength. And Michael soaked it up. As a freshman, Michael lost half of his matches, but the next year the practice began to pay off, “It finally just clicks,” Michael says. “You walk onto the mat, and you know you’re going to win. When Coach Dave tells you how you are going to beat an opponent, you just go out and do it.”
At a tournament in Reno, Michael was ranked nationally and faced a wrestler from the Midwest ranked a few spots above him. In the final seconds of the match, ahead by one point, Michael clung to the lead while his opponent clung to his ankle, trying to get a takedown. Michael was hopping his way out of the circle to gain a restart. It’s the easy way out, like a boxer ducking out of the ring to get a breather and preserve a lead.With his back to his opponent, he took one more step. The opponent grabbed the other ankle, and Michael went down, Two points. Match over.
After the match, Dave asked one question, “Are you going to run away from challenges in life or turn and face them?” Michael knew exactly what he’d done wrong-and that it could become a lifelong flaw if he didn’t correct it. All he had to do was turn into his opponent and counterattack. “You’ll beat him next time,” Coach Dave said.
Eventually Michael won the tournament and won a lot of matches that year, but the encouragement from Dave is where he learned the most. “When someone believes in you like that, you know you can do it,” Michael says, “I often hear Coach Dave when I’m in tough situations. ‘No excuses, just do it.’ That encouragement has been my guide.”
1. What does the underlined part “soaked it up” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Got a chance. | B．Fully understood it. |
| C．Ate it up. | D．Built it up. |
| A．He escaped from the match. | B．He lost the match. |
| C．He beat his opponent. | D．He gave up the match. |
| A．Believing in yourself. | B．Correcting your mistakes. |
| C．Accepting your weaknesses. | D．Taking risks and fall. |
| A．Caring. | B．Humorous. | C．Inspiring. | D．Generous. |
4 . I will never forget the first dessert class at a cooking school in France, where a group of anxious dessert students (myself included) were tasked with preparing an apple pie. It looked simple enough, but I soon realized that it was as far from simple as it could be. However, my knife and I mastered this French classic, as well as dozens of others.
After graduating, I found a job at a modern American restaurant in Florida. Despite the restaurant’s tiny kitchen, I was excited to work under Sylvia, the executive chef (主厨). The first job she gave me was to make apple pies. I couldn’t have been more excited — until I realized these pies were actually in the form of a dumpling. But my education had made me stick to French tradition. It took me a minute to get comfortable with this way of cooking again. Slowly, I was forgetting my French tradition, and beginning to go with the flow more. The response from diners was good. Our desserts were sold out on most days.
Then one day, chef Sylvia gave me the chance to make a new dessert and planned to add it to the menu for a week. Surprised and touched by the chance, I decided to go all out. I created a seasonal citrus mousse (柑橘慕斯) made with Florida oranges and pistachio croquant (a crisp, delicate cookie). But after a week, the apple pie dumplings continued to far outsell my special dessert. A sense of frustration went inside of me.
It finally made me aware that there isn’t one “right” way to understand a cuisine, or set of ingredients (配料). Where one chef can look at apples, butter, and flour and see a French apple pie, another might see baked apple dumplings. Even though each person’s translation may be different, I think they all deserve a spot on the table. And that was the most important lesson I discovered, through something as seemingly simple as fruit and dough (生面团).
1. What makes the author feel surprised according to paragraph 2?| A．The tiny kitchen. |
| B．The shape of apple pies. |
| C．The restaurant’s tradition. |
| D．The French way of coking. |
| A．It wasn’t popular as expected. |
| B．It was thought highly of by Sylvia. |
| C．It was removed from the menu. |
| D．It built up the author‘s confidence. |
| A．Foods stand for cultures. |
| B．Ingredients matter to cooking. |
| C．There is no fixed way for cooking. |
| D．Understanding a cuisine is necessary. |
| A．A job affecting one’s life. |
| B．A new dessert on the menu. |
| C．A special class at a cooking school. |
| D．A lesson taken as a dessert chef. |
5 . Notre Dame was on fire, and I was desperately-looking for a photo that I took. In it, my husband, Jamie, is standing in front of the cathedral and smiling. We’re in Paris on our honeymoon, and can barely believe the good fortune of it all-being married, being in such a beautiful place, and being together. Ten years later, in 2018, I returned to Paris on my own. I carried Jamie’s ashes (骨灰) with me. Jamie died on February 4, 2017.
Notre Dame was on fire, and I desperately want it to survive. My 2018 trip to Paris involved a lot of walking and reflecting, trying to make sense of how my life turned out.I found a spot, sat in silence, and cried.I walked through the church, lit a candle in memory of Jamie and other people I missed, and eventually headed outside.I looked out on the lawn-the place where Jamie and I once sat as a newly-wed couple on our honeymoon, where I would soon spread his ashes.
Notre Dame was on fire, and I desperately want to talk to Jamie about it. Instead,I’m reminded once more that we can’t control things-no matter how hard we try or how much we believe. We can and should plan for the best, but we can never fully protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our loved places from the worst. At some point, we have to let go.
There’s hope in sadness. There always is. As I helplessly watched Notre Dame burn,I recalled T.S. Elio’s “Little Gidding”: “What we call the beginning is often the end , and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”
Notre Dame will be rebuilt. And so will I. I’ll keep rebuilding my life ,too.
1. When was the author on her honeymoon?| A．In 2000. | B．In 2008. | C．In 2010. | D．In 2018. |
| A．She wanted to make her future clear. |
| B．She intended to meet a newly-wed couple there. |
| C．She wanted to take a photo in front of Notre Dame. |
| D．She liked the style of Notre Dame Cathedral very much. |
| A．It needs her help to be rebuilt. | B．It represents her religious faith. |
| C．It shows her favourite artworks. | D．It carries her memories of the past time. |
| A．She didn’t want to recall the lost time. |
| B．She was still pessimistic about her life. |
| C．She felt disappointed at the fire in Notre Dame. |
| D．She was cheered up and wanted a new beginning. |
