2 . Did you know that swimming can provide you with the tools you need for achieving success later in life? The following life lessons aren’t things you can be taught in a classroom. They are drawn from the count-less hours we spend swimming in the clean water.
Having big goals is necessary to achieve success in the pool. Sometimes those big goals can be our worst enemy, however. You need to start with short-term goals. Sometimes taking baby steps can be too slow for some people, making them annoyed, but successful swimmers know that this slow progress provides an accumulated effect that has a huge impact in the mid and long term. Success in the pool — and life — is achieved step by step, mistake by mistake, small win by small win.
Swimming tests your mental limits. I cannot count how many times I watched the coach write a set of training plans on the board and felt myself holding back deep inside, mind racing, with thoughts of how badly I was going to die over the course of the set. But then what happened? I pulled it off. I started the set, and talked myself through it. “Hey, this isn’t so bad.” A little bit later, “Okay, halfway done.” And finally, “I am going to achieve the goal!”
The reality is you never know how tough you are until you are in the race, reaching that goal even though a few minutes earlier you were mentally shaking in your swimming suit. This carries really well into the other challenges you will face in your life. We always think we aren’t capable, that swimming or life finally beats us, but believe it or not, you will always be as strong as you need to be.
1. Why does the author think that sometimes big goals can be harmful?
| A．Swimmers will feel annoyed at their slow progress. |
| B．Big goals need a long annoying term to achieve. |
| C．Small but necessary steps can be easily ignored. |
| D．More mistakes are needed to achieve bigger goals. |
2. What was the author nervous about when seeing the set on the board?
| A．Losing his life in the race. | B．Failing to reach the goal. |
| C．Drinking the water in the pool. | D．Finishing the race halfway. |
3. What does the phrase “pulled it off” in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．Left the place. | B．Took it off. | C．Made it. | D．Gave it up. |
4. What Can be the best title for the text?
| A．Confidence is what you need to reach your goal |
| B．Life lessons you will learn from swimming |
| C．Swimming can make you tough in life |
| D．Small goals add up to big success |
