Question

Last week, my granddaughter started kindergarten, and I wished her every success. But part of me didn’t. I actually wanted her to fail in some ways because I believe that failure can be good for our learning process. Success is proving that you can do something that you already know you can do, or doing something correctly the first time, which can often be a problematic (存在问题的) victory. First-time success is usually a fluke (侥幸). First-time failure, however, is supposed to be the natural order of things. Failure is how we learn.

In Africa they describe a good cook as “She who has broken many pots.” If you’ve spent enough time in the kitchen to have broken a lot of pots, probably you know a fair amount about cooking. I once had dinner with a group of cooks, and they spent time comparing knife wounds and burn scars. They knew how much credibility (可信) their failures gave them.

I earn my living by writing a daily newspaper column. Each week I know that one column I write is going to be the worst column. I try my best every day. I have learned to love that column. A successful column usually means that I am discussing my familiar topic, writing in a style I am used to or saying the same things as anyone else but in a better way.

My younger daughter is a trapeze artist (荡秋千演员). She spent three years practising a show, and she did it successfully for years. There was no reason for her to change it but she did anyway. She said she was no longer learning anything new and she was bored. And if she was bored, there was no point in subjecting (使……服从于) her body to all that stress. She risked failure and great public embarrassment in order to feed her soul.

My granddaughter is a perfectionist. She will feel her failures, and I will want to comfort her. But I will also, I hope, remind her of what she learned, and how she can do better next time. I hope I can tell her, though, that it’s not the end of the world. Indeed, with luck, it is the beginning.

1.Why did the author want his granddaughter to fail?

A. She would learn more from failure.

B. He wanted her to be strong enough to face hardships.

C. It’s impossible to do everything successfully.

D. Success is boring though good.

2.What’s the author’s attitude toward his daughter changing her show?

A. Negative.B. Worried.C. Anxious.D. Positive.

3.The author develops the article mainly by ________.

A. following the time order

B. giving examples

C. comparing different opinions

D. giving a cause and analyzing its effects

4.The writer talked about his own experience to show that ________.

A. past failures made him dare not take risks in writing

B. we should try every possible way to avoid failure

C. the thought of failure will make you work even harder

D. we cannot depend on luck to live a good life

Answer 1