Question

“Success begins with belief and ends with doubt.”—Larina Kase

I remember reading through a book and the author was writing about being a reverse paranoid. In that particular section he mentions how he has a belief that the world he’s living in is out to give him everything he absolutely wants and desires.

There are times when I think to myself，“Wow，the world is out to get me and make me miserable.” Then I thought，why can’t I believe that the world is out to make me a better conversationalist. Then I started adapting to the belief of the reverse paranoia.

When I started talking to people，I truly believed that I was the most interesting person in the room. I believed that everything I said added value to the conversation. I believed that people stayed behind and chatted with me because they found me charismatic.

As a matter of fact, for about five months I wrote down on my bathroom mirror the following affirmation：“People love me and respect me. It is a privilege to talk to me. People find me interesting and charming and always want to get to know me better！”

I would say the affirmation after I brushed my teeth. And I would continue to say it until I felt completely great about myself. There were days that I just wouldn’t feel like saying it，because it would feel like a lie to me. But that’s the trouble，like the quote says，success ends when there’s doubt. And that’s why I continued until I had no doubt in my mind.

Then strange things happened，I noticed that people did find me more interesting，and that I gained more confidence in talking with people. I was more assertive(坚定自信的) at work. I was able to control politics and gossip at work to minimal levels，and became a much better manager，and developed better customer relations to the point that sales were up by 20% compared to the year before，on my best month sales were up by 39%，and this was a year that a recession was happening.

1.The main purpose of the author is to________.

A．explain how to be a reverse paranoid

B．share his personal experience in success

C．tell us the importance of positive thinking

D．advise us how to improve our communication skills

2.Before the author started adapting to the belief of the reverse paranoia，he used to ________.

A．believe the world would give him anything he desired

B．have a negative attitude towards life

C．have a strong belief in the world

D．live a miserable life

3.Sometimes the author didn’t feel like saying his affirmation because________.

A．it didn’t work as he had expected

B．he had become enthusiastic about conversations

C．he had felt great about himself

D．it didn’t sound true to himself

4.We can infer from the last paragraph that the author________.

A．didn’t believe what had happened at work

B．didn’t get along with others at work

C．had his performance at work affected by the recession

D．made great progress due to his affirmation

Answer 1