Why are so many people so afraid of failure? Simply because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes an experience that will lead to growth. We forget that failure is part of the human condition and that every person has the right to fail.

Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards. A mother describes her child’s poorly made table as “Perfect!” even though it doesn’t stand still. Another way is to shift (转移) blame. If John fails science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.

The trouble with failure-prevention ways is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world. The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time and that it’s possible to enjoy a game even when you don’t win. A child who’s not invited to a birthday party, who doesn’t make the honor list on the baseball team, feels terrible, of course. But parents should not offer a quick comfort, prize or say, “It doesn’t matter” because it does. The young should be allowed to experience disappointment — and be helped to master it.

Failure is never pleasurable. It hurts grown-ups and children alike. But it can make a positive contribution to your life once you learn to use it. Step one is to ask “Why did I fail?” Don’t blame someone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong and how you can improve. If someone else can help, don’t be shy about inquiring.

Success, which encourages repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure. You can learn from a bad party how to give a good one, from an ill-chosen first house what to look for in a second. Even a failure that seems definitive can create fresh thinking, a change of direction. After 12 years of studying ballet a friend of mine took an interview for a professional company. She was turned down. “Would further training help?” she asked. The ballet master shook his head. “You will never be a dancer,” he said, “You haven’t the body for it.”

In such cases, the way to use failure is to take assessment bravely and ask, “What have I left? What else can I do?” My friend put away her shoes and moved into dance treatment center, a field where she’s both able and useful. Failure frees one to take risks because there’s less to lose. Often there is recovery of energy— a way to find new possibilities.

1. The first paragraph tells us ______.

       A. the reason why so many people are afraid of failure

       B. the reason why we don’t know how to fail

       C. failure is very natural for every person

       D. one should be ready to face failure at any time

2. The second paragraph tells us ______.

       A. how a mother praised her children

       B. two ways of failure prevention most parents used when their children fail

       C. how to shift blame

       D. parents should blame their children at the proper time

3. According to the author, what should a child know in the real world?

       A. Ways to avoid failure.

       B. No one can be best all the time at everything.

       C. No parents should offer quick comforts.

D. He can get pleasure as well as success.

Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed．One way is to lower standards．A mother describes her child's hand-made table as perfect, even though it doesn't stand still．Another way is to shift（转移）blame．If John fails science，his teacher is unfair or stupid．

The trouble with failure-prevention devices is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world．The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything，no one can win all the time—and that it's possible to enjoy a game even when they don't win．A child who's not invited to a birthday party，who doesn't make the honor roll on the baseball team，feels terrible，of course．But parents should not offer a quick consolation（安慰），prize or say，“It doesn't matter．because it does．The young should be allowed to experience disappointment—and be helped to master it．

Failure is never pleasurable．It hurts grown-ups and children alike．But it can make a positive（有益的）contribution to your life once you learn to use it．Step one is to ask “Why did I fail？”

Don't blame someone else．Ask yourself what you did wrong，how you can improve．If someone else can help，don't be shy about inquiring（咨询）．Success，which encourages repetition of old behavior，is not nearly as good a teacher as failure．You can learn from a bad party how to give a good one，from an ill-chosen first house what to look for in a second ．Even a failure that seems definitive can prompt fresh thinking，a change of direction．After 12 years of studying ballet a friend of mine auditioned（面试）for a professional company．She was turned down．“Would further training help？she asked．The ballet master shook his head．“You will never b
e a dancer，” he said，“you haven't the body for it．”?

In such cases，the way to use failure is to take stock（鉴定）bravely asking．“What have I left？What else can I do？My friend put away her shoes and moved into dance treatment center，a field where she's both able and useful．Failure frees one to take risks because there's less to lose．Often there is recovery（恢复）of energy ─ a way to find new possibilities．

1．The second paragraph tells us ____ ．

A．how a mother praised her children

B．two ways of failure prevention most parents used when their children fail

C．how to shift（转移）blame

D．parents should blame their children at the proper time．

2．According to the author，what should a child know in the real world？

A．He should be equipped for life．

B．No one can be best all the time at everything．

C．No parents should offer quick consolations．

D．He can get pleasure from failure as well as success．

3．The underlined word “prompt” in the fifth paragraph can be best replaced by“____”．?

A．improve B．prevent C．continue D．cause

4．From the passage we know that ____ can affect one's life greatly once he learns to use it．

A．success B．disappointment C．failure D．value

Why are so many people so afraid of failure？Quite simply because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes an experience that will lead to growth．We forget that failure is part of the human condition and that every person has the right to fail．

Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed．One way is to lower standards．A mother describes her child's hand-made table as perfect, even though it doesn't stand still．Another way is to shift（转移）blame．If John fails science，his teacher is unfair or stupid．

The trouble with failure-prevention devices is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world．The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything，no one can win all the time—and that it's possible to enjoy a game even when they don't win．A child who's not invited to a birthday party，who doesn't make the honor roll on the baseball team，feels terrible，of course．But parents should not offer a quick consolation（安慰），prize or say，“It doesn't matter．because it does．The young should be allowed to experience disappointment—and be helped to master it．

Failure is never pleasurable．It hurts grown-ups and children alike．But it can make a positive（有益的）contribution to your life once you learn to use it．Step one is to ask “Why did I fail？”

Don't blame someone else．Ask yourself what you did wrong，how you can improve．If someone else can help，don't be shy about inquiring（咨询）．Success，which encourages repetition of old behavior，is not nearly as good a teacher as failure．You can learn from a bad party how to give a good one，from an ill-chosen first house what to look for in a second ．Even a failure that seems definitive can prompt fresh thinking，a change of direction．After 12 years of studying ballet a friend of mine auditioned（面试）for a professional company．She was turned down．“Would further training help？she asked．The ballet master shook his head．“You will never be a dancer，” he said，“you haven't the body for it．”?

In such cases，the way to use failure is to take stock（鉴定）bravely asking．“What have I left？What else can I do？My friend put away her shoes and moved into dance treatment center，a field where she's both able and useful．Failure frees one to take risks because there's less to lose．Often there is recovery（恢复）of energy ─ a way to find new possibilities．

1．The second paragraph tells us ____ ．

A．how a mother praised her children

B．two ways of failure prevention most parents used when their children fail

C．how to shift（转移）blame

D．parents should blame their children at the proper time．

2．According to the author，what should a child know in the real world？

A．He should be equipped for life．

B．No one can be best all the time at everything．

C．No parents should offer quick consolations．

D．He can get pleasure from failure as well as success．

3．The underlined word “prompt” in the fifth paragraph can be best replaced by“____”．?

A．improve B．prevent C．continue D．cause

4．From the passage we know that ____ can affect one's life greatly once he learns to use it．

A．success B．disappointment C．failure D．value

    One afternoon，many years ago，I went to pick up my mother from work．I got there a little early so I   16   the car by the roadside，across the street from where she worked and waited for her．

     As I looked out of the car window to my right, there was a small park where I saw a little boy  17  one and a half to two years old,   18  freely on the grass as his mother watched him from a short distance．The boy had a big smile on his face  19  he had just been set free from prison．The boy would then fall to the grass，get up，and without  20  ．run as fast as he could，

again，  21   with smile on his face，as if nothing had happened．

     22  ，with kids(especially at all early age)，when they fall down，they don't perceive(认识到)their falling down as a(n)   23  ，but instead, they treat it as a learning   24   ，as just another outcome(后果)．They will try and try again until they   25  ．The answer must be that they have not   26  “falling down”with the word“failure”yet．Thus they don’t  know how to feel the state which accompanies failure．What's more，they probably think that it is perfectly okay to fall down，and that ifs not   27  to do so．In other words，they give themselves   28  to make mistakes subconsciously(潜意识地)．Thus they remain   29  ．

    While I was touched by the boy’s  persistence(坚持不懈)，I was   30   touched by the manner in which he ran．With each  31  ，he looked so confident and so natural．No  32  of fear, of nervousness，or of being discouraged…as if he didn’t    33  the world around him．His only  34  was to run freely and to do it as effectively as he could．I learned a lot from that observation and experience，and had successfully brought that   35   with me in my many pursuits(追求)in life．