It’s good to make mistakes, and here is why.
First of all, mistakes are a clear sign that you are trying new things. It’s always good to try new things because when you are trying new things you are growing. If you never try anything new, how can you improve? How can you expand? The simple answer is “You can’t”. Look around you. With very few exceptions, either everything you see in your physical world or every single detail of every single thing is the result of someone trying something new.
Another good thing about mistakes is this: When you are making mistakes, you are learning. Consider this: Edison failed 10,000 times before he perfected the light bulb. When asked how it felt to fail that many times, he said that he hadn’t failed 10,000 times, but rather had learned 10,000 things that didn’t work．
Finally, when you make a mistake you are much closer to success. Why?
Because when all is said and done, you will have tried some number of things before you succeeded. Every time you make a mistake you eliminate one of those things and are one step closer.
But this all doesn’t mean that you should go ahead without considering the consequences of a mistake. Quite the contrary, when you try something new you have to be willing to set some reasonable limits so that in the event that it doesn’t work out the way you want it to, you will be in a position to try again.
We all have limited resources in the form of time and money so don’t blow them all on one approach to a problem. Realize that it probably won’t be perfect the first time and allocate (分配) these resources appropriately so you can learn, make corrections, and try it again. Only by accepting and using your mistakes in this way can you make significant advances in your business and your career．
There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough．”
So go forth and make mistakes. And learn. And grow. And prosper（成功）．
【小题1】From the second paragraph, we can conclude that _______．

A．mistakes are unnecessary for development

B．we are afraid of trying new things

C．it’s common for people to make mistakes

D．mistakes are better than not trying

【小题2】 The underlined word “eliminate” means _______．

A．avoid

B．Remove

C．accept

D．solve

【小题3】. According to the article, one thing you should pay attention to about making mistakes is   ．

A．avoiding making the same mistakes

B．accepting the punishment willingly

C．taking consequences into account

D．trying things out one by one

【小题4】. What would the writer probably suggest we say to ourselves when we make a mistake?

A．Never mind, I can always try again．

B．I’d better stay out of trouble．

C．Ok! Now I can learn something．

D．Look at this mess. Anyone would be upset．

— Another cup of coffee?

— No, thanks. I think I’d better ______ for the airport immediately.

A．set up

B．set down

C．set off

D．set about

 

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从下面各题所给的四个选项（A，B，C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

The party began shortly after Mr. Wood, who lived in the flat below, sighed to himself as he heard excited voices and the noisy music. Luckily he had  36  some work home from the office,   37   he kept himself busy for a couple of hours, thus managing to pay no attention to the noise  38. But by eleven o’clock he felt 39 and was ready to go to bed, though from his earlier experience he knew it was  40  trying to get to sleep. He undressed and lay for a while on the bed, trying to read, but he  41  himself reading the same page over and over again. He then turned off the light and  42  his head in the pillow. But 43  he could not shut  44  the noise, finally, after 45 seemed hours, his 46 was gone.

He jumped out of bed, 47 some clothing, marched 48 up the stairs, and walked into his neighbor’s flat. The owner of the flat, who 49 him in his dressing gown, came 50 the room and,51 Mr. Wood could say anything, cried, “My dear fellow, come and 52. I know our parties 53 you. I meant to send you 54” Mr. Wood’s anger disappeared then and there. He said, “I’d better go and get 55 . Minutes later, he returned, properly dressed, only to find that the party was nearly over.

A. taken           B. carried           C. brought           D. fetched

A. with which          B. from which        C. where             D. when

A. outside             B. overhead          C. downstairs        D. nearby

A. bad            B. tired             C. sick              D. hopeless

A. useless             B. necessary         C. possible            D. helpful

A. had            B. found             C. caught             D. felt

A. buried         B. rested            C. shook                 D. turned

．A. till then              B. worse still       C. strange enough        D. even so

．A. away               B. off            C. down                 D. up

A. it                  B. what         C. that              D. which

A. sleep               B. strength        C. patience                D. anger

A. pulled on           B. dressed up      C. selected                D. wore

A. sadly               B. proudly       C. quietly               D. firmly

A. made fun of         B. stared at         C. was angry with      D. caught sight of

A. across              B. around       C. towards            D. by

A. as                  B. before       C. though             D. until

A. meet as             B. sit here          C. join us               D. scold me

A. should bother       B. would bother      C. need bother      D. shall bother

．A. a notice          B. a message      C. an invitation        D. an apology

A. washed         B. changed           C. dressed               D. prepared

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.

One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, saying, “You don’t say！”“You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic. ”So I said to him, “well, shall we talk about the Great Wall?” By the way, have you ever been there? “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was magnificent（壮丽的）.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide, “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his order “You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking .I said, “Didn’t you say you don’t say?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “You don’t say actually means really? It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.” Only then did I make a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expression.

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because     .

       A. English idioms were too difficult to master

       B. I cared little about the teacher’s instruction

       C. my teacher didn’t emphasize the importance

       D. I had no interest in English learning

When I first heard “You don’t say!” I thought     .

       A. the Englishman was not interested in my English

       B. the Englishman was only interested in the Great Wall.

       C. I had talked too much

       D. I had to stop talking at once

Which of the following is true?

       A. The Englishman was leaving China without seeing the Great Wall.

B. The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it.

       C. The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide.

       D. The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting

After the Englishman explained the idiom, ___   .

       A. the Englishman made me a fool

       B. the Englishman made a fool of himself

       C. I felt very silly

       D.I felt proud of my understanding

As I was leaving to meet Lynne，my roommate told me that I’d better take some money，but I didn’t listen to him. I thought that Lynne would pay because she had invited me.

I arrived at the restaurant exactly on time. I’d been told that Americans expect you to be on time. Lynne and I sat at a table in the corner of the restaurant and a waitress came and took our order. The dinner was a great success. I talked a lot about Saudi Arabia and Lynne told me all about herself. After two hours the waitress finally came and asked if we wanted one check or two. Lynne said two. We went to the cashier and Lynne paid her check. I was embarrassed (尴尬) when the cashier gave me my bill. I had no money to pay for my meal. Then I had an idea. I pretended to look for something in my pockets and said，“Oh！I forgot my money! Can I call my roommate，please？” The cashier showed me where the phone was and I quickly called my roommate.

In a few minutes he arrived with some money，but he couldn’t hide how he felt. He laughed all the way home.

Now，I think it’s funny too. But at the time I was terribly embarrassed. I thought that an invitation to have dinner meant the same thing in the United States as in my country. I guess you have to understand that your customs（习俗） are only your customs. When you visit a foreign country，you have to learn about their customs，too.

1.Customs can be ________in different countries according to this passage.

A. entirely different                B. close to each other

C. quite the same                                          D. very similar

2.The writer’s roommate advised the writer to take some money with him to________.

A. invite Lynne to dinner                             B. pay for the table

C. pay for the restaurant             D. share the cost of the meal

3.The writer and Lynne________.

A. had a talk for three hours

B. shared a successful dinner

C. traveled to Saudi Arabia together

D. enjoyed their meal without talking

4.Why didn’t Lynne pay the check for the writer?

A. Because she didn’t have the meal.

B. Because she thought it was natural for people to pay their own check.

C. Because she wanted to embarrass the writer.

D. Because she didn’t have enough money with her.

5.The roommate laughed all the way home because the writer________.

A. would not listen to him when he left the house

B. was embarrassed when he couldn’t pay his breakfast

C. telephoned him to bring some books to him

D. hadn’t told Lynne the truth