When I was fourteen, I earned money in the summer by cutting lawns（草坪）, and within a few weeks I had built up a body of customers. I got to know people by the flowers they planted that I had to remember not to cut down, by the things they lost in the grass or struck in the ground on purpose. I reached the point with most of them when I knew in advance what complaint was about to be spoken, which request was most important. And I learned something about the measure of my neighbors by their preferred method of payment: by the job, by the month—or not at all.

Mr. Ballou fell into the last category, and he always had a reason why. On one day, he had no change for a fifty, on another he was flat out of checks, on another, he was simply out when I knocked on his door. Still, except for the money apart, he was a nice enough guy, always waving or tipping his hat when he’d seen me from a distance. I figured him for a thin retirement check, maybe a work-related injury that kept him from doing his own yard work. Sure, I kept track of the total, but I didn’t worry about the amount too much. Grass was grass, and the little that Mr. Ballou’s property comprised didn’t take long to trim (修剪).

Then, one late afternoon in mid-July, the hottest time of the year, I was walking by his house and he opened the door, mentioned me to come inside. The hall was cool, shaded, and it took my eyes a minute to adjust to the dim light. 

“I owe you,” Mr Ballou said, “but…”

I thought I’d save him the trouble of thinking of a new excuse. “No problem. Don’t worry about it.”

“The bank made a mistake in my account,” he continued, ignoring my words. “It will be cleared up in a day or two. But in the meantime I thought perhaps you could choose one or two volumes for a down payment.

He gestured toward the walls and I saw that books were stacked (堆放) everywhere. It was like a library, except with no order to the arrangement.

“Take your time,” Mr. Ballou encouraged. “Read, borrow, keep, or find something you like. What do you read?”

“I don’t know.” And I didn’t. I generally read what was in front of me, what I could get from the paperback stack at the drugstore, what I found at the library, magazines, the back of cereal boxes, comics. The idea of consciously seeking out a special title was new to me, but, I realized, not without appeal--- so I started to look through the piles of books.

“You actually read all of these?”

“This isn’t much,” Mr. Ballou said. “This is nothing, just what I’ve kept, the ones worth looking at a second time.”

“Pick for me, then.”

He raised his eyebrows, cocked his head, and regarded me as though measuring me for a suit. After a moment, he nodded, searched through a stack, and handed me a dark red hardbound book, fairly thick.

“The Last of the Just,” I read. “By Andre Schwarz-Bart. What’s it about?”

“You tell me,” he said. “Next week.”

I started after supper, sitting outdoors on an uncomfortable kitchen chair. Within a few pages, the yard, the summer, disappeared, and I was plunged into the aching tragedy of the Holocaust, the extraordinary clash of good, represented by one decent man, and evil. Translated from French, the language was elegant, simple, impossible to resist. When the evening light finally failed I moved inside, read all through the night.

To this day, thirty years later, I vividly remember the experience. It was my first voluntary encounter with world literature, and I was amazed by the concentrated power a novel could contain. I lacked the vocabulary, however, to translate my feelings into words, so the next week. When Mr. Ballou asked, “Well?” I only replied, “It was good?”

“Keep it, then,” he said. “Shall I suggest another?”

I nodded, and was presented with the paperback edition of Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa (a very important book on the study of the social and cultural development of peoples—anthropology (人类学) ).

To make two long stories short, Mr. Ballou never paid me a cent for cutting his grass that year or the next, but for fifteen years I taught anthropology at Dartmouth College. Summer reading was not the innocent entertainment I had assumed it to be, not a light-hearted, instantly forgettable escape in a hammock (吊床) (though I have since enjoyed many of those, too). A book, if it arrives before you at the right moment, in the proper season, at an internal in the daily business of things, will change the course of all that follows.

1.Before his encounter with Mr. Ballou, the author used to read _____________.

A．anything and everything                  B．only what was given to him

C．only serious novels                      D．nothing in the summer

2.The author found the first book Mr. Ballou gave him _____________.

A．light-hearted and enjoyable               B．dull but well written

C．impossible to put down                   D．difficult to understand

3.From what he said to the author we can guess that Mr. Ballou _______________.

A．read all books twice                     B．did not do much reading

C．read more books than he kept             D．preferred to read hardbound books

4.The following year the author _______________.

A．started studying anthropology at college

B．continued to cut Mr. Ballou’s lawn

C．spent most of his time lazing away in a hammock

D．had forgotten what he had read the summer before

5.The author’s main point is that _____________.

A．summer jobs are really good for young people

B．you should insist on being paid before you do a job

C．a good book can change the direction of your life

D．books are human beings’ best friends

When I was fourteen, I earned money in the summer by cutting lawns（草坪）, and within a few weeks I had built up a body of customers. I got to know people by the flowers they planted that I had to remember not to cut down, by the things they lost in the grass or struck in the ground on purpose. I reached the point with most of them when I knew in advance what complaint was about to be spoken, which particular request was most important. And I learned something about the measure of my neighbors by their preferred method of payment: by the job, by the month--- or not at all.

Mr. Ballou fell into the last category, and he always had a reason why. On one day, he had no  change for a fifty, on another he was flat out of checks, on another, he was simply out when I knocked on his door. Still, except for the money apart, he was a nice enough guy, always waving or tipping his hat when he’d see me from a distance. I figured him for a thin retirement check, maybe a work-relayed injury that kept him from doing his own yard work. Sure, I kept track of the total, but I didn’t worry about the amount too much. Grass was grass, and the little that Mr. Ballou’s property comprised didn’t take long to trim (修剪).

Then, one late afternoon in mid-July, the hottest time of the year, I was walking by his house and he opened the door, mentioned me to come inside. The hall was cool, shaded, and it took my eyes a minute to adjust to the dim light. 

“ I owe you,” Mr Ballou, “ but…”

I thought I’d save him the trouble of thinking of a new excuse. “ No problem. Don’t worry about it.”

“ The bank made a mistake in my account,” he continued, ignoring my words. “ It will be cleared up in a day or two . But in the meantime I thought perhaps you could choose one or two volumes for a down payment.

He gestured toward the walls and I saw that books were stacked (堆放) everywhere. It was like a library, except with no order to the arrangement.

“ Take your time,” Mr. Ballou encouraged. “Read, borrow, keep. Find something you like. What do you read?”

“ I don’t know.” And I didn’t. I generally read what was in front of me, what I could get from the paperback stack at the drugstore, what I found at the library, magazines, the back of cereal boxes, comics. The idea of consciously seeking out a special title was new to me, but, I realized, not without appeal--- so I started to look through the piles of books.

“ You actually read all of these?”

“ This isn’t much,” Mr. Ballou said. “ This is nothing, just what I’ve kept, the ones worth looking at a second time.”

“ Pick for me, then.”

He raised his eyebrows, cocked his head, and regarded me as though measuring me for a suit. After a moment, he nodded, searched through a stack, and handed me a dark red hardbound book, fairly thick.

“ The Last of the Just,” I read. “ By Andre Schwarz-Bart. What’s it about?” “ You tell me,” he said. “ Next week.”

I started after supper, sitting outdoors on an uncomfortable kitchen chair. Within a few pages, the yard, the summer, disappeared, and I was plunged into the aching tragedy of the Holocaust, the extraordinary clash of good, represented by one decent man, and evil. Translated from French, the language was elegant, simple, impossible to resist. When the evening light finally failed I moved inside, read all through the night,

To this day, thirty years later, I vividly remember the experience. It was my first voluntary encounter with world literature, and I was stunned (震惊) by the concentrated power a novel could contain. I lacked the vocabulary, however, to translate my feelings into words, so the next week. When Mr. Ballou asked, “ Well?” I only replied, “ It was good?”

“ Keep it, then,” he said. “ Shall I suggest another?”

I nodded, and was presented with the paperback edition of Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa ( a very important book on the study of the social and cultural development of peoples--- anthropology (人类学) ).

To make two long stories short, Mr. Ballou never paid me a cent for cutting his grass that year or the next, but for fifteen years I taught anthropology at Dartmouth College. Summer reading was not the innocent entertainment I had assumed it to be, not a light-hearted, instantly forgettable escape in a hammock (吊床) ( though I have since enjoyed many of those, too). A book, if it arrives before you at the right moment, in the proper season, at an internal in the daily business of things, will change the course of all that follows.

1..The author thought that Mr. Ballou was ______________.

A. rich but mean                         B. poor but polite

C. honest but forgettable                   D. strong but lazy

2.. Before his encounter with Mr. Ballou, the author used to read _____________.

   A. anything and everything                 B. only what was given to him

   C. only serious novels                     D. nothing in the summer

3.. The author found the first book Mr. Ballou gave him _____________.

   A. light-heated and enjoyable               B. dull but well written

   C. impossible to put down                  D. difficult to understand

4.. From what he said to the author we can gather that Mr. Ballou _______________.

   A. read all books twice                    B. did not do much reading

   C. read more books than he kept             D. preferred to read hardbound books

5.. The following year the author _______________.

   A. started studying anthropology at college    B. continued to cut Mr. Ballou’s lawn

   C. spent most of his time lazing away in a hammock

   D. had forgotten what he had read the summer before

6.. The author’s main point is that _____________.

   A. summer jobs are really good for young people

   B. you should insist on being paid before you do a job

   C. a good book can change the direction of your life

   D. a book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

　　There is that strong conviction in life that one can learn from failure, figure out what went wrong and correct it. One has the power to change.

　　Scrutiny （反思） of defeat is critical. One has to confront his failure to avoid repeating it.

　　There are four most common reasons for failure:

　　（1） Lack of social skills. You can have academic intelligence and still lack social intelligence.

　　This is the ability to be a good listener, to be sensitive to others, to give and take criticisms well.

　　People with high social intelligence admit their mistakes, take their share of blame and move on. They can get over serious mistakes.

　　Social intelligence is an acquired skill. The more one practices, the better he gets. Like good manners, it can be learned.

　　（2） Absence of commitment （许诺，保证）.If a lawyer readily admits that he really has not achieved his expectations, he finds an excuse for himself against failure by never really trying.

　　Lack of confidence is a basic cause of failure. To be committed , indeed , to be successful at anything, one has to believe he can do it. People who lack self-confidence , although they may do all the right things , often say them with a question mark in their voices.

　　One can get better at projecting a sense of self-confidence, even if he does not really feel it. Like an actor in play, one has to monitor his voice and actions to be sure he/she sounds self-confident.

　　（3） Scattered focus. Some people do so many things that they end up doing none of them well. They try to do many things that they lose focus and fail to settle priorities （优先考虑的事）. Whatever activity that strikes their fancy at a given time is the one that they would attend to. The solution to this is to refocus, sort what one does best; to recognize limitations and establish prioritiesall these are essential to success.

　　（4） Bad luck. Many times , things happen that one just cannot help. In his job , though no fault of his own , he is forced out or fired without due process.

　　What must be done? First , do not blame yourself if anything wrong happens. Second , remember that you always have choices, even if some are not obvious.

　　Smart people should not feel downhearted when they fail. The best of people experience that. What is most special is learning from failureand smart people should learn that.

1．If one has high social skill, ________.

[　　]

A．he can get high mark in the examination

B．he will never make mistakes

C．he will have a good sense of hearing

D．he can give criticism in a suitable way

2．When one is fired without due process , though no fault of his own in his job , ________.

[　　]

A．he should blame himself deeply

B．he should believe there are still opportunities in the life

C．he should condemn the boss severely in public

D．he should beg the boss mercy

3．Successful people are those ________when they make mistakes.

[　　]

A．who lose their confidence

B．who criticize others severely

C．who face them bravely and try to avoid repeating them

D．who never take responsibilities

4．Which is the moral lesson contained here?

[　　]

A．Avoid failures at all costs.

B．Failure can be a stepping stone to success.

C．Take failure lightly.

D．Failure is necessary.

5．One can get better at projecting a sense of self-confidence, even if he does not really feel it. The underlined word in this sentence most probably means ________.

[　　]

What I’ve noticed about some very successful business owners is that they are always learning and growing.

For your business to be better you need to be better and, you don’t get better by doing nothing!

You are the average of the five PEOPLE you hang around with most. Surround yourself with people whom you want to be like.

To do this you may have to get right out of your comfort zone and join in a coaching program, go along to seminars(专题讨论会) where you can meet other like-minded people or those playing at a higher level of business than you.

There’s no excuse not to get off your butt and learn your way to success. Regardless of where you are located events are taking place all around the country regularly as well as online. Saying you have “no money” or “no time” is not a good enough excuse.

For many business owners they spend their whole lives using these excuses and going nowhere. Don’t focus on where you are now, but where you want to be. You’ll find the money and the time if you seriously want to change.

You ongoing learning can take you from struggling along to soaring high in all areas of your life.

It’s been nearly six months since you made those New Year decisions to make changes in your business and your life.

Are you getting the results you wanted?

Is your business more profitable?

Do you have more free time?

Is the quality of your life improving?

Is your answer “yes”, then take a look at why that is. What have you been doing to get these results? And if you’re not moving ahead, seriously look at why that is. When’s the last time you read a book, listened to a CD, got coached or attended a seminar to learn how to do things better?

The people I know who are getting great results in their business and personal lives are always learning and growing.

You are the Secret to Your Success, so do everything within your power to invest in yourself.

66. All the following ways can contribute to your business EXCEPT ___________.

A.      getting in touch with successful people

B.      not dreaming of living a comfortable life

C.      avoiding finding unnecessary excuses

D.     deciding to change your present life

67. The underlined phrase “get off your butt” in Paragraph 5 probably means _________.

A.      stop being lazy and start doing something useful

B.      leave for a place where you want to go

C.      do something as you like

D.     shoot an object

68.   According to the passage, the most important thing to success is __________.

A.        making a plan ahead of time

B.        attending important meetings often

C.        making changes when necessary

D.       keeping learning all the time

69.   Why does the writer write the word “people” in capital letters in Paragraph Three?

A.        People are supposed to set higher goals.

B.        It’s sometimes difficult to change a person.

C.        Average people are easy to get along with.

D.       You don’t get better by doing something.

70.   What would be the best title for this passage?

A.        Failure is the Mother of Success

B.        Successful Business Owners

C.        Learn Your Way to Success

D.       No More any Excuses