Make Up Your Mind to Succeed

Kind-hearted parents have unknowingly left their children defenseless against failure. The generation born between 1980 and 2001 grew up playing sports where scores and performance were played down because “everyone’s winter.” And their report cards sounded more positive(正面的) than ever before. As a result, Stanford University professor Carol Dweck, PhD, calls them “the overpraised generation.”
    Dweck has been studying how people deal with failure for 40 years．Her research has led her to find out two clearly different mind-sets that have a great effect on how we react to it. Here’s how they work:
    A fixed mind-set is grounded in the belief that talent(才能) is genetic—you’re a born artist, point guard, or numbers person. The fixed mind-set believes it’s sure to succeed without much effort and regards failure as personal shame. When things get difficult, it’s quick to blame, lie, and even stay away from future difficulties.
    On the other hand, a growth mind-set believes that no talent is entirely heaven-sent and that effort and learning make everything possible. Because the ego(自尊) isn’t on the line as much, the growth mind-set sees failure as a chance rather than shame. When faced with a difficulty, it’s quick to rethink, change and try again. In fact, it enjoys this experience.
    We are all born with growth mind-sets. (Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to live in the world.) But parents, teachers, and instructors often push us into fixed mind-sets by encouraging certain actions and misdirecting praise. Dweck’s book, Mind-set: The New Psychology of Success, and online instructional program explain this in depth. But she says there are many little things you can start doing today to make sure that your children, grandchildren and even you are never defeated by failure.

68. What does the author think about the present generation?
       A. They don’t do well at school.              B. They are often misunderstood.
       C. They are eager to win in sports.            D. They are given too much praise.

69. A fixed mind-set person is probably one who               .
       A. doesn’t want to work hard              B. cares a lot about personal safety
       C. cannot share his ideas with others          D. can succeed with the help of teachers

70. What does the growth mind-set believe?
       A. Admitting failure is shameful.               B. Talent comes with one’s birth.
       C. Scores should be highly valued.             D. Getting over difficulties is enjoyable.
71. What should parents do for their children based on Dweck’s study?
       A. Encourage them to learn from failures.      B. Prevent them from making mistakes.
       C. Guide them in doing little things.             D. Help them grow with praise.

Emily was a very big fan of animals when she was a child. As a result, all she ever heard about growing up was "Emily, you should be a  36 _. You're going to be great in that field. That's what you should do.” _37 when she got to the Ohio State University, she took biology, anatomy, and chemistry, and started studying to be a vet.

A Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship(奖学金) allowed her to spend her 38 year studying abroad in Manchester, England. Away from the family and 39 from them, she found herself one day sitting at her desk, surrounded by biology books and staring out the window, when it suddenly hit her: "I'm in total 40 _. I don't want to be a vet!"

 41 she thought back over all the things she'd done in her life and what had made her happy. And then it hit her -- it was all of the youth leadership conferences(会议) that she had volunteered  42  and the communications and leadership courses she had taken as selective courses back at Ohio State.  "How could I have been so 43 ? Here I am in my fourth year at school and just finally realizing I'm on the_ 44 path. I just never took the time to 45  it until now,” she thought.

Inspired by her new 46 , Emily spent the rest of her year in England taking courses in communications and media studies. When 47 to Ohio State, she was eventually able to 48_    the administration(管理部门) to let her create her own program in "leadership studies", _49 it took her 2 years longer to finally graduate. She  50 to become a senior management consultant in leadership training and development for the Pentagon. She  51 founded a drug-prevention organization that conveys(传达) the __52__ "Lead your own life with the skill and the_ 53 to say no."

So, never live someone else's _54  . If you limit your _55 only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want.

36．A. teacher                 B. vet                C. doctor                  D. nurse

37．A. For                       B. But                        C. So                    D. Or 

38．A. final               B. usual                     C. first                      D. past

39．A. promise                B. warning                 C. complaint             D. pressure

40．A. pain                      B. silence                  C. confidence            D. surprise

41．A. Perhaps               B. Instead                  C. Then                  D. Often

42．A. of                          B. at                 C. with                     D. on

43．A. disturbed              B. intelligent                C. ignorant(无知的) D. inspired

44．A. clear                    B. wrong              C. short                     D. wide

45．A. permit                   B. admit              C. accomplish          D. complete

46．A. understanding                                        B. discovery             C. research       D. information  

47．A. relating                 B. referring               C. responding       D. returning 

48．A. prepare                B. convince           C. force                   D. forbid     

49．A. though                                         B. as                                C. if                  D. once

50．A. employed             B. failed                     C. continued         D. retired         

51．A. still                       B. also                      C. again                    D. only

52．A. message                                      B. signal                          C. sign              D. word

53．A. will                        B. chance                 C. fact                       D. pride

54．A. promises               B. dreams            C. requests             D. successes

55．A. smiles                    B. reasons                C. mistakes               D. choices

Catch yourself daydreaming while washing the dishes again? If this happens often you probably have a pretty capable working memory and a sharper brain, new research suggests.

This mind wandering, it seems, actually gives your working memory a workout. Working memory is the mental work space that allows the brain to juggle multiple thoughts at the same time. The more working memory a person has, the more daydreaming they can do without forgetting the task at hand.

Researchers studied groups of people from the University of Wisconsin－Madison community, ranging in age from 18 to 65. The volunteers were asked to perform simple tasks, like pressing a button every time they took a breath or clicking in response to a letter popping up on a computer screen; these tasks were so easy that their minds were likely to wander, the researchers figured.

The researchers checked in periodically, asking the participants if their minds were on task or wandering. When the task was over, they measured each participant's working memory capacity by having them remember letters while doing math questions. Though all participants performed well on the task, the researchers noticed that the individuals who indicated their minds had wandered more than others also scored higher on the working memory test.

“What this study seems to suggest is that, when circumstances for the task aren't very difficult, people who have additional working memory resources allocate them to think about things other than what they're doing，” said Jonathan Smallwood, a study researcher of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitve and Brain Science.

When our minds run out of working memory, these off－topic thoughts can take the main stage without us consciously meaning them to; for instance, arriving at home with no memory of the actual trip, or suddenly realizing that they've turned several pages in a book without understanding any of the words.

“It's almost like your attention was so absorbed in the mind wandering that there wasn't any left over to remember your goal to read，” study researcher Daniel Levinson, said in a statement.

People with overall higher working memory were better able to stay focused when the task at hand required it. Those who had low working memory often had their thoughts drift away from the task, and did less well at it.

The findings add to past research suggesting these mind drifts can be positive moments. For instance, daydreaming has often been associated with creativity—researchers think that our most creative and inventive moments come when daydreaming. It's likely that the most intelligent among us also have high levels of working memory, Levinson noted.

1.The word “juggle” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “________”．

A. handle  B. search  C. understand  D. distribute

2.What can be concluded from Jonathan Smallwood's words?

A. People who often have daydreams probably own a pretty capable working memory.

B. On the working memory test, people with wandering minds will get high score.

C. Absorbed in the mind wandering, your attention left no space for your goal.

D. Dealing with some easy jobs, people with higher working memory will daydream.

3.What is the best title of the passage?

A. Mind drifts are always positive.

B. Daydreaming is good for the mind.

C. Creative moments come with working memory.

D. The more daydreaming, the more effectively one works.

Catch yourself daydreaming while washing the dishes again? If this happens often you probably have a pretty capable working memory and a sharper brain, new research suggests.

This mind wandering, it seems, actually gives your working memory a workout. Working memory is the mental work space that allows the brain to juggle multiple thoughts at the same time. The more working memory a person has, the more daydreaming they can do without forgetting the task at hand.

Researchers studied groups of people from the University of Wisconsin－Madison community, ranging in age from 18 to 65. The volunteers were asked to perform simple tasks, like pressing a button every time they took a breath or clicking in response to a letter popping up on a computer screen; these tasks were so easy that their minds were likely to wander, the researchers figured.

The researchers checked in periodically, asking the participants if their minds were on task or wandering. When the task was over, they measured each participant's working memory capacity by having them remember letters while doing math questions. Though all participants performed well on the task, the researchers noticed that the individuals who indicated their minds had wandered more than others also scored higher on the working memory test.

“What this study seems to suggest is that, when circumstances for the task aren't very difficult, people who have additional working memory resources allocate them to think about things other than what they're doing，” said Jonathan Smallwood, a study researcher of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitve and Brain Science.

When our minds run out of working memory, these off－topic thoughts can take the main stage without us consciously meaning them to; for instance, arriving at home with no memory of the actual trip, or suddenly realizing that they've turned several pages in a book without understanding any of the words.

“It's almost like your attention was so absorbed in the mind wandering that there wasn't any left over to remember your goal to read，” study researcher Daniel Levinson, said in a statement.

People with overall higher working memory were better able to stay focused when the task at hand required it. Those who had low working memory often had their thoughts drift away from the task, and did less well at it.

The findings add to past research suggesting these mind drifts can be positive moments. For instance, daydreaming has often been associated with creativity—researchers think that our most creative and inventive moments come when daydreaming. It's likely that the most intelligent among us also have high levels of working memory, Levinson noted.

40．The word “juggle” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “________”．

A. handle  B. search  C. understand  D. distribute

41．What can be concluded from Jonathan Smallwood's words?

A. People who often have daydreams probably own a pretty capable working memory.

B. On the working memory test, people with wandering minds will get high score.

C. Absorbed in the mind wandering, your attention left no space for your goal.

D. Dealing with some easy jobs, people with higher working memory will daydream.

42．What is the best title of the passage?

A. Mind drifts are always positive.

B. Daydreaming is good for the mind.

C. Creative moments come with working memory.

D. The more daydreaming, the more effectively one works.