If you have failed in the past to try to make big changes in life, try again now, one tiny step at a time.

     Every year it's the same. As December comes to an end, you think about the new year and all the ways you want to improve your life. But as you start to write down your hopes for the new year, you think about the last year. You excitedly write down all the changes you are going to make, but by the end of January those ideas get lost in your busy life.

Here's a suggestion: Forget the too big, hard-to-achieve goals and just think about the small ones. “We often think that we have to do everything in big steps, even though it's so hard for us to reach it.” said Robert Maurer, who recently wrote the book One Small Step Can Change Your Life. “What we try to do is to begin with such a small step that we can’t find any excuse not to do it.”

     “Kaizen”, a Japanese word, is used to mean to change behavior and attitudes (态度). During World War II, American factory managers were able to increase productivity by trying small, continuous improvements instead of sudden changes. After the war, the idea was brought to a rebuilding (重建) Japan. It made Japan develop fast. The Japanese called it “kaizen”, which means “improvement”.

Maurer studied the idea and did some experiments with it. “Kaizen” could possibly help people succeed in doing everything.

1.At the end of December, people usually ___________ .

A. plan for the last year           B. fail to make big changes

C. try to lose their ideas           D. think about the new year  

2.Robert Maurer wrote a book to tell us ___________ .

A. we should do everything in big steps

B. how to find a small step without any excuse

C. we should try a lot of sudden changes

D. how to change one’s life with one small step

3. The underlined part “increase productivity” in the passage means “___________ “.

A. 增加成本      B. 提高待遇       C. 提高生产率      D. 增加出口量

4. The writer of the passage suggests we should ___________ .

A. take a tiny step to achieve big goals

B. make changes at the end of the year

C. do few experiments with “kaizen”

D. do things with hard-to-achieve goals 

5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. You can't find any excuse not to reach a big goal.

B. You can achieve your goals if you are not too busy.

C. ”Kaizen” was brought to Japan during World WarⅡ.

D. Robert Maurer studied “kaizen” and found it helpful.

I am my mother’s third girl. When I was born, the doctor gently explained to my mother that my left arm was missing, below the elbow(肘). Then he gave her some advice, “Don’t treat her any differently from the other girls.” And she did!

There were five girls in our family and we all had to help out. Once when I was about seven, I came out of the kitchen, “Mum, I can’t peel(削……皮)potatoes. I only have one hand.” “You get back to peel those potatoes, and don’t ever use that as an excuse for anything again!”

Of course I could peel potatoes—with my good hand and my other arm. “Jenny, if you try hard enough,” she said, “you can do anything.”

Once in the second grade, our teacher had each of us race across the monkey bar(攀爬架).When it was my turn, I said no, Some kids laughed. I went home crying.

The next afternoon Mum took me back to the school playground. “Now, pull up with your right arm,” she advised. She praised me when I made progress. I’ll never forget when I was crossing the bar, the kids were standing there with their mouths open.

It was the way with everything. Mum had the courage to face anything. And she taught me I could, too.

1.How many younger sisters do I have?

A．Two.             B．Three.            C．Four.             D．Five

2.What does the doctor’s advice mean?

A．My are could be all right soon.

B．The other girls had the same arms as me.

C．My mum should look after me differently.

D．My mum should treat me the same as others.

3.Who peeled the potatoes at last?

A．Jenny.            B．Jenny’s mum.     C．Jenny’s sister.     D．Nobody.

4.Why did Mum take me back to the school playground the next day?

A．she wanted to tell me I could do anything.

B．she wanted the teacher to let me try again.

C．she would punish the kids who laughed at me.

D．she would like to praise me before the other kids.

5.What’s the best title of the passage?

A．My bad-tempered mother                B．Different mother love

C．A doctor’s advice                      D．My childhood(童年)

 Everyone has their own dreams. They give us courage(勇气) and confidence to keep us going through difficulties. Here     some advice on how to realize our beautiful dreams.      giving up is the key to making our dreams come true. We may fail from time to time,     we can learn from failure(失败)， correct our mistakes and try again until we achieve our goals . For that reason, no matter     difficult problems we meet, we don’t fail unless we give up our hopes. Our life is like a long journey which is not all roses. It sometimes has wind and rain. We believe rainbows(彩虹) will appear after storms.  We will realize our dreams      last if we do our best. Cooperation (合作) is also necessary. Everyone likes a person who is good at cooperating with others . Besides, in our society , most problems can’t be     by one person alone.       is like a small part of a medicine. If one part isn’t     , the medicine can not work well. It’s hard for a person who is away from the society to have a deep understanding of the world . Cooperation is becoming one of     ways for people living in the developing society. As a saying goes, “ one tree doesn’t make a     ” . At the same time , we should learn to examine our abilities because it helps us know about our advantages and disadvantages as well as get a full control of ourselves. Then we may be confident enough to face challenges . Follow the suggestions above, and our dreams are sure to come true.

1.A. is              B. are           C. am              D. be

2.A．Always         B. Often         C. Never           D. Sometimes

3.A．if              B. but           C. than            D. so

4.A．how            B. what          C. where           D. why

5.A．from           B. on            C. at               D. in

6.A．solve           B. solved         C. solving           D. to solve

7.A．We            B. We each        C. Each of us         D. Us

8.A．in time         B. in order         C. in need           D. in agreement

9.A．important       B. more important   C. the most important  D. the more important

10.A．forest         B. grass            C. field             D. tree

One afternoon, I went to pick up my mother from work.I got there a little early, so I _______ (41) my car by a small park, and _______ (42) for her.

As I looked outside the car window, I saw a little boy, around two years old, running _______ (43) on the grass as his mother _______ (44) from a short distance. The boy had a big smile on his face as if he had just been ______ (45) free from some sort of prison .The boy would then fall to the grass , (46) up , without looking back at his mother , run as_______ (47) as he could ,again , still with a smile on his face ,as if nothing had happened .

At that moment, I thought to myself , “why aren’t most adults this way ?” Most adults, when they fall down, make a big deal out of it and don’t even _______ (48) a second attempt. They would be so _______ (49) that they would not try again if someone saw them fall .Or , because they fall , they would find a good _______ (50) for themselves that they’re not fit for it . They would end up too afraid to attempt again for fear of failure.

However, with kids, when they fall down, they don’t consider their falling down as a failure, instead, they treat it as a _______ (51) experience. They try again and again until they _______ (52) .The answer must be that they have not connected“falling down” with the word “failure”. As a _______ (53), they are not discouraged in any way .Besides, they _______ (54) think to themselves that it’s quite okay to fall down and that it’s not wrong to do so. In other words ,they allow themselves to make _______ (55), so they remain energetic.

I was deeply impressed by the boy’s persistence (坚持不懈) and the manner in which he did.

41. A. left            B. stopped      C. repaired    D. drove

42. A. waited          B. cared            C. prepared     D. looked

43. A. carefully       B. anxiously        C. freely           D. easily

44. A. watched        B. noticed      C. surveyed     D. supported

45. A. cut         B. kept             C. found        D. set

46. A. hold            B. get          C. end          D. pick

47. A. well            B. long             C. fast         D. soon

48. A. make            B. provide      C. practice         D. discover

49. A. confused        B. embarrassed  C. exhausted        D. surprised

50. A. cause       B. sign             C. chance       D. excuse

51. A. learning        B. running      C. teaching         D. falling

52. A. progress        B. improve      C. achieve      D. succeed

53. A. decision        B. result           C. reason       D. matter

54. A. hardly      B. perfectly        C. probably         D. nearly

55. A. mistakes    B. choices      C. plans            D. wishes

Everyone has their own dreams. They give us courage(勇气) and confidence to keep us going through difficulties. Here     some advice on how to realize our beautiful dreams.     giving up is the key to making our dreams come true. We may fail from time to time,     we can learn from failure(失败)， correct our mistakes and try again until we achieve our goals . For that reason, no matter     difficult problems we meet, we don’t fail unless we give up our hopes. Our life is like a long journey which is not all roses. It sometimes has wind and rain. We believe rainbows(彩虹) will appear after storms.  We will realize our dreams      last if we do our best. Cooperation (合作) is also necessary. Everyone likes a person who is good at cooperating with others . Besides, in our society , most problems can’t be    by one person alone.       is like a small part of a medicine. If one part isn’t     , the medicine can not work well. It’s hard for a person who is away from the society to have a deep understanding of the world . Cooperation is becoming one of     ways for people living in the developing society. As a saying goes, “ one tree doesn’t make a     ” . At the same time , we should learn to examine our abilities because it helps us know about our advantages and disadvantages as well as get a full control of ourselves. Then we may be confident enough to face challenges . Follow the suggestions above, and our dreams are sure to come true.