—Would you like some juice or coffee?

—            . I really don't mind.

A. Either     B. Neither     C. Both

Why are so many people so afraid to fail? Quite simply because no one tells us how to fail so that failure (失败) becomes an experience that means 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 preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards(标准). When a child finishes making a table, the mother describes it as “perfect” even though it doesn’t stand still. Another way is to blame (责怪) others. If John fails in science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.
There’s a problem with the two ways. It makes a child unprepared 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 honour list on the baseball team, feels terrible, of course. But parents should not offer a quick consolations (安慰), prize or say, “It doesn’t matter.” Because it does. The young should be allowed to experience failure and be helped to come out of it.
Failure never gives people pleasure. It hurts both grown-ups and children. But it can be really good to your life when you learn to use it. You must learn to ask “Why did I fail?” Don’t blame anyone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong and how you can improve. If someone else can help, don’t be shy about asking them.
【小题1】How do most parents prevent their children from failure?

用括号内所给动词的适当形式填空。
【小题1】I will visit my grandparents if it ___________(not rain) next Sunday.
【小题2】The railway station was there three years ago, but it_________(change) a lot over the years.
【小题3】Come here if your homework _________(finish).
【小题4】I really don’t know where _______(go).
【小题5】Mum _________ (cook) when I got home a moment ago.
【小题6】__________Simon __________(ask) to clean the classroom after school yesterday afternoon?
【小题7】Look! The teenagers are making cards _________ (show) love to their mothers.
【小题8】Great Changes _________ (take) place in my home town in the past ten years.
【小题9】Mary ________ (not fall) asleep until her parents came back last night.
【小题10】I wonder if they ________ (go) to the park on foot tomorrow.

I think the most terrible thing in life for my little brother is getting up in the morning. He is almost sick when my mother calls, "Herbert! It's seven o'clock! Get up!" Herbert answers, "I'm coming!" and goes right back to sleep. I'm not at all like my brother. I don't like to go to bed at night but I don't mind getting up in the morning. I usually wake up before my mother calls me. I jump out of bed and go into the bathroom to take a shower. I get dressed, brush my teeth, comb my hair, and get ready to go downstairs for breakfast as soon as my mother calls. But not Herbert. He just sleeps. A military band (军乐队) in our bedroom could not wake him up. I call him and say, "Get up! Mum will be up here to pull you out of bed if you don't get up immediately!" But he just sleeps. After calling a few more times my mother has to come upstairs and pull Herbert out of bed. It's that way every day with my little brother. Perhaps some day he'll learn to get up on time, but I really don't think so.
【小题1】The most terrible thing in life for my little brother is going to school.
【小题2】I'm not like my brother because I like to go to bed early at night and get up early in the morning.
【小题3】I usually jump out of bed and go into the bathroom for a shower before my mother calls.
【小题4】When mother calls, Herbert doesn't answer and remains in bed.
【小题5】My mother often has to go upstairs and pull Herbert out of bed as he refuses to get up.