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.

请认真阅读下面短文，并根据各题所给首字母的提示，写出一个合适的英语单词完整、正确的形式，使短文通顺。

You’re standing with your classmates. E  66 ___  is talking except you. Perhaps you’re afraid they will laugh at when you say. Maybe you just aren’t b  67  enough to speak. Shyness is like a snake that crawls（爬进）into our mouth and s  68  us speaking. But we shouldn’t let it stay there.

I am 29 years old. Even today, that snake still sometimes v  69  me. When I was in high school, I was so shy that I wouldn’t talk to anyone except my parents and best friends. If a stranger asked me the w  70  to a local shop, it was as if I’d forgotten how to talk. One summer, I got a j  71  in a restaurant and that helped a lot. It meant I had to talk to customers（顾客）. I had to tell them how m  72 their meal cost. I had to ask them if they want to drink Coke or Sprite.

This job taught me how to speak with people. You may be too young to find a part-time job. But you can look for other c  73  to speak with people. You can offer to help an old woman carry her heavy bag. O  74  you can go to get a newspaper for your family. If you do these things for a while, the ‘shyness’ snake will soon begin to l  75  you alone. It’ll look for another mouth to crawl into.

Reading is the key to school success and, like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. An excellent sportsman practices until he can play quickly, correctly and without thinking. Educators call it “automaticity (自动性)”.
A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and finding the meaning of the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase (短语). With automaticity, he doesn't have to think about the meaning of words, so he can give all his attention to the meaning of the text.
It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found that automatic readers in the first grade not only read almost three times as fast as the others, but also got better results in exams.
According to Rossman, the key to automaticity is the amount (数量) of time a child spends reading, not his IQ. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will probably reach automaticity. It can happen if a child turns off TV just one night for reading at home.
You can test yourself by reading something new which is suitable (适合) for your level. If you read aloud with expression, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, you probably are an automatic reader. If you read brokenly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, you need more practice.
【小题1】Children with “automaticity” can read faster because they don’t have to think about ________.

“I’m really thankful to our government, for it provides us with such a good training program. The training greatly helps us live well. I will certainly study hard and learn the skills. Then I can 41] my family difficulties and do good to other people.” a learner on the job training program said, feeling 42:

The learner’s grandfather is nearly 80 years old, and his mother is 43] in bed. So his father, who is a father, is the main 44] of the family. The family is poor. The learner graduated from high school and did not 45] the college entrance exam. The job training program helps him learn the skills that he’ll 46] in the workplace.

The story reminds me of another 47: It goes like this: Once upon a time, there was a man who liked fishing very much, and was 48] to catch lots of fish every day. The man was a kind-hearted person, so he always 49] his fish with his neighbors who did not know how to fish. One day, he thought that it would be 50] if he taught them how to fish. So he 51] his neighbors tighter and showed how to fish. Everybody was very happy that they could 52] the fish they themselves caught.

At present, there are still a lot of poor people throughout the world. But it’s not good if we give only 53] to them. 54], we should give them a chance to learn new skills. Therefore, a technical training is very important to people in need, and they will learn the ability to 55] money. People can learn a lot of useful things in the training program and what learn can help them on the way to find jobs.

41:A. solve 　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. change 　　　　　　　　　 C. study　　　　　　　 　　 D. find

42:A. surprised B. excited C. relaxed D. interested

43:A. ill 　　　　　　　　　　　 B. excited 　　　　　　　　　 C. silent 　　　　　　　　　　 D. dangerous

44:A. problem 　　　　　　　　　 B. example 　　　　　　　　 C. relatives 　　　　　　　　 D. support

45:A. pass 　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. copy 　　　　　　　　　　 C. know 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. mind

46:A. repeat 　　　　　　　 B. forget　　　　　　　　　　　 C. need 　　　　　　　　　　　 D. test

47:A. story 　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. learner 　　　　　　　　　 C. family 　　　　　　　　　 D. program

48:A. afraid 　　　　　　　　　　　 B. lucky 　　　　　　　　　　 C. sorry 　　　　　　　　　　 D. able

49:A. shared 　　　　　　　 B. cooked 　　　　　　　　　 C. exchanged 　　　　　　　　　　 D. weighed

50:A. easy 　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. great 　　　　　　　　　　 C. useless 　　　　　　　　　 D. crazy

51:A. drove 　　　　　　　　　　　 B. stopped 　　　　　　　　 C. called 　　　　　　　　　　 D. searched

52:A. feed 　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. save 　　　　　　　　　　　 C. touch 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.eat

53:A. time 　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. fish 　　　　　　　　　　　 C. food 　　　　　　　　　　　 D. clothing

54:A. Next 　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Instead 　　　　　　　　　 C. Luckily 　　　　　　　　　 D. Especially

55:A. pay 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. give 　　　　　　　　　　　 C. use 　　　　　　　　　　　 D. make