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(目标) 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 Il，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 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.Robert Maurer wrote a book to tell us           .

A．we should do everything in big steps

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

C．we should try a lot of sudden changes

D．how to find a small step without any excuse

2.The writer of the passage suggests we should           .

A．make changes at the end of the year

B．do few experiments with “kaizen”

C．do things with hard-to-achieve goals

D．take a tiny step to achieve big goals

3.Which of the following is TRUE from the passage?

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

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

C．You can’t find any excuse not to reach a big goal.

D．“Kaizen” was brought to Japan during World WarⅡ.

Do you have the ability to live cheaply? Now here's a true story of an American girl，Sarah．

     41  Sarah left university，she began to live in New York City on her own．She   42  a job in a publishing house，but the salary(薪水)was   43  $30，000 a year．Her parents thought her life would be hard，but Sarah  44  Iive on her salary and stilI saved $5，000 in a year．How was that  45  in one of the most expensive cities in the world?

    Cheap living  46  starts with keeping the big cost small．For most people，that  47 housing．So Sarah chose to share a flat with three other friends．Her next biggest cost was   48 ．When she ate out，she went to cheap restaurants． 49  she bought a $9．99 whole chicken at a local restaurant．She then   50 the chicken bones(骨头)home and made soup out of them．Nowadays young people often  51  a lot of money on entertainment(娱乐)．But Sarah said，“I enjoy walking  52  in New York City．I love going to museums and parks．”  Did Sarah feel poor  53  cheap living? Not really．She even managed to take two trips，one to the Netherlands， 54  to Portland．

  “Don't think of saving money as something  55 ．It's a kind of game，”said Sarah．

1.A．Until         B．Because                   C．After                          D．Unless

2.A．found        B．tried                    C．asked for                 D．Iooked for

3.A．more than     B．less than        C .shorter than               D．higher than

4.A．can          B．may                       C．was able to         D．might

5.A．difficult      B．possible               C．useful                    D．different

6.A．already       B．sometimes       C．hardly              D．always

7.A．helps         B．becomes        C．makes                         D．means

8.A．food          B．rest                 C．studying                    D．playing

9.A．Soon         B．Finally             C．Once                 D．Again

10.A．prepared      B．took             C．caught                   D．picked

11.A．pay          B．lend                    C．spend                    D．save

12.A．along         B．up                    C．down                   D．around

13.A．because of     B．because           C．before                   D．between

14.A．another       B．the other              C．others                  D．the others

15.A．hard         B．interesting        C．nice                          D．great

Do you have the ability to live cheaply? Now here’s a true story of an American girl，Sarah．
 41  Sarah left university，she began to live in New York City on her own．She   42  a job in a publishing house，but the salary(薪水)was   43  $30，000 a year．Her parents thought her life would be hard，but Sarah  44  Iive on her salary and stilI saved $5，000 in a year．How was that  45  in one of the most expensive cities in the world?
Cheap living  46  starts with keeping the big cost small．For most people，that  47 housing．So Sarah chose to share a flat with three other friends．Her next biggest cost was  48 ．When she ate out，she went to cheap restaurants． 49  she bought a $9．99 whole chicken at a local restaurant．She then   50 the chicken bones(骨头)home and made soup out of them．Nowadays young people often  51  a lot of money on entertainment(娱乐)．But Sarah said，“I enjoy walking  52  in New York City．I love going to museums and parks．”  Did Sarah feel poor  53  cheap living? Not really．She even managed to take two trips，one to the Netherlands， 54 to Portland．
“Don’t think of saving money as something  55 ．It’s a kind of game，”said Sarah．

Do you have the ability to live cheaply? Now here’s a true story of an American girl，Sarah．
 21  Sarah left university，she began to live in New York City on her own．She   22  a job in a publishing house，but the salary(薪水)was   23  $30，000 a year．Her parents thought her life would be hard，but Sarah  24  live on her salary and still saved $5，000 in a year．How was that  25  in one of the most expensive cities in the world?
Cheap living  26  starts with keeping the big cost small．For most people，that  27 housing．So Sarah chose to share a flat with three other friends．Her next biggest cost was  28 ．When she ate out，she went to cheap restaurants． 29  she bought a $9．99 whole chicken at a local restaurant．She then   30 the chicken bones(骨头)home and made soup out of them．Nowadays young people often  31  a lot of money on entertainment(娱乐)．But Sarah said，“I enjoy walking  32  in New York City．I love going to museums and parks．”  Did Sarah feel poor  33  cheap living? Not really．She even managed to take two trips，one to the Netherlands， 34 to Portland．
“Don’t think of saving money as something  35 ．It’s a kind of game，”said Sarah．