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?

A．They give them some presents.

B．They don’t tell them that they have failed.

C．They don’t blame others.

D．They help them to come out of failure.

【小题2】Which of the following can a person learn when he fails?

A．It’s impossible to enjoy a game if he misses it.

B．He is the worst of all.

C．It’s natural not to win a game and no one can win all the time.

D．His teammates are not good enough.

【小题3】The writer of this article thinks that if a child fails, parents should __________________.

A．give him a small prize

B．advise him to repeat failure

C．blame others

D．encourage him to learn from failure

【小题4】4. Which would be the best title (标题) for the passage?

A．Learning from Failure

B．Ways of Preventing Failure

C．Reasons of Failure

D．Getting Pleasure from Failure

A lift is wonderful. It is really only a small room. Rooms usually stay in one place. Lifts travel up and down all day long.
Sometimes a worker stands in the lift. He or she operates it up and down. In modern lifts there is no worker. The people walk in. They know what floor they want. They push a button and the lift goes to that floor. It is all very fast and easy.
Lifts are very important to us. Why? Think about a tall building. Maybe it has twenty floors. Maybe it has fifty or more. Who can walk up all the stairs? Maybe people can climb them one time. Can someone climb thirty floors to an office every day? Can small children walk up to their room on the twenty-fourth floor? Can their mother and father carry food up all those stairs? Of course not.
We can have high buildings because we have lifts. We could not have all the beautiful tall buildings in the world without lifts. They are really wonderful.
【小题1】Which of the following is true?

A．A modern lift has no buttons.

B．A modern lift has a worker to operate it.

C．A modern lift can go up and down with no worker in it.

D．A modern lift knows what floor people want.

【小题2】If you want to go to the floor you want, you_______.

A．ask for help	B．open the door of the lift
C．ring the bell	D．push the right button

【小题3】Why do people have to use lifts? Because________.

A．they have tall buildings

B．they can't walk up and down

C．old people and children need them

D．lifts are wonderful

What is a library for? Most libraries have books and other things to read. Many of them  have things to listen to. Some libraries even have computers. Very few people would think of a library as a place to live in.
One library in New York City turned into(变成)a home for 250 people for a few days. These were all people near the library. They slept on the floor. Why did the people move into the library?
The people moved into the library because the city wanted to close it to save money. These 250 New Yorkers loved their library. They didn't want to lose it. So they moved in. They knew that the library couldn't be closed if they were living inside it. At last the city agreed to keep the library open, and the people all went home.
(   )11. Where did the story happen?_________.
A. In New York City.                 B. In a school in New York City.
C. In the streets in New York City.      D. In most libraries in New York City.
(   )12. The library had hundreds of ___________.
A. workers in it                      B. policemen in it
C. people living in it                  D. computers in it
(   )13. The people in the story _______________.
A. were all the workers in the library    B. were all people near the library
C. didn't read any books               D. wanted to buy some computers
(   )14. Why did 250 people move into the library? Because_____________.
A. these people wanted to save money
B. these people needed places to live in
C. the library was very quiet
D. they loved the library and they didn't want to lose it
(   )15. From the passage we know that ___________.
A. the library was kept open at last
B. the library was closed because no one read in it
C. the library became a home of these people
D. the city saved a lot of money