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.

完形填空

Last year my English class was ____1___for me. First of all, it wasn’t easy for me to understand the teacher when she ___2___to the class. To begin with, she spoke too quickly, and I couldn’t ___3___every word. Later on, I realized it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand every word, ___4___ I was afraid to speak in class because I thought my classmates might laugh ___5__me. I couldn’t always make complete sentences, either. Then I started to ___6___ English-language TV. It helped a lot. I think that doing lots of listening practice is one of the secrets of ___7___a good language learner. Another thing that I found very difficult was English ___8___. So I decided to take lots of grammar notes in every class.

用括号中所给词的适当形式填空，使语篇意思完整，必要时请用否定式。（共10题，每小题0.5分，满分5分）

Last year my English class was difficult. 1._______(one) of all, it wasn’t easy for me to understand the teacher when she talked. To begin with, she spoke too quickly, and couldn’t understand every word. 2.______ (late) on, I realized that it doesn’t matter if you 3.__________ (understand) every word. I was also afraid to speak in class, because I4.__________ (think) my classmates might laugh at me. I couldn’t always make complete sentences, either. Then I started to watch English-language TV. It helped a lot. I think that doing lots of listening practice is one of the 5.________ (secret) of becoming a good language 6.______ (learn). Another thing that I found very difficult was English grammar. So I decided 7._______ (take) lots of grammar notes in every class. Then I started to write my own original sentences8._______ (use) the grammar I was learning. It’s amazing how much this helped. Now I am enjoying9._____ (learn) English and I got an A this term. My teacher is very 10._________ (impress).

Born as the only child in the family, I am the “king” of the family. My parents are both businessmen and they come home every two weeks. Because they don’t spend much time with me, they always feel guilty* and will buy me many expensive things and let me do whatever I want. My grandparents never let me do any chores because they want me to do my schoolwork.

?? I used to take everything for granted*. I never said “thank you” to people. As time went by, I found that my classmates didn’t like me and my best friends left me. one day, I asked Leo, who used to be one of my best friends. He said that I was selfish, rude* and bad-tempered*. “No one wants to make friends with a person who always receives but never gives anything!” he said. I was shocked* at his words. “Oh, no! Please don’t leave me. I need friends! I will be lonely and unhappy without friends!” I locked myself up in the room and cried. “I want my friends back. But how?”

?? Then I noticed that all the popular kids in the class friendly to others. They always smile and say “thank you” to others. They do whatever they can to help when others are in trouble. Other kids like them and always play with them. “I need to change! I will get my friends back,” I said to myself. From then on, I started to change myself. I learned to say “thank you” to others. I smiled and volunteered to help other kids. I tried to be as nice as I could. Gradually, I found that other kids liked to talk with me and they would ask me to play with them and even told me their secrets. My friends came back to me again.

?? Now I have more friends than I used to do and I am happier than I used to be.

1.What’s the boy’s life like at home?

A. His parents spend much time with him.????????????? ????????????? ?????????????

B. He has to do lots of housework.

C. He can do what he wants to do.?????????????

D. He does much more homework than other kids.

2.What did the boy do to change himself?

A. He learned to say “thank you”.

B. He always smiled at others.

C. He helped others as much as he could.?????????????

D. All of the above.

3.The underlined word “gradually” means ___________.

A. To begin with????????????? ????????????? B. Sometimes????????????? ????????????? C. In a word????????????? ????????????? D. Slowly

4.What can we infer(推断)from the passage?

A. To make more friends, you need to try to please them.????????????? ?????????????

B. A person who always received but never gives can still have many friends.

C. The boy lost his friends at first because he didn’t like them.

D. To be a nicer and better person, we need to make some changes.

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
【小题1】Robert Maurer wrote a book to tell us           .