Fourteen – year – old Richie Hawley had spent five years studying violin at the Community School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles when he took part in a violin contest. Ninety two young people were invited to the contest and Hawley came out first．

　　The contest could have been the perfect setup for fear, worrying about mistakes, and trying to impress the judges. But Hawley says he did pretty well in staying calm. “I couldn’t be thinking about how many mistakes I’d make — it would distract me from playing,” he says. “I didn’t even remember trying to impress people while I played. It’s almost as if they weren’t there. I just wanted to make music.”

Hawley is a winner. But he didn’t become a winner by concentrating on winning. He did it by concentrating on playing well．

　　“The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part,” said the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin. “The important thing in life is not the triumph (胜利) but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

　　A characteristic of high performers is their intense, pleasurable concentration on work, rather than on their competitors or future glory or money, says Dr. Charles Garfield, who has studied 1,500 achievers in business, science, sports, the arts, and professions. “They are interested in winning, but they are most interested in self - development, testing their limits.”

　　One of the most surprising things about top performers is how many losses they’ve had and how much they’ve learned from each. “Not one of the 1,500 I studied defined losing as failing,” Garfield says. “They kept calling their losses ‘setbacks’.”

　　A healthy attitude toward setbacks is essential to winning, experts agree．

　　“The worst thing you can do if you’ve had a setback is to let yourself get stuck in a long depression. You should analyze carefully what went wrong, identify specific things you did right and give yourself credit for them.” Garfield believes that most people don’t give themselves enough praise. He even suggests keeping a diary of all the positive things you’ve done on the way to a goal．

1.Hawley won the contest because ________．

A. he put all his mind to his performance

B. he cared much about the judges’ feelings

C. he tried his best to avoid making mistakes

D. he paid close attention to the people around

2.According to the passage, successful people concentrate on ________．

A. challenging their own limits                              B. learning from others

C. defeating their opponents                                    D. avoiding setbacks

3.The passage tells us that “praise” in times of trouble ________．

A. helps people deal with their disappointment

B. makes people forget their setbacks

C. makes people regret about their past

D. helps people analyze what went wrong

阅读理解: 阅读下列短文, 从所给的四个选项中, 选出最佳答案。

    Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories.His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to　　 know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where　　 he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, O.Henry　　 was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories.　　 After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing.　　 He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People　　 liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish　　 with a sudden change at the end, to the readers' surprise. 　　

1. In which order did O. Henry do the following things? 　　

[    ] 　　

a. Lived in New York.　　

b. Worked in a bank　　

c. Traveled to Texas　　

d. Was put in prison.　　　　

e. Had a newspaper job.　　

f. Learned to write stories. 　　

A. e,c,f,b,d,a　　

B. c,e,b,d,f,a　　　　

C. e,b,d,c,a,f　　

D. c,b,e,d,a,f　　

2. People enjoyed reading O.Henry's stories because________　　

[    ]

A. they had surprise endings. 　　

B. they were easy to understand. 　　

C. they showed his love for the poor. 　　

D. they were about New York City.　　

3. O. Henry went to prison because___________.　　

[    ]

A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper 　　

B. he broke the law by not using his own name 　　

C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners 　　

D. people thought he had taken money that was not his 　　

4. What do you think about O. Henry before he began writing? 　　

[    ]

A. He was well educated.　　　　

B. He was not serious about work. 　　

C. He was devoted to the poor. 　　

D. He was very good at learning.　　

5. Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?　　

[    ]

A. His life inside the prison. 　　

B. The newspaper articles he wrote. 　　

C. The city and people of New York.