Question

Have you ever heard the story of the four-minute mile? Many years ago, people believed that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes until Roger Banister proved it wrong in 1954.

What happens if you put an animal in a pond? Any animal, big or small, will swim its way through. What happens when someone, who does not know how to swim, falls in deep waters? They drown. If an animal who has not learned swimming could escape by swimming, why not you? Because you believe you will drown while the animal does not.

Have you ever wondered why the letters are organized in a particular order on your keyboard? You might have thought it is to increase the typing speed. Most people never question it. But the fact is that this system was developed to reduce the typing speed at a time when typewriter parts would jam if the operator typed too fast.

These three cases show the power of our beliefs. There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than belief. Your beliefs have the power to create and to destroy. A belief delivers a direct command to your nervous system.

I used a snake in my workshops for children to show them how unrealistic some of their beliefs are. Students of a school in India, said snakes were slippery, slimy（粘糊糊的）and poisonous. After doing an exercise for changing beliefs, they handled my snake and found it to be dry and clean. They also remembered that only three types of poisonous snakes exist in India.

Did this story end the way you thought? Review your beliefs now and find out which ones you need to change.

 

36. In the author’s opinion, if a person in deep water doesn’t know how to swim, he will drown because ____________.

A. he is afraid of water                                  B. he believes he will drown

C. he hasn’t learned to swim before             D. he doesn’t want to live in the world

37. The author thinks that the letters are organized in a particular order on your keyboard in order to ___________.

A. save more space                                       B. satisfy the operator

C. reduce one’s typing speed                       D. increase one’s typing speed

38. The author’s experiment shows that ____________.

A. snakes are dry and clean                           B. snakes can be caught easily

C. snakes are slimy and poisonous                 D. snakes in India aren’t poisonous

39. According to the passage, we know that _____________.

A. students from India have unrealistic beliefs on how to live a better life

B. an animal who has not learned to swim will drown if you put it in a pond

C. most people don’t like the order the letters are arranged on your keyboard

D. Roger Banister was the first person who ran a mile in less than four minutes

40. The main idea of this passage should be that ______________.

A. beliefs are very powerful

B. beliefs make us seem stupid

C. changing your beliefs now is necessary

D. people should always believe in themselves

Answer 1

BCADA