【题目】The back-to-school season is upon us, and once again, parents across the country have loaded their kids’ backpacks up with snack packs and school supplies. It’s a good moment to reflect on what else we should be giving our kids as they head off to school.

American parents are feeling particularly anxious about that question this year. The educational process feels more than ever like a race, one that starts in pre-school and doesn’t end until your child is admitted to the perfect college. Most parents are more worried than they need to be about their children’s grades, test scores and IQ. And what we don’t think about enough is how to help our children build their character—how to help them develop skills like perseverance, optimism, responsibility, and self-control, which together do more to determine success than S.A.T. scores or I.Q.

There is growing evidence that our anxiety about our children’s school performance may actually be holding them back from learning some of these valuable skills. If you’re concerned only with a child’s G.P.A., then you will likely choose to minimize the challenges the child faces in school. With real challenge comes the risk of real failure. And in a competitive academic environment, the idea of failure can be very scary, to students and parents alike.

But experiencing failure is a critical part of building character. Recent research by a team of psychologists found that adults who had experienced little or no failure growing up were actually less happy and confident than those who had experienced a few significant setbacks in childhood. “Overcoming those obstacles,” the researchers assumed, “could teach effective coping skills, help engage social support networks, create a sense of mastery over past adversity, and foster beliefs in the ability to cope successfully in the future.”

By contrast, when we protect our children from every possible failure—when we call their teachers to get an extension on a paper; when we urge them to choose only those subjects they’re good at—we are denying them those same character-building experiences. As the psychologists Madeline Levine and Dan Kindlon have written, that can lead to difficulties in adolescence and young adulthood, when overprotected young people finally confront real problems on their own and don’t know how to overcome them.

In the classroom and outside of it, American parents need to encourage children to take chances, to challenge themselves, to risk failure. In the meantime, giving our kids room to fail may be one of the best ways we can help them succeed.

Back to School: Why Perseverance Is More Important than Good Grades?

Common phenomena

Parents throughout America【1】 their kids’ backpacks up with snacks and school supplies.

Many American parents don’t【2】 enough importance to their kids’ character building.

The writer’s【3】

Parents should pay more attention to their kids’ character building.

Evidence and 【4】 findings

Parents’ anxiety about their kids’ performance may【5】 them from learning some valuable skills.

Parents concerned only with a kid’s G.P.A. have a【6】 to minimize the challenges the child faces.

Adults who have experienced a few significant setbacks in childhood are 【7】 and more confident than those who haven’t.

Denying kids character-building experiences can【8】 in difficulties in adolescence and young adulthood.

The writer’s suggestions

【9】 kids to be risk-takers.

Give kids room to experience【10】 .

【题目】When the swim season began, my 11-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and I cut a deal. She would go to practice three times a week, and I wouldn’t make her compete in swim meets.

Elizabeth does not like swim meets, she gets horribly nervous because she is afraid that she will do something wrong and let everyone down. she started to talk about quitting swimming, which broke my heart because she loves swimming. So I came up with the deal.

Recently, Elizabeth’s team announced a T-shirt relay, which works like this: One person from each relay team puts on a T-shirt and a pair of socks and swims 50 meters. She takes off the clothes and put them on the next person, who then swims 50 meters. This continues until everyone on the team has completed a lap.

It wasn’t exactly a meet, because it would involve only team members. But Elizabeth thought it was. I told Elizabeth I really wanted her to go. She fought back angrily but finally agreed.

When the day for the T-shirt relay arrived, Elizabeth was nervous. She was chosen to swim the anchor leg (最后一棒).By the last leg, Elizabeth’s team had built up a narrow lead. Then it was Elizabeth’s turn to swim.

Approaching the halfway mark, she was still in the lead. Then somebody noticed that one of Elizabeth’s socks had fallen off and was floating in the pool. “She has to get that sock on before the end of the race,” a swimming official told Elizabeth’s team,“ or you will be disqualified.”

Everybody on her team started shouting, “Elizabeth! Get the sock!” But she couldn’t hear them. Meanwhile, a girl in lane two was gaining on Elizabeth. Just then, a girl on my daughter’s team jumped in the pool, grabbed the sock, swam after Elizabeth and put the sock on Elizabeth.

With the sock finally on, Elizabeth swam her heart out for the last 15 meters and won! There was much celebration. And, for a few minutes, Elizabeth was the hero.

On the ride home, she relived her moment of glory again and again. She told me that if the T-shirt relay was an Olympic event, her team would win the gold medal, I told her that in my professional opinion, she Was absolutely right.

【1】 What do we know about the T-shirt relay?

A. Elizabeth was eager to attend it.

B. Elizabeth made full preparations for it.

C. Elizabeth thought she was sure to fail the relay.

D. Elizabeth agreed to attend it after a lot of persuasion.

【2】 What happened to Elizabeth when she was swimming the anchor leg?

A. The girl on the other team swam faster than her.

B. She was disqualified for breaking the rule.

C. She was too nervous to swim.

D. One of her socks fell off.

【3】We can infer from the last paragraph that Elizabeth_____.

A. believed she was the best of her team.

B. Hoped to take part in the Olympics.

C. Overcame her fear of swim meets.

D. Was grateful for the girl’s help.

【4】 What would be the best title for the text?

A. Born to be a swimmer B. Swimming in socks

C. The swim season D. Never give up!

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