题目内容
viewed personal growth as an external (外在的) result or a product that can easily be identified and measured.
The worker who gets a rise, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language-all
these examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.
By contrast (对照), the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since it is a
journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but the
attitudes, feelings people have, and their caution or courage, as they meet with new experiences and unexpected
difficulties. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world,
new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.
In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to face the unknown,
and to accept the possibility that they may "fail" at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being
is necessary for our ability to grow. Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, we tend to take more
chances and be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think we're shy and indecisive? Then our sense
of fear can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and we think we are slow to adapt change or that we're not
smart enough to deal with a new challenge. Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all.
These feelings of insecurity and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and
grow. If we protect ourselves too much, then we stop growing. We become trapped inside a shell of our
own making.
B. grow up from his own achievements
C. face difficulties and take up challenges
D. aim high and reach his goal each time
B. Jane won the first prize in the speech competition.
C. Jerry picked up French during his stay in Paris.
D. Father's salary rose from 5, 000 to 7,000.
B. being quick in self-adaptation
C. having an open mind to new experiences
D. staying away from failures and challenges
B. To try and fail on the new road facing the unknown is unavoidable.
C. There are only two ways to see a person's growth.
D. If you are too shy to take any risks in life, you cannot grow up.
B. Growth-Product or Process
C. Two Basic Ways of Growth
D. Overcoming Internal Fears
| Welcome to my Message Board! | |
| Subject Slimming down classics? | |
| Mr. Handsome 2007-5-12&24 AM | Orion Books,which decides there is a market in creating cut-down classics(经典著作),is slimming down some novels by such great writers as L.Tolstoy,M.Mitchell and C.Bronte.Now,each of them has been whittled down to about 400 pages by cutting 30 to 40 per cent of the original,with words,sentences,paragraphs and,in a few cases,chapters removed.The first six shortened editions,all priced at £6.99 and advertised as great reads “in half the time”,will go on sale next month,with plans for 50 to 100 more to follow.The publishing house believes that modern readers will welcome the shorter versions. |
| Mr. Edwards 2007-5-12 9:40 AM | Well,I’m publisher of Orion Group.Thanks for your attention,Mr.Handsome. I must say,the idea developed from a game of “shame”in my office.Each of us was required to confess(承认)to the most embarrassing blanks in his or her reading.I admitted that I had never read Anna Karenina and tried but failed to get through Gone with the Wind several times.One of my colleagues acknowledged skipping(跳读)Jane Eyre.We realised that life is too short to read all the books you want to and we never were going to read these ones. As a leading publishing house,we are trying to make classics convenient for readers but it’s not as if we’re withdrawing the original versions.They are still there if you want to read them. |
| Ms.Weir 2007-5-12 11:35 AM | I’m director of the online bookclub www.lovereading.co.uk. Mr.Edwards,I think your shortened editions is a breath of fresh air.I’m guilty of never having read Anna Karenina,because it’s just so long.I’d much rather read two 300-page books than one 600-page book.I am looking forward to more shortened classics! |
| Mr. Crockatt 2007-5-124:38 PM | I’m from the London independent bookshop Crockatt & Powell. In my opinion,the practice is completely ridiculous.How can you edit the classics?I’m afraid reading some of these books is hard work,and that is why you have to develop as a reader.If people don’t have time to read Anna Karenina,then fine.But don’t read a shortened version and kid yourself it’s the real thing. |
| A.opposes the reading of original classics |
| B.is embarrassed for cutting down classics |
| C.thinks cut-down classics have a bright future |
| D.is cautious in its decision to cut down classics |
| A.make them easier to read |
| B.meet a large demand in the market |
| C.increase the sales of literary books |
| D.compete with their original versions |
| A.speaks highly of the cut-down classics |
| B.shows gailty of the original classics |
| C.feels guilty of not reading the classics |
| D.disapproves of shortening the classics |
| A.reading the classic works is a confusing attempt |
| B.shortening the classics does harm to the original |
| C.publishing the cub-down classics is a difficult job |
| D.editing the classic works satisfies children’s needs |
Britain is set to face an increase in cold winters, with up to one-in-seven hitting the UK with longer periods of time when temperatures are below freezing, a study has suggested.The prediction was based on research that found out how low solar activi
ty affected winter weather patterns.
However, the researchers were eager to stress that their findings did not suggest that the region was about to fall suddenly into a "little ice age".The findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters."We could get to the point where one-in-seven winters are very cold, as we had at the start of last winter and all through the winter before last," said co-author Mike Lockwood, professor of space environment physics at the University of Reading.
Using the Central England Temperature (CET) record, the world's longest instrumental data series that dates back to 1659, the team said that in general temperatures during recent winters had been obviously lower than the longer-term temperatures."The mean CET for December, January and February for the recent relatively cold winters of 2008 ~ 2009 and 2009~2010 were 3.50℃ and 2.53℃ respectively," they wrote.
"However, the mean value for the previous 20 winters had been 5.04℃.The series of lower winter temperatures in the UK during the last three years had raised questions about the probability of more similar, or even colder, winters occurring in the future."
Last year.Professor Lockwood and colleagues published a paper that found a link between fewer sunspots and atmospheric conditio
ns that "blocked" warm westerly winds reaching Europe during winter months, opening the way for cold easterly winds from the Arctic and Russia to sweep across the region.Professor Lockwood, while acknowledging that there were a range of possible meteorological factors (气象因素) that could influence blocking events, said the latest study moved things forward by showing that there was "impro
vement in the predictive skill" when solar activity was taken into consideration.
【小题1】We can know from the second paragraph that _____.
| A.research shows that Britain will soon fall into an ice age |
| B.Mike Lockwood's research focuses on space environment physics |
| C.it was quite cold in Britain over the entire winter last year |
| D.so far one-in-seven winters have been very cold in Britain |
| A.average | B.stable | C.ungenerous | D.changeable |
| A.It was sunspots that blocked warm westerly winds reaching Europe. |
| B.Meteorological factors hardly have any influence on blocking events. |
| C.The latest study done by Professor Lockwood was of little practical value. |
| D.Considering solar activity or not affects the accuracy of weather forecasting. |
| A.Another big danger approaching the UK |
| B.Research finds out solar activity is to blame for the cold |
| C.UK faces more cold winters due to weaker solar activity |
| D.Changes in weather patterns should be responsible for low solar activity |