I am one of those people who are terrible at saying no. I take on too many projects at once, and spend too much of my time doing things I’d rather not be doing. I get stuff done, but it’s not always the best I can do, or the best way I could spend my time.
That’s why my newest goal, both as a professional and a person, is to be a quitter.
Being a quitter isn’t being someone who gives up, who doesn’t see important things through to the end. I desire to be the opposite of that. The quitter I want to be is someone who gets out when there’s no value in what he’s doing, or when that value comes at the expense of something more important.
We get involved in something, realize we don’t want to be a part of it, but keep on going. We say “Well, I’ve already invested so much time in this, I might as well stick it out.” A friend of mine once told me, “I knew I was an adult when I could stop reading a book, even after getting 500 pages into it.” Odd though it sounds, we all tend to do this.
I propose the opposite: quit as often as possible, regardless of project status or time invested. If you’re reading a book, and don’t like it, stop reading. Cut your losses, realize that the smartest thing to do is stop before your losses grow even more, and quit. Instead of reading an entire book you hate, read half of a bad one and half of a good one. Isn’t that a better use of your time?
Step back for a second. Let’s learn how to say “no” at the beginning, or in the middle, and free up more of our time to do the things we’d like to be doing, and the things actually worth doing.
Saying no is hard, and admitting a mistaken yes is even harder. But if we do both, we’ll start to make sure that we’re spending our time creating value, rather than increasing our losses. Let’s be quitters together.
【小题1】The author wants to be a quitter, because he/she        .

I am a mother of three and have recently completed my college degree. My teacher’s last  36  of the term was called “ Smile”. I am a very friendly person and always  37  at everyone. So I thought this would be very  38 .
Soon after we were given the project, my  39  went out to McDonald’s. We were waiting to be  40 , when all of a sudden everyone around us began to  41 , and even my husband did. There standing behind me were two homeless men  42 .
As I looked down at the short gentleman with  43  eyes, he said, “Good day.” The second man stood behind his friend. I  44  the second man was mentally challenged(智障) and the blue-eyed gentleman was his helper.
The young  45  at the counter asked him what they wanted.
He said, “Coffee is all, Miss.” Because that was all they could  46 .
I smiled and asked the young lady to give me two more breakfast meals on a  47  tray(托盘). I then said to the men, “ I did not do this for you. God is here  48  through me to give you hope.”
When I joined my husband, he smiled at me, saying, “That is  49  God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.”
I returned to  50  with this story in hand. I  51  “my project” and the teacher read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I  52  this with the class?”
I slowly  53  and she began to read and that was when I knew that we, as human beings, share this to help people and to be  54 .
In my own way I had  55  the people at McDonald’s, my husband, sons, teacher, and every person that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I am a mother of three and have recently completed my college degree. My teacher’s last 26  of the term was called “ Smile”. I am a very friendly person and always  27  at everyone. So I thought this would be very  28.

Soon after we were given the project, my  29  went out to McDonald’s. We were waiting to be  30, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to  31 , and even my husband did. There standing behind me were two homeless men  32 .

As I looked down at the short gentleman with 33  eyes, he said, “Good day.” The second man stood behind his friend. I  34  the second man was mentally challenged(智障) and the blue-eyed gentleman was his helper.

The young  35  at the counter asked him what they wanted.

He said, “Coffee is all, Miss.” Because that was all they could 36 .

I smiled and asked the young lady to give me two more breakfast meals on a 37  tray(托盘). I then said to the men, “ I did not do this for you. God is here  38  me to give you hope.”

When I joined my husband, he smiled at me, saying, “That is 39  God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.”

I returned to 40  with this story in hand. I 41  “my project” and the teacher read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I  42  this with the class?”

I slowly  43  and she began to read and that was when I knew that we, as human beings, share this to help people and to be 44 .

In my own way I had  45  the people at McDonald’s, my husband, sons, teacher, and every person that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I am a mother of three and have recently completed my college degree. My teacher’s last  36   of the term was called “ Smile”. I am a very friendly person and always  37  at everyone. So I thought this would be very  38 .

Soon after we were given the project, my  39  went out to McDonald’s. We were waiting to be  40 , when all of a sudden everyone around us began to  41 , and even my husband did. There standing behind me were two homeless men  42 .

As I looked down at the short gentleman with  43  eyes, he said, “Good day.” The second man stood behind his friend. I  44  the second man was mentally challenged(智障) and the blue-eyed gentleman was his helper.

The young  45  at the counter asked him what they wanted.

He said, “Coffee is all, Miss.” Because that was all they could  46 .

I smiled and asked the young lady to give me two more breakfast meals on a  47  tray(托盘). I then said to the men, “ I did not do this for you. God is here  48  through me to give you hope.”

When I joined my husband, he smiled at me, saying, “That is  49  God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.”

I returned to  50  with this story in hand. I  51  “my project” and the teacher read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I  52  this with the class?”

I slowly  53  and she began to read and that was when I knew that we, as human beings, share this to help people and to be  54 .

In my own way I had  55  the people at McDonald’s, my husband, sons, teacher, and every person that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

1. A. question     B. project       C. class        D. expression

2. A. smile        B. laugh             C. look         D. stare

3. A. difficult     B. funny            C. important        D. easy

4.A. teacher            B. classmates       C. family       D. children

5. A. ordered       B. served           C. paid         D. called

6. A. run away  B. crowd in        C. shout out        D. move away

7.A. in surprise    B. in silence          C. in rags      D. in fear

8. A. tearful       B. blue             C. closed       D. black

9. A. realized  B. accepted         C. permitted        D. admitted

10. A. helper           B. gentleman        C. lady         D. friend

11. A. drink            B. want             C. take         D. afford

12. A. big          B. separate         C. flat         D. round

13.A. working           B. going            C. getting      D. carrying

14. A. how          B. when             C. where        D. why

15. A. college  B. home             C. church       D. McDonald’s

16. A. put up       B. handed out       C. handed in        D. put away

17. A. publish  B. share                C. copy         D. keep

18.A. turned        B. left             C. shook        D. nodded

19.A. forgiven  B. thanked          C. helped       D. remembered

20. A. touched  B. knew             C. forgot       D. recognized

I am a mother of three and have recently completed my college degree. My teacher’s last1of the term was called “ Smile”. I am a very friendly person and always 2at everyone. So I thought this would be very 3.
Soon after we were given the project, my 4went out to McDonald’s. We were waiting to be 5, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to 6, and even my husband did. There standing behind me were two homeless men 7.
As I looked down at the short gentleman with 8eyes, he said, “Good day.” The second man stood behind his friend. I 9the second man was mentally challenged(智障) and the blue-eyed gentleman was his helper.
The young 10at the counter asked him what they wanted.
He said, “Coffee is all, Miss.” Because that was all they could 11.
I smiled and asked the young lady to give me two more breakfast meals on a 12tray(托盘). I then said to the men, “ I did not do this for you. God is here 13through me to give you hope.”
When I joined my husband, he smiled at me, saying, “That is 14God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.”
I returned to 15with this story in hand. I 16“my project” and the teacher read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I 17this with the class?”
I slowly 18and she began to read and that was when I knew that we, as human beings, share this to help people and to be 19.
In my own way I had 20the people at McDonald’s, my husband, sons, teacher, and every person that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

1. 1.
   1. A.
      question
   2. B.
      project
   3. C.
      class
   4. D.
      expression
2. 2.
   1. A.
      smile
   2. B.
      laugh
   3. C.
      look
   4. D.
      stare
3. 3.
   1. A.
      difficult
   2. B.
      funny
   3. C.
      important
   4. D.
      easy
4. 4.
   1. A.
      teacher
   2. B.
      classmates
   3. C.
      family
   4. D.
      children
5. 5.
   1. A.
      ordered
   2. B.
      served
   3. C.
      paid
   4. D.
      called
6. 6.
   1. A.
      run away
   2. B.
      crowd in
   3. C.
      shout out
   4. D.
      move away
7. 7.
   1. A.
      in surprise
   2. B.
      in silence
   3. C.
      in rags
   4. D.
      in fear
8. 8.
   1. A.
      tearful
   2. B.
      blue
   3. C.
      closed
   4. D.
      black
9. 9.
   1. A.
      realized
   2. B.
      accepted
   3. C.
      permitted
   4. D.
      admitted
10. 10.
    1. A.
       helper
    2. B.
       gentleman
    3. C.
       lady
    4. D.
       friend
11. 11.
    1. A.
       drink
    2. B.
       want
    3. C.
       take
    4. D.
       afford
12. 12.
    1. A.
       big
    2. B.
       separate
    3. C.
       flat
    4. D.
       round
13. 13.
    1. A.
       working
    2. B.
       going
    3. C.
       getting
    4. D.
       carrying
14. 14.
    1. A.
       how
    2. B.
       when
    3. C.
       where
    4. D.
       why
15. 15.
    1. A.
       college
    2. B.
       home
    3. C.
       church
    4. D.
       McDonald’s
16. 16.
    1. A.
       put up
    2. B.
       handed out
    3. C.
       handed in
    4. D.
       put away
17. 17.
    1. A.
       publish
    2. B.
       share
    3. C.
       copy
    4. D.
       keep
18. 18.
    1. A.
       turned
    2. B.
       left
    3. C.
       shook
    4. D.
       nodded
19. 19.
    1. A.
       forgiven
    2. B.
       thanked
    3. C.
       helped
    4. D.
       remembered
20. 20.
    1. A.
       touched
    2. B.
       knew
    3. C.
       forgot
    4. D.
       recognized