If you have failed in the past to try to make big changes in life, try again now, one tiny step at a time.

     Every year it's the same. As December comes to an end, you think about the new year and all the ways you want to improve your life. But as you start to write down your hopes for the new year, you think about the last year. You excitedly write down all the changes you are going to make, but by the end of January those ideas get lost in your busy life.

Here's a suggestion: Forget the too big, hard-to-achieve goals and just think about the small ones. “We often think that we have to do everything in big steps, even though it's so hard for us to reach it.” said Robert Maurer, who recently wrote the book One Small Step Can Change Your Life. “What we try to do is to begin with such a small step that we can’t find any excuse not to do it.”

     “Kaizen”, a Japanese word, is used to mean to change behavior and attitudes (态度). During World War II, American factory managers were able to increase productivity by trying small, continuous improvements instead of sudden changes. After the war, the idea was brought to a rebuilding (重建) Japan. It made Japan develop fast. The Japanese called it “kaizen”, which means “improvement”.

Maurer studied the idea and did some experiments with it. “Kaizen” could possibly help people succeed in doing everything.

1.At the end of December, people usually ___________ .

A. plan for the last year           B. fail to make big changes

C. try to lose their ideas           D. think about the new year  

2.Robert Maurer wrote a book to tell us ___________ .

A. we should do everything in big steps

B. how to find a small step without any excuse

C. we should try a lot of sudden changes

D. how to change one’s life with one small step

3. The underlined part “increase productivity” in the passage means “___________ “.

A. 增加成本      B. 提高待遇       C. 提高生产率      D. 增加出口量

4. The writer of the passage suggests we should ___________ .

A. take a tiny step to achieve big goals

B. make changes at the end of the year

C. do few experiments with “kaizen”

D. do things with hard-to-achieve goals 

5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. You can't find any excuse not to reach a big goal.

B. You can achieve your goals if you are not too busy.

C. ”Kaizen” was brought to Japan during World WarⅡ.

D. Robert Maurer studied “kaizen” and found it helpful.

One day when some government officials were rebuilding a barn(谷仓), they found a mouse hole in a corner and they used smoke to force the mice inside the hole to come out. A while later they indeed saw mice running out, one after another. Then, everyone thought that all the mice had ran away. But just as they began to clean up, they saw two mice squeezing(挤)out at the mouth of the hole. With some efforts, the mice finally got out. However, it was strange that after they came out of the hole, they did not run away immediately. Instead, one ran after the other near the mouth of the hole. It seemed that one was trying to bite the tail of the other.
Everyone was puzzled, so they stepped nearer to take a look. They realized that one of the mice was blind and could not see anything, and the other was trying to allow the blind mouse to bite on his tail so that he could pull the blind one with him to run away.
After seeing what happened, everyone was silent and lost in thought. During the meal time, the group of people sat down in a circle and started to chat about what happened to the two mice.
One serious American official said: "I think the relationship between those two mice was that of king and guard." The others thought for a while and said: "That was why!"
A smart French said: "I think the relationship between those two mice was that of husband and wife." Again the others thought for a while, and all felt it meaningful.
A Japanese said: "I think the relationship between those two mice was that of mother and son." Once again the others thought for a while, and felt this was more reasonable. So they expressed agreement another time.
At that moment, one Chinese asked: "Why did those two mice have to have a certain relationship?"
Suddenly, the group looked back at the Chinese and didn't say any words. The American official, the French and the Japanese who had spoken earlier all lowered their heads in shyness, and did not dare to answer.
In fact, the true love is not built on friendship, loyalty(忠诚) or blood relationship. Instead, it is based on no relationship.
【小题1】Neither of the two mice ran away immediately because_______.

One day when some government officials were rebuilding a house, they found a mouse hole in a corner and used smoke to make the mice inside the hole come out. A while later they saw mice running out, one after another，but they saw two mice didn’t run away immediately. It seemed that one was trying to bite(咬) the tail of the other.
Everyone was puzzled, so they came nearer to take a look. They realized that one of the two mice was blind, and the other was trying to allow the blind mouse to bite his tail in order to pull the blind one with him to run away.
During the meal time, they started to talk about the two mice. One serious American said, “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of king and guard.”
A smart Frenchman said, “I think the relationship between them was that of husband and wife.”
A Japanese said, “I think the relationship between them was that of mother and son.”
At that moment, one Chinese asked, “Why did those two mice have a certain relationship?”
Suddenly, they looked back at the Chinese. The American, the Frenchman and the Japanese who had spoken earlier all lowered (低下) their heads in shame, and didn’t answer.
In fact, the great love is not built on friendship or blood relationship. Instead, it is based on no relationship.
【小题1】The two mice didn’t go away immediately because _______.

After the killer earthquake hit Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008, love and charity(慈善) began spreading through China from all over the world. Rebuilding after the quake begins now, and it will last long into the future. First of all, the most important thing is to help the people in the disaster area take care of their mental(心理的) health.
Here are Professor Le’s suggestions:
Dos: Do have enough sleep every day.
Do stay with your family and friends.
Do treat yourself to healthy food.
Don’ts: Don’t hide your feelings.
Don’t feel shy to talk to others how you feel. Try to get them to understand you and they can help you.
Don’t run away when your relatives talk about their experience during the earthquake.
Don’t force yourself and your family to forget the disaster.
But how long will it take to recover psychologically(心理上恢复) from the earthquake? “It depends on the person’s character. They have to help themselves, which is more efficient(有效的) than passively receiving comfort and sympathy(同情) from others,” said Professor Le, a member of the Chinese Psychological Society.
【小题1】When did the terrible earthquake hit Sichuan Province?

After the killer earthquake hit Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008, love and charity(慈善) began spreading through China from all over the world. Rebuilding after the quake begins now, and it will last long into the future. First of all, the most important thing is to help the people in the disaster area take care of their mental(心理的) health.

Here are Professor Le’s suggestions:

Dos: Do have enough sleep every day.

Do stay with your family and friends.

Do treat yourself to healthy food.

Don’ts: Don’t hide your feelings.

Don’t feel shy to talk to others how you feel. Try to get them to understand you and they can help you.

Don’t run away when your relatives talk about their experience during the earthquake.

Don’t force yourself and your family to forget the disaster.

But how long will it take to recover psychologically(心理上恢复) from the earthquake? “It depends on the person’s character. They have to help themselves, which is more efficient(有效的) than passively receiving comfort and sympathy(同情) from others,” said Professor Le, a member of the Chinese Psychological Society.

1.When did the terrible earthquake hit Sichuan Province?

A. On May 12th B. In May 12th C. On May 13th D. In May 13th

2.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Keeping your feeling in your mind.

B. Have enough sleep and healthy food every day.

C. Don’t tell others when you feel sad.

D. Be happy and force yourself to forget the disaster.

3.From the passage we can know _______________.

A. not only Chinese people but also people throughout the world support the people in the disaster

B. people haven’t begun to rebuild their home yet

C. it will take a very short time to get the disaster area back on track(轨道)

D. it’s not important to give money and things

4.What’s the main idea of Professor Le, a member of the Chinese Psychological Society?

A. Helping themselves on mental health is more efficient than depending on others.

B. Recovering from the earthquake mainly depends on others.

C. Don’t talk to your friends when you are in bad mood.

D. You needn’t protect people from danger.