Question

In modern society(社会) there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, for they believe that it is helpful for social progress and richness. Others say that competition is bad, and that it sets one person against another and leads to unfriendliness between people. I have trained many children who held the belief(看法) that their self worth came from how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life and death matters. Sadly, they forget to develop many other human qualities. However, while some seem to be lost in the strong wish to succeed, others think quite the opposite. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary(普通) players, they strongly blame competition, especially youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures(压力) from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often find that they even choose to fail. They seem to choose failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse, “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” In fact, they are worried that if they had really tried and failed, the failure would mean that they were worth nothing. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self worth comes from how well one performs in comparison(比较) with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. We can only discover a new meaning in competition as such worries and fear begin to disappear.

Title: Opinions about competition

Main argument Some believe that competition can push society 1., while others think competition 2.unfriendliness between people. Children’s performances Some children 3.care about performing well and winning.

Some children give up trying to prevent themselves from 4..Reason behind They think one can prove his self worth only by performing better than others in competition. Writer’s 5.to children Understand the new meaning of competition.

 

Answer 1

1.forward

2.causes

3.only/just

4.failing

5.suggestions/advice

【解析】

试题分析：这篇短文中讲述了关于竞争人们的不同观点。有些人支持竞争，他们觉得这样可以使社会进步；有些人反对竞争，他们觉得竞争给人与人之间带来不友好。作者建议我们正确理解竞争的意义。

1.根据短文中they believe that it is helpful for social progress可知，一些支持竞争的人认为，竞争对社会进步是有帮助的，这里的意思即是推进社会的向前发展，push society forward。

2.根据短文中Others say that competition is bad, and that it sets one person against another and leads to unfriendliness between people.可知，反对竞争的人觉得，它会挑起人们之间的斗争，给人们之间带来不友好。这句话中的lead to 意为：导致，即引起某种结果。它的同义词是cause，故这里填causes。

3.根据短文中For them, playing well and winning are often life and death matters.可知，一些孩子觉得表现好，赢经常是事关生死的大事。因此这样的孩子只知道争强好胜，只关心输赢。only 或just都是只，仅仅的意思。

4.根据短文中They seem to choose failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse,可知，有些孩子选择不去尝试，是因为他们害怕输，害怕失败。如果他们不尝试，他们就可以为自己找到一个借口。这句话中prevent sb. from doing sth.，意思是阻止某人做某事。故这里填failing。

5.根据短文中最后一句话We can only discover a new meaning in competition as such worries and fear begin to disappear.可知，作者觉得我们能够发现竞争的新意义，这是作者给我们的建议，故这里应该填suggestions 或advice。

考点：任务型阅读。