Question

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 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. fail to make big changes

B. plan for the last year

C. think about the new year

D. try to lose their ideas

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

A. we should do everything in big steps

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

C. we should try a lot of sudden changes

D. how to find a small step without any excuse

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

A.提高生产率 B.增加成本

C.增加出口量 D.提高待遇

4.The writer of the passage suggests we should .

A. make changes at the end of the year

B. do few experiments with “kaizen”

C. do things with hard-to-achieve goals

D. take a tiny step to achieve big goals

5.Which of the following is true from the passage?

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

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

C. You can’t find any excuse not to reach a big goal.

D. “Kaizen” was brought to Japan during World WarⅡ.

Answer 1

1.C

2.B

3.C

4.D

5.B

【解析】

试题分析：这篇短文告诉我们：在12月末，人们通常考虑新的一年。Robert Maurer写了一本书告诉我们怎样用一小步改变人的一生。这篇文章的作者建议我们要实现大目标应该采取小步骤。

1.在12月末，人们通常考虑新的一年。根据As December comes to an end, you think about the new year and all the ways you want to improve your life. 故选C。

2.Robert Maurer写一本书告诉我们怎样用一小步改变人的一生。根据who recently wrote the book One Small Step Can Change Your Life. 可知选B。

3.词义猜测题。文章中划线部分“increase productivity ”的意思是增加出口量。根据第四段可得出答案，故选C。

4.这篇文章的作者建议我们要实现大目标应该采取小步骤。

根据Here’s a suggestion: Forget the too big, hard-to-achieve goals and just think about the small ones.可知，应该选D。

5.细节理解题。从文章可知下面哪个是对的？根据Maurer studied the idea and did some experiments with it. “Kaizen” could possibly help people succeed in doing everything. 故选B。

考点：教育类短文阅读。