There is, for many of us, a moment in life when we make a choice that changes us forever. This moment marks a turning point, when we realize that the life we're living is not a mirror of who we really are.

For some, the moment comes as a result of something dramatic: the sudden loss of a job, or the death of a loved one. For others, they have to deal with difficult situations, such as financial hardship. In these challenging times, it's more critical(关键时刻的) than ever for us to seize the possibility of positive change. As I travel and talk to people about their lives, I often see a distant, vacant look in their eyes -- a look that says “I’m so busy trying to survive my life that no soul left to live it”.

As a result, we end up feeling lonely. Yet we keep on going the way we've been going. We tolerate high levels of stress at work, take important relationships for granted, or put our health needs on hold. We get so caught up in the details of living that our busyness becomes an excuse from the inner voice that begs us to listen. When you finally pay attention to that little voice and begin to make even small changes, you will slowly improve yourself.

To start positive change, you need the power of your mind. I've come up with a five-step strategy that will help you. You will be able to identify what you want and then go after it. It's easier than you might think.

1. Reset your happiness set point. Don't limit yourself! When I decided that I wanted more control over my life, I set goals in physical, emotional, financial, professional, material, and play. I challenged myself to consider every possible choice. Imagine things you've never believed you could achieve. Don't let your past determine your future.

2. Trust your courage. Too often, when you're first learning to take control of your life, you doubt yourself. It's important to develop a strong connection with your inner guidance system. I've heard many stories about the persistent voice inside your head.

3. Take action. Once you have set goals, adjusted your beliefs, and got ready, you can start making things happen. Again, turn to those people you respect -- the ones achieving what you desire -- for support and guidance. They will both inspire you and give you practical advice on what steps you need to take.

4. Have faith. Believe that the positive energy of grace will support your efforts to improve your life. When you've done all you can, let go and trust that the right result will occur. When we have faith, we give up the need to be in control, and we set ourselves up to actually enjoy the process of change.

5. Be patient. This can be the toughest step. It's not easy to trust that your life will improve in a best way. Remind yourself of the benefits of patience. In my experience, those life changes are always worth the wait.

1.What does the author intend to say in the second paragraph?

A. The start of some turning points in one’s life is caused by crisis.

B. Loss of a job or the death of a loved one are all dramatic things.

C. No one can live a life without any turning points.

D. No one can predict his future of being good or not.

2.In the author’s opinion, we should ______________.

A. adjust our beliefs from time to time   B. always control ourselves for anything

C. keep on going the way we are going D. seize the challenging times to live an active life

3.The author suggests that when setting your happiness set points, you should _______.

A. know the limitation of your set point      B. build self-confidence without doubt

C. limit your goals in different ways         D. consider every possible choice with care

4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. When you've done all you can, you may believe that the right result will occur.

B. When you set goals, and take action, it is possible to make things happen.

C. When you first learn to take charge of your life, you will always doubt yourself.

D. If things do not happen in a way that is best, patience is always worth the wait.

There is, for many of us, a moment in life when we make a choice that changes us forever. This moment marks a turning point, when we realize that the life we're living is not a mirror of who we really are.

For some, the moment comes as a result of something dramatic: the sudden loss of a job, or the death of a loved one. For others, they have to deal with difficult situations, such as financial hardship. In these challenging times, it's more critical(关键时刻的) than ever for us to seize the possibility of positive change. As I travel and talk to people about their lives, I often see a distant, vacant look in their eyes -- a look that says “I’m so busy trying to survive my life that no soul left to live it”.

As a result, we end up feeling lonely. Yet we keep on going the way we've been going. We tolerate high levels of stress at work, take important relationships for granted, or put our health needs on hold. We get so caught up in the details of living that our busyness becomes an excuse from the inner voice that begs us to listen. When you finally pay attention to that little voice and begin to make even small changes, you will slowly improve yourself.

To start positive change, you need the power of your mind. I've come up with a five-step strategy that will help you. You will be able to identify what you want and then go after it. It's easier than you might think.

1. Reset your happiness set point. Don't limit yourself! When I decided that I wanted more control over my life, I set goals in physical, emotional, financial, professional, material, and play. I challenged myself to consider every possible choice. Imagine things you've never believed you could achieve. Don't let your past determine your future.

2. Trust your courage. Too often, when you're first learning to take control of your life, you doubt yourself. It's important to develop a strong connection with your inner guidance system. I've heard many stories about the persistent voice inside your head.

3. Take action. Once you have set goals, adjusted your beliefs, and got ready, you can start making things happen. Again, turn to those people you respect -- the ones achieving what you desire -- for support and guidance. They will both inspire you and give you practical advice on what steps you need to take.

4. Have faith. Believe that the positive energy of grace will support your efforts to improve your life. When you've done all you can, let go and trust that the right result will occur. When we have faith, we give up the need to be in control, and we set ourselves up to actually enjoy the process of change.

5. Be patient. This can be the toughest step. It's not easy to trust that your life will improve in a best way. Remind yourself of the benefits of patience. In my experience, those life changes are always worth the wait.

What does the author intend to say in the second paragraph?

A. The start of some turning points in one’s life is caused by crisis.

B. Loss of a job or the death of a loved one are all dramatic things.

C. No one can live a life without any turning points.

D. No one can predict his future of being good or not.

In the author’s opinion, we should ______________.

A. adjust our beliefs from time to time B. always control ourselves for anything

C. keep on going the way we are going   D. seize the challenging times to live an active life

The author suggests that when setting your happiness set points, you should _______.

A. know the limitation of your set point        B. build self-confidence without doubt

C. limit your goals in different ways           D. consider every possible choice with care

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. When you've done all you can, you may believe that the right result will occur.

B. When you set goals, and take action, it is possible to make things happen.

C. When you first learn to take charge of your life, you will always doubt yourself.

D. If things do not happen in a way that is best, patience is always worth the wait.

E
We might be surprised at the progress made in every field of study, but the methods of testing a person’s knowledge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were. It really is extraordinary that after all these years, educationists have still failed to design anything more efficient and reliable than examinations. For the claim that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack(窍门) of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability and attitude.
As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the marks of success or failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don’t count: the exam goes on. No one can give his best when he is in mortal terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of various competitions where success and failure are clearly defined and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of ‘drop-outs’: young people who are written off as failures before they have even started a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?
A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself. The examination system does anything but that. What has to be learnt is rigidly laid down by a syllabus(教学大纲), so the student is encouraged to memorize. Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely, but to restrict his reading; they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge, but induce cramming. They lower the standards of teaching, for they deprive(剥夺) the teacher of all freedoms. Teachers themselves are often judged by examination results and instead of teaching their subjects, they are reduced to training their students in exam techniques. The most successful candidates are not always the best educated; they are the best trained in the technique of working under pressure.
The results on which so much depends are often nothing more than a subjective assessment by some anonymous examiner. Examiners are only human. They get tired and hungry; they make mistakes. Yet they have to mark piles of hastily scrawled (潦草的)
scripts in a limited amount of time. They work under the same sort of pressure as the candidates. And their word carries weight. After a judge’s decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner’s. There must surely be many simpler and more effective ways of assessing a person’s true abilities.
56.The main idea of this passage is _______.
A. examinations produce a harmful influence on education
B. examinations are ineffective
C. examinations are important to students’ development
D. examinations are a burden on students
57.The author’s attitude toward examinations is _______.
A. supportive       B. neutral          C. critical         D. indifferent
58.The fate of students is decided by _______.
A. education        B. examiners       C. examinations    D. students themselves
59.According to the author, the most important of a good education is _______.
A. to encourage students to read widely        B. to train students to think on their own
C. to teach students how to deal with exams        D. to master his fate
60.What does the author mean by saying “After a judge’s decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner’s”(Para 4, Line 6) ?
A. Judges are not important.
B. The examiner has the final say concerning the result of the examination.
C. Prisoners are more powerful than students.
D. The court decisions are often inaccurate.

There is, for many of us, a moment in life when we make a choice that changes us forever. This moment marks a turning point, when we realize that the life we're living is not a mirror of who we really are.
For some, the moment comes as a result of something dramatic: the sudden loss of a job, or the death of a loved one. For others, they have to deal with difficult situations, such as financial hardship. In these challenging times, it's more critical(关键时刻的) than ever for us to seize the possibility of positive change. As I travel and talk to people about their lives, I often see a distant, vacant look in their eyes -- a look that says “I’m so busy trying to survive my life that no soul left to live it”.
As a result, we end up feeling lonely. Yet we keep on going the way we've been going. We tolerate high levels of stress at work, take important relationships for granted, or put our health needs on hold. We get so caught up in the details of living that our busyness becomes an excuse from the inner voice that begs us to listen. When you finally pay attention to that little voice and begin to make even small changes, you will slowly improve yourself.
To start positive change, you need the power of your mind. I've come up with a five-step strategy that will help you. You will be able to identify what you want and then go after it. It's easier than you might think.
1. Reset your happiness set point. Don't limit yourself! When I decided that I wanted more control over my life, I set goals in physical, emotional, financial, professional, material, and play. I challenged myself to consider every possible choice. Imagine things you've never believed you could achieve. Don't let your past determine your future.
2. Trust your courage. Too often, when you're first learning to take control of your life, you doubt yourself. It's important to develop a strong connection with your inner guidance system. I've heard many stories about the persistent voice inside your head.
3. Take action. Once you have set goals, adjusted your beliefs, and got ready, you can start making things happen. Again, turn to those people you respect -- the ones achieving what you desire -- for support and guidance. They will both inspire you and give you practical advice on what steps you need to take.
4. Have faith. Believe that the positive energy of grace will support your efforts to improve your life. When you've done all you can, let go and trust that the right result will occur. When we have faith, we give up the need to be in control, and we set ourselves up to actually enjoy the process of change.
5. Be patient. This can be the toughest step. It's not easy to trust that your life will improve in a best way. Remind yourself of the benefits of patience. In my experience, those life changes are always worth the wait.
【小题1】What does the author intend to say in the second paragraph?

E

We might be surprised at the progress made in every field of study, but the methods of testing a person’s knowledge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were. It really is extraordinary that after all these years, educationists have still failed to design anything more efficient and reliable than examinations. For the claim that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack(窍门 ) of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability and attitude.

As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the marks of success or failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don’t count: the exam goes on. No one can give his best when he is in mortal terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of various competitions where success and failure are clearly defined and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of ‘drop-outs’: young people who are written off as failures before they have even started a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?

A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself. The examination system does anything but that. What has to be learnt is rigidly laid down by a syllabus(教学大纲), so the student is encouraged to memorize. Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely, but to restrict his reading; they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge, but induce cramming. They lower the standards of teaching, for they deprive(剥夺) the teacher of all freedoms. Teachers themselves are often judged by examination results and instead of teaching their subjects, they are reduced to training their students in exam techniques. The most successful candidates are not always the best educated; they are the best trained in the technique of working under pressure.

The results on which so much depends are often nothing more than a subjective assessment by some anonymous examiner. Examiners are only human. They get tired and hungry; they make mistakes. Yet they have to mark piles of hastily scrawled (潦草的)

scripts in a limited amount of time. They work under the same sort of pressure as the candidates. And their word carries weight. After a judge’s decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner’s. There must surely be many simpler and more effective ways of assessing a person’s true abilities.

56.The main idea of this passage is _______.

A. examinations produce a harmful influence on education

B. examinations are ineffective

C. examinations are important to students’ development

D. examinations are a burden on students

57.The author’s attitude toward examinations is _______.

A. supportive       B. neutral          C. critical         D. indifferent

58.The fate of students is decided by _______.

A. education        B. examiners       C. examinations    D. students themselves

59.According to the author, the most important of a good education is _______.

A. to encourage students to read widely        B. to train students to think on their own

C. to teach students how to deal with exams        D. to master his fate

60.What does the author mean by saying “After a judge’s decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner’s”(Para 4, Line 6) ?

A. Judges are not important.

B. The examiner has the final say concerning the result of the examination.

C. Prisoners are more powerful than students.

D. The court decisions are often inaccurate.