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It’s good to make mistakes, and here is why.

First of all, mistakes are a clear sign that you are trying new things. It’s always good to try new things because when you are trying new things you are growing. If you never try anything new, how can you improve? How can you expand? The simple answer is “You can’t”. Look around you. With very few exceptions, either everything you see in your physical world or every single detail of every single thing is the result of someone trying something new.

Another good thing about mistakes is this: When you are making mistakes, you are learning. Consider this: Edison failed 10,000 times before he perfected the light bulb. When asked how it felt to fail that many times, he said that he hadn’t failed 10,000 times, but rather had learned 10,000 things that didn’t work．

Finally, when you make a mistake you are much closer to success. Why?

Because when all is said and done, you will have tried some number of things before you succeeded. Every time you make a mistake you eliminate one of those things and are one step closer.

But this all doesn’t mean that you should go ahead without considering the consequences of a mistake. Quite the contrary, when you try something new you have to be willing to set some reasonable limits so that in the event that it doesn’t work out the way you want it to, you will be in a position to try again.

We all have limited resources in the form of time and money so don’t blow them all on one approach to a problem. Realize that it probably won’t be perfect the first time and allocate (分配) these resources appropriately so you can learn, make corrections, and try it again. Only by accepting and using your mistakes in this way can you make significant advances in your business and your career．

There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough．”

So go forth and make mistakes. And learn. And grow. And prosper（成功）．

1.From the second paragraph, we can conclude that _______．

A. mistakes are unnecessary for development                           

B. we are afraid of trying new things                                          

C. it’s common for people to make mistakes                              

D. mistakes are better than not trying

2. The underlined word “eliminate” means _______．

A. avoid                                        B. Remove                        C. accept                               D. solve

3.. According to the article, one thing you should pay attention to about making mistakes is    ．

A. avoiding making the same mistakes                                  

B. accepting the punishment willingly

C. taking consequences into account                                     

D. trying things out one by one

4.. What would the writer probably suggest we say to ourselves when we make a mistake?

A. Never mind, I can always try again．                                    

B. I’d better stay out of trouble．

C. Ok! Now I can learn something．                                      

D. Look at this mess. Anyone would be upset．

“Everybody loves a bargain.” Is a well-known saying. One person’s useless, ugly, or broken object can be another person’s bargain. That is why so many Americans do not throw things away.  They put them outside their house.  They put on a "For Sale" sign.  And, as simple as that, they have a yard sale.
The sellers put a paid announcement in a local newspaper.  It tells when and where the yard sale will take place. These sales are very popular during weekends in spring, summer, and autumn.
Early in the morning, all the things to be sold are carried out of the house. Then they sit all day in the sunlight -- like tired guests at a party -- waiting for someone to take them home.
Just about anything can be sold at a yard sale. Sometimes, there are more clothes than anything else. Cooking equipment is also popular. So are old toys, tools, books, tables, and chairs. Then there are objects called "white elephants."  A white elephant is something you think is extremely ugly or useless. It may be an electric light shaped like a fish. You feel a sharp pain whenever you look at it. To someone else, however, it might be a thing of beauty and joy.
Some people go to yard sales to find a special thing that they collect. It may be old toy trains, for example, or paintings of dogs. Experts say more Americans are collecting old things now than ever before. Most people who go to yard sales, however, are not looking for anything special.  They might buy an object simply because it costs so little.  They enjoy negotiating over prices, even if they really do not need the object.  Later, they may hold their own yard sale to sell all the things they have bought

1. 1.

   What kind of things will go to a yard sale?

   1. A.
      Cheap and ugly things．
   2. B.
      Things people no longer use．
   3. C.
      Things out of season．
   4. D.
      Things of great value．
2. 2.

   A white elephant refers to ______ ．

   1. A.
      something that can cause n feeling of pain
   2. B.
      something disliked by the owners while appreciated by others
   3. C.
      something sold at the lowest price
   4. D.
      a toy shaped like a fish
3. 3.

   Most people go to yard sales to ______ ．

   1. A.
      find Valuable paintings
   2. B.
      look for something special
   3. C.
      find a bargain
   4. D.
      kill their time
4. 4.

   Which of the following is NOT true about a yard sale?

   1. A.
      It may not be held when the weather is very cold．
   2. B.
      It can last for a whole day．
   3. C.
      It is usually held with a party．
   4. D.
      It is held outdoors．
5. 5.

   We can infer from the last paragraph that ______ ．

   1. A.
      people may find something of great value on a yard sale
   2. B.
      yard sales only attract those who have a low income
   3. C.
      things on a yard sale can cost people a lot
   4. D.
      most people who go to yard sales want to make money

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet fighter pilot in Viet Nam. After 75 missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb parachuted down into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison.

One day, Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant when a man from another table came up and said “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Viet Nam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!”

“How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb.

“I packed your parachute,” the man replied. “I guess it worked”. Plumb assured him, “It sure did. If your chute（降落伞） hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning. How are you?’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was ‘just a sailor’”.

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds(伞罩) and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’t know.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.

1．Why didn’t Plumb say hello to the sailor each time he passed him on the Kitty Hawk?

A. He thought the sailor was just an unimportant man.   

B. He didn’t like him at that time.

C. He was very busy then. 

D. He didn’t know him well then.

2． What did the sailor do on the Kitty Hawk at the Viet Nam War?

A. weaved clothes for the pilots.          B. repaired the wooden table in the ship.

C. helped the jets start.                  D. packed the parachutes for the fighter pilots.

3． What does the writer think we should do?

A. We should help each other if they are in trouble. 

B. We shouldn’t look down upon the sailors.

C. We should be thankful to others’ help.

D. We should be honest to our friends.

4． Which is the best title for the passage?

A. A story about a sailor.                       B. Who pack your parachutes?

C. Don’t forget your past!                      D. Never forget your friends!

Tim Becker and his neighbors are doing something to make their neighborhood a trouble-free area.

When Tim Becker gets in his car to go shopping, he doesn’t   1   drive to a store and back home. He always looks   2   up and down the streets of his neighborhood. He looks for anything   3   such as strange cars, loud noises,   4   windows, or people gathering on street corners.

Tim   5   to a neighborhood watch group in Stoneville, Indians, USA. The neighborhood watch group   6   on the third Wednesday of every month. That’s   7   Tim gets together with about ten of his neighbors to discuss community   8  . Members of the neighborhood watch group want to help the police   9   their homes, streets, and families safe.

Tina Stedman, president of   10   neighborhood watch group, agrees with Tim. “People seem to think that crime (犯罪) happens to other people but not   11   them. Well, it’s never happened to me,” she said, “but I don’t think anyone has the   12   to steal from other people or to make them feel   13   sitting in their own homes.”

Alex, a member of the group, said that all the neighbors   14   out for one another. “We 15 each other’s homes. We keep watch on the neighborhood at night and on weekends. Usually a 16 of four or five of us goes out together. If something doesn’t look right, then we call the    17  . For example, if we notice a group of teenagers who seem to be looking for   18  , or someone destroying property (财产), we report to the police.”

Alex feels the neighborhood watch groups   19   a lot in keeping crime down. Her husband Jim agrees, “Police are good people, but they can’t do   20  .”

1．A. yet                                   B. still                          C. just                          D. rather

2．A. carefully                    B. clearly                      C. nervously                 D. coldly

3．A. familiar                      B. unusual                    C. expensive                 D. interesting

4．A. clean                         B. open                        C. old                           D. broken

5．A. attends                       B. belongs                    C. goes                        D. turns

6．A. meets                        B. quarrels                    C. sings                        D. searches

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

8．A. politics                       B. wealth                      C. health                       D. safety

9．A. keep                         B. hold                        C. let                            D. protect

10．A. its                            B. his                           C. their                         D. your

11．A. round                       B. on                            C. about                       D. to

12．A. right                        B. chance                            C. courage                    D. mind

13．A. unlucky                    B. unsafe                      C. disappointed             D. discouraged

14．A. set                          B. let                            C. hold                         D. look

15．A. care                         B enter                         C. watch                      D manage

16．A. group                       B. set                           C. number                   D. crowd

17．A. judges                     B. police                       C. firemen                    D. doctors

18．A. work                       B. help                         C. service                    D. trouble

19．A. produce                   B. find                          C. get                           D. help

20．A. anything                   B. everything                C. harm                        D. wrong

We are not born doubting ourselves. We learn to do it. In fact, we are usually taught to doubt ourselves. We can learn some ways that allow us to become more accepting of ourselves. Following are two behaviors that might explain the reasons why you can’t move towards greater self-acceptance.

One thing that might cause you not to accept yourself is over-generalizing about something you've done that you don’t like．For example, if you fail a test you might generalize and say, “I’m really a stupid person.” When you do this you are making a statement about all of you all of the time and not just about this one situation at this time. Instead, you might decide that your grade on this test in this subject at this time was indeed poor, and then go on to decide what you want to do about your poor grade, if anything. Getting stuck in over-generalizing discourages you from taking steps that might allow you to do better on the next exam and to build an expectation of future failure.

Having standards that are impossibly high is a second way you can not accept yourself. It may not come as a surprise to you that most of us are more demanding of ourselves than we are of others. Somehow we can tolerate the fact that other people fail, that they aren’t always kind, that they’ve done things they aren’t proud of, but we have difficulty accepting those very human aspects of ourselves. The need to be perfect is another way to set yourself up for failure and enhance the feeling that you are not acceptable. We all make mistakes. Accepting less than perfection simply means recognizing the limitations natural in being born a human being. Learn to value who you are rather than who you could become. Wouldn’t it be overpowering if we always had to do what we imagine we could do? Nobody has the time and energy to do all of that. We must make choices about what we will pursue and do them the best we can under the circumstances, which aren’t always ideal, by the way.

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

A. We can feel that we are perfect when we set ourselves up for success.

B. We can tolerate the fact that we’ve done things we aren’t proud of.

C. Over-generalizing might encourage you to expect the future.

D. Over-generalizing might cause you not to accept yourself.

61．What is the author’s attitude according to the passage?

A. It’s necessary for people to be perfect.

B. It’s acceptable for people to be imperfect.

C. It’s strange for people to be born with limitation.

D. It’s possible for people to do what they imagine.

62．What has caused the lack of self-acceptance?

A. Tolerance and high-level.

B. Limitation and expectation.

C. Over-generalization and high-standard.

D. Extreme difficulty and complete failure.