Passage one There are three kinds of goals: short-term, medium-range and long-term goals. Short-range goals are those that usually deal with current activities, which we can apply on a daily basis. Such goals can be achieved in a week or less, or two weeks, or possible months. It should be remembered that just as a building is no stronger than its foundation, out long-term goals cannot amount to very munch without the achievement of solid short-term goals. Upon completing our short-term goals, we should date the occasion and then add new short-term goals that will build on those that have been completed. The intermediate goals are built on the foundation of the short-range goals. They might deal with just one term of school or the entire school year, or they could even extend for several years. Any time you move a step at a time, you should never allow yourself to become discouraged or overwhelmed. As you complete each step, you will enforce the belief in your ability to grow and succeed. And as your list of completion dates grow, your motivation and desire will increase. Long-range goals may be related to our dreams of the future. They might cover five years or more. Life is not a static thing. We should never allow a long-term goal to limit us or our course of action.
Our long-term goals mean a lot _______. A. if we complete our short-range goals B. if we cannot reach solid short-term goals C. if we write down the dates D. if we put forward some plans
ID:9121-12975 Passage 3 Taking charge of yourself involves putting to rest some very prevalent myths. At the top of the list is the notion that intelligence is measured by your ability to solve complex problems; to read, write and compute at certain levels; and to resolve abstract equations quickly. This vision of intelligence asserts formal education and bookish excellence as the true measures of self fulfillment. It encourages a kind of intellectual prejudice that has brought with it some discouraging results. We have come to believe that someone who has more educational merit badges, who is very good at some form of school discipline is “intelligent.” Yet mental hospitals are filled with patients who have all of the properly lettered certificates. A truer indicator of intelligence is an effective, happy life lived each day and each present moment of every day. If you are happy, if you live each moment for everything it’s worth, then you are an intelligent person. Problem solving is a useful help to your happiness, but if you know that given your inability to resolve a particular concern you can still choose happiness for yourself, or at a minimum refuse to choose unhappiness, then you are intelligent. You are intelligent because you have the ultimate weapon against the big N.B.D.—Nervous Break Down. “Intelligent people do not have N.B.D.’s because they are in charge of themselves. They know how to choose happiness over depression, because they know how to deal with the problems of their lives. You can begin to think of yourself as truly intelligent on the basis of how you choose to feel in the face of trying circumstances. The life struggles are pretty much the same for each of us. Every one who is involved with other human beings in any social context has similar difficulties. Disagreements, conflicts and compromises are a part of what it means to be human. Similarly, money, growing old, sickness, deaths, natural disasters and accidents are all events which present problems to virtually all human beings. But some people are able to make it, to avoid immobilizing depression and unhappiness despite such occurrences, while others collapse or have an N.B.D. Those who recognize problems as a human condition and don’t measure happiness by an absence of problems are the most intelligent kind of humans we know; also, the most rare.
ID:9121-11875 Interestingly, __1__ Chaplin came from Britain, he was __2__ popular in other countries than in his own mother country. The truth is that most English people __3__ the Tramp a little __4__. It was generally thought __5__ them that he had __6__ of an eye for the ladies __7__ his clothes gave him an appearance more __8__ an Italian waiter than __9__ else. __10__ the image was not gentleman-like according to many English people. __11__, the silent movies helped Chaplin to __12__ his true nationality from American audiences. He __13__ making a talking movie __14__ 1936 when he __15__ a nonsense language which sounded like no known nationality. He __16__ said he thought of the Tramp __17__ an educated man who had fallen __18__ hard times. The truth is, however, that he was probably popular because he __19__ as character who revolted __20__ the privileged classes. 7 A and B that C and that D now that
ID:9121-12897 Americans value time and save it carefully. Time is a real, precious resource to them so every minute must (21) ______. Visitors may think Americans are always in a rush and under (22) ________. Smiles, short conversations, and small exchanges with strangers don’t (23) _______ as in other countries. Americans (24)_______ others professionally rather than socially. They start talking business immediately since they are always (25) _______ of time and dislike “wasting” too much time. Americans work hard at saving time. They would have meetings using equipment like television screens and telephones (26) _________ in person. Quickly solving a problem or doing a job successfully is a (27) _______ of skill. The more important the job, the more time and effort Americans will (28) ________ it. This often makes it difficult for people from other cultures to understand Americans. Therefore, (29) _________ to another culture has become so important to us. This requires a great deal of personal and cultural (30) _________. In short, it is highly necessary for us to develop appreciation for things that are foreign to us.