In the modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity (繁荣). Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another, that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is really forgotten.
However, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often notice that they have a desire 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.” They don’t believe that if they had really tried and lost, such a loss would prove their worth. 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-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison(比较) with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.
1.What does this passage mainly talk about?
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A．Competition helps set up self-respect. |
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B．Failures are necessary experiences in competition. |
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C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development. |
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D．Opinions about competition are different among people. |
2.Why do some people value competition according to the passage?
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A．It builds up a sense of duty. |
B．It pushes society forward. |
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C．It improves personal abilities. |
D．It encourages individual effects. |
3.The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 refers to_______.
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A．those who try their best to win |
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B．those who value competition most highly |
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C．those who are against competition most strongly |
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D．those who rely on others most for success |
4.What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”?
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A．One’s success is based on how hard he has tried. |
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B．One’s success in competition needs great efforts. |
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C．One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills. |
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D．One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others’. |
5.Which point of view may the author agree to?
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A．Every effort should be paid back. |
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B．Competition should be encouraged. |
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C．Winning should be a life-and-death matter. |
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D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition. |
完形填空（共15小题; 每小题1分, 满分15分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
Nearly twenty years has passed, I still remember my favourite professor, James Sehwartz. And almost all his students are his friends, and almost all his students know his life story.
When James was a teenager, his father 36 him to a fur (毛皮)factory where he worked . This was during the Great Depression(大萧条). The 37 was to get James a job.
He entered the factory, and immediately felt as if the walls had closed in around him. The room was dark and hot, the windows covered with dust, and the 38 were packed tightly together, running like trains. The fur hairs were flying, 39 the air thicker, and the workers, sewing the pieces of fur together, were bent over their needles 40 the boss marched up and down the rows, shouting and forcing them to go faster. James could hardly 41 . He stood next to his father, frozen with fear, hoping the boss wouldn’t 42 at him, either.
During lunch break, his father took James to the boss and pushed him in front of him, 43 if there was any work for his son. But unfortunately, the answer was “no”, because at that time no one would__44___ it up once he takes a job.
However, for James, it was a blessing(福气) . He hated the place. He made a(an) 45 that he would never do any work that brought 46 to someone else, and that he would never allow himself to 47 money from others who would lose their jobs for him.
“What will you do?” his mother , Eva , would ask him.
“I don’t know,” he would say. He ruled out（排除）law, because he didn’t like 48 , and he ruled out medicine , because he couldn’t take the 49 of blood.
50__, my best professor became a teacher, he thought it was the job not to hurt anybody.
36．A．sent B．took C．carried D．admitted
37．A．situation B．condition C． aim D．way
38．A．goods B．workers C．machines D．vehicles
39．A．making B．sending C．taking D．breaking
40．A．as B．after C．if D．though
41．A．breathe B．see C．walk D．hear
42．A．attack B．laugh C．rush D．shout
43．A．doubting B．questioning C．asking D．begging
44．A．pick B． give C． come D． turn
45．A．request B．promise C．plan D．arrangement
46．A．harm B．injury C．damage D．convenience
47．A．pay B．save C．earn D．let
48．A．police B．lawyers C．doctors D．government
49．A．sight B．feel C．sense D．scenery
50．A．Generally B．Possibly C．Eventually D．Basically
Farmers stored up a great _____ of wheat and a _____ of beans this year.
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A．number; lot |
B．deal; number |
C．plenty; lots |
D．deal; pack |
_____ deep down in the earth, the dead forests rotted away and became coal.
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A．Buried |
B．Burying |
C．To bury |
D．Being buried |
Only when class began _______that he had left his book at home.
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A．will he realize |
B．he did realize |
C．did he realize |
D．should he realize |
The little boy is dirty from head to foot because he ______ in the mud all morning.
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A．has played |
B．has been playing |
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C．is playing |
D．was playing |
