Question

    Why are some people successful and others aren’t? What’s the secret of success? 1.

Many of Gladwell’s ideas appear in his social psychology bestseller Outliers.2. Gladwell thinks that this is just an excuse for not trying… and if you really want to be good at something, you have to work at it. “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good,” Gladwell writes. “It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”

Central to the book is the “10,000-hour rule”. It means that if you want to be among the best in the world, you need to practise something for 10,000 hours. 3. For example, the Beatles played live in Hamburg more than 1,200 times between 1960 and 1964, which is more than 10,000 hours of playing time. And when Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was 13, he was given access to a high school computer (one of the few available in the country), allowing him to practise computer programming for more than (Yes, you guessed it!) 10, 000 hours.

4. Take the example of Christopher Langan, who’s mentioned in the book. He’s got an IQ of between 195 and 210 (Albert Einstein’s IQ was estimated to have been between 160 and 180). As a boy at school, Langan was able to take an exam in a foreign language he’d never studied and pass it after just skim-reading a text book for three minutes. However, Langan never graduated from university and worked in labour-intensive jobs his whole life. This proves that intelligence alone will not lead to success—you need hard work, support, finance and opportunities. Gladwell adds, “No one — not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses — ever makes it alone.”

5. Even after you’ve put in your 10,000 hours of practice, you still need one other key ingredient — luck. So, you could be the most amazing guitarist in the world, but unless you’re lucky enough to play in front of a record company executive who sees a way of exploiting that talent, you aren’t going to be seeing your name in lights.

A.It isn’t just a question of time and support.

B.Author Malcolm Gladwell thinks he knows.

C.That’s equal to three hours a day for 10 years.

D.Of course, many people argue that you can create your own “luck”.

E.The popular view is that some of us are born talented and others aren’t.

F.The interesting thing is that success has nothing to do with intelligence.

G.Someone who’s willing to practise something for 10,000 hours is probably active.

Answer

1.B

2.E

3.C

4.F

5.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章讲述了成功的要素：努力、智力、勤奋、（他人的）支持、财力和机会。

1.考查段尾句。根据空前“Why are some people successful and others aren’t? What’s the secret of success?（为什么有些人成功而其他人却不成功？成功的秘诀是什么？)”可知，B项（作者Malcolm Gladwell认为他知道答案）能够承接上文。该选项通过提到“作者Malcolm Gladwell认为他知道答案”在下文引出对这两个问题的回答。故选B项。

2.考查段中句。根据空前“Many of Gladwell’s ideas appear in his social psychology bestseller Outliers.(Gladwell的许多想法都出现在他的社会心理学畅销书《离群值》中)”和空后“Gladwell thinks that this is just an excuse for not trying… and if you really want to be good at something, you have to work at it.(Gladwell认为，这只是不做尝试的借口，如果你真的想擅长做某事，就必须努力)”可知，E项(流行的观点是，我们中有些人天生是有才华的，而另一些人则不是）能够承接上文并且与下文连接通顺。该选项在为前一句中的“Many of Gladwell’s ideas”举例子。故选E项。

3.考查段中句。根据空前“Central to the book is the “10,000-hour rule”. It means that if you want to be among the best in the world, you need to practise something for 10,000 hours.(这本书的核心是“10,000小时规则”。这意味着，如果你想成为世界上最优秀的人之一，则你需要练习某件事达到10,000小时)”和空后“For example, the Beatles played live in Hamburg more than 1,200 times between 1960 and 1964, which is more than 10,000 hours of playing time.(例如，甲壳虫乐队在1960年至1964年之间在汉堡进行了超过1200次的现场演奏，这达到了10,000多个小时的演奏时间)”可知，C项（那就是每天练习三小时并持续了三年的时间）能够承接上文并且与下文连接通顺。该选项与前一句进行了一个数字上的转换计算，空格后的句子是在对选项进行举例说明。故选C项。

4.考查段首句。根据空后“Take the example of Christopher Langan, who’s mentioned in the book.(以书中提到的Christopher Langan为例)”可知，F项（有趣的是，成功与智力无关）能够与下文连接通顺。空格后的句子是在举例子说明该选项。故选F项。

5.考查段首句。根据空后“Even after you’ve put in your 10,000 hours of practice, you still need one other key ingredient — luck.(即使您投入了10,000个小时的练习，你仍然需要其他关键要素——运气)”可知，A项（这不仅仅是时间和获取支持的问题）能够与下文连接通顺。空格后的句子是对该选项的进一步说明，表示成功在努力之外也需要运气。故选A项。