Question

    For years, I have advocated the importance of hard work, determination, persistence, and practice as key ingredients of success. Malcolm Gladwell, who has written The Story of Success, seems to support my theory. He says it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to attain true expertise.

“The people at the very top don’t just work harder than everyone else,” Gladwell writes. “They work much, much harder.” Achievement, he says, is talent plus preparation. Preparation seems to play a bigger role.

For example, he describes the Beatles: They had been together seven years before their famous arrival in America. They spent a lot of time playing in clubs, sometimes for as long as eight hours a night. Overnight success? Not exactly. Estimates are that the band performed 1,200 times before their big success in 1964. By comparison, most bands don’t perform 1,200 times in their careers.

Neurologist Daniel Levitin has studied the formula for success extensively and shares this finding: “The emerging picture from such studies is that 10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in anything. In study after study of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, the number comes up again and again. Of course, this doesn’t address why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others do. But no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems it takes the brain a long time to digest all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.”

Two computer giants, Bill Joy, who co-founded Sun Microsystems, and Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, also were proof of the 10,000-hour theory.

The abilities these people possessed were far-ranging, yet the formula for success was the same: hard work and lots of it. Some people just make it look easy. Of course, you probably didn’t see the first 9,999 hours of hard work.

1.According to the passage, what made Beatles different from most other bands?

A.Their great talent. B.Their persistent effort.

C.Their charming looks. D.Their outstanding achievements.

2.How does the author support the theme of the text?

A.By stating arguments. B.By giving examples.

C.By providing statistical data. D.By making comparisons.

3.According to the passage, the opinions that Malcolm Gladwell may agree with include the following EXCEPT that____ .

A.life is full of ups and downs

B.work transforms talent into genius

C.success takes hard work and devotion

D.the way to learn to do things is to do things

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.A

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。 努力工作，决心，坚持不懈以及实践都是成功的重要部分。要想成为一名任何领域的世界级专家，都需要10000小时的练习才能达到精通的程度。

1.细节理解题。根据第三段中Estimates are that the band performed 1,200 times before their big success in 1964. By comparison, most bands don’t perform 1,200 times in their careers.可知据估计，这支乐队在1964年大获成功之前表演了1200次。相比之下，大多数乐队在其职业生涯中表演的次数不到1200次。由此可知，甲壳虫乐队与其他大多数乐队的不同之处是他们坚持不懈的努力。故选B。

2.推理判断题。根据第三段中Estimates are that the band performed 1,200 times before their big success in 1964. By comparison, most bands don’t perform 1,200 times in their careers.可知据估计，这支乐队在1964年大获成功之前表演了1200次。相比之下，大多数乐队在其职业生涯中表演的次数不到1200次。以及倒数第二段Two computer giants, Bill Joy, who co-founded Sun Microsystems, and Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, also were proof of the 10,000-hour theory.可知太阳微系统公司的联合创始人Bill Joy和微软公司的联合创始人Bill Gates这两大计算机巨头也证明了“一万小时理论”。文章第三段和倒数第二段举出了甲壳虫乐队的例子，来支持这文章观点。故可推知，文章主要通过列举成功人士的例子来支持文章主题。故选B。

3.细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句He says it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to attain true expertise.可知他说，获得真正的专业技能需要大约1万个小时的练习。以及第二段 “The people at the very top don’t just work harder than everyone else,” Gladwell writes. “They work much, much harder.” Achievement, he says, is talent plus preparation. Preparation seems to play a bigger role.可知Gladwell写道:“最顶层的人不仅仅比其他人工作更努力。他们工作非常非常努力。”他说，成就是天赋加上准备。准备似乎发挥了更大的作用。由此可知，Gladwell强调努力工作的重要性，故可能同意“工作把天赋变成天才”、“成功需要努力和奉献”以及“学习做事的方法就是去做事”的观点，除了A选项“生活充满了起起落落”。故选A。