Havesuccessfulpeopleeverfeltsad?Dotheyhaveany“secrets”tosuccess?TheanswerstothesequestionscanbefoundinUSpresidentBarackObama's“backtoschool”speech.Hereisanexcerpt(摘录)fromhisspeech.I

Question

    Have successful people ever felt sad? Do they have any “secrets” to success? The answers to these questions can be found in US president Barack Obama's “back to school” speech. Here is an excerpt (摘录) from his speech.

    I know that sometimes you get the sense that you can be rich and successful without any hard work—that your ticket to success is through pop music or basketball or being a TV star when chances are you’re not going to be any of those things.

    But the truth is being successful is hard. You won’t love every ‘subject you study. Not all the homework will seem rather important to your life right this minute. And you may not succeed at everything the first time you try.

     That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures (the opposite of success) . JK Rowling first book Harry Potter was turned down 12 times before it finally came out. Michael Jordan was cut from his high School basketball team and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said “I have failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. 

    These people succeeded because they understand that you can let your failures beat you—you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.

    No one's born being good at things. You become good at things through hard work.

   Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to tell when you don't know something and to learn something new.

    And even when you’re struggling (奋斗) ，even when you’re discouraged (泄气) ，and you feel other people have given up on you—don't ever give up on yourself . Because when you give up on yourself you give up on your country.

( ) 1. Mr. Obama said he knew that some students hope to get rich and successful____ .

   A. by hard work   B. without hard work

   C. by studying hard   D. by their good grades

( ) 2. Why does Barack Obama mention JK Rowling and Michael Jordan in the fourth para-

graph?

   A. To compare these two famous persons.

   B. To explain that the more failures he has the more successful he is.

   C. If you want to be successful you should fail first.

   D. To show that failure is the mother of success.

( ) 3. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

   A. No one can be successful without working hard.

   B. Failure can be good if you treat it in a right way.

   C. Those who believe in themselves shouldn’t ask others for help.

   D. One should try his best to make his dream come true.

( ) 4. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined sentence?

   A. One shouldn't ask questions because it is a sign of strength.

   B. One should believe in himself though he will face much difficulty.

   C. One doesn’t have to work hard when he has failed several times.

   D. One doesn't have to ask for help because it is a sign of weakness.

( ) 5. What's the meaning of the underlined word “shots” in Paragraph (段落) 4?

   A. 射击   B. 投篮   C. 比赛   D. 训练

Answer 1

1. B 2. D 3. C 4. B 5. B

[解析]本文运用奥巴马和其他两位名人的例子，说明失败是成功之母。

1. B 根据第二段 I know that sometimes you get the sense that you can be rich and successful without any hard work —that your ticket to success is through pop music or basketball or being a TV star 可知。

2. D本文在奥巴马的演讲词中提到了两个名人，主 要强调他们是由于多次的失败，最终走向的成功， 表示的含义是失败是成功之母，故本题选 D.

3. C 本文在奥巴马演讲词中有一句Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness; it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to tell when you don't know something and to learn something new.意思为向别人寻求帮助不是软弱 的象征，而是力量的象征，它表明3你所拥有的勇气。所以相信自己，遇到问题也要向别人寻求帮 助，故陈述不正确的为C项，故本题选 C.

4. B本题画线的句子所表示的含义在你奋斗的过 程中，遇到困难不要泄气，即使别人不相信你，你也要相信你自己，表示的含义也就是一个人应该要相信自己，故本题选 B. 

5. B根据意思，乔丹是篮球运动员，所以在他的篮 球生涯中，他有成千上万次投篮没有投中。