How to Be a Winner
Sir Steven Redgrave
Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals
“In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes (糖尿病). Believing my career was over, I felt extremely low. Then one of the specialists said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn’t difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way.”
Karen Pickering
Swimming World Champion
“I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that sort of workload by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success —you can’t follow a career in any field without being well-organized. List what you believe you can achieve. Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you’ll be a step closer to achieving them.”
Kirsten Best
Poet & Writer
“When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve something. Then there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to concentrate. When I feel tense, it helps a lot to repeat words such as ‘calm’, ‘peace’ or ‘focus’, either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence. This is a habit that can become second nature quite easily and is a powerful psychological(心理的) tool.”
【小题1】What does Sir Steven Redgrave mainly talk about?

A．Difficulties influenced his career.

B．Specialists offered him medical advice.

C．Training helped him defeat his disease.

D．He overcame the shadow of illness to win.

【小题2】What does Karen Pickering put on top of her diary?

A．Her achievements.

B．Her daily happenings.

C．Her training schedule.

D．Her sports career.

【小题3】According to the passage, what do the three people have in common?

A．Courage.

B．Devotion.

C．Hard work.

D．Self-confidence.

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.
When Doctor Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He believed in the principle: "No pains, no gains". He hardly watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water. So, instead of watering his trees every morning, he'd beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention.
Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some twenty five years ago. They were all tall and strong.
I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity(逆境) seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb's trees in ways comfort and ease never could.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to meet with hardship. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be torn apart.
【小题1】With the trees planted, Doctor Gibbs often __________.

A．paid little attention to them

B．kept watering them every morning

C．talked to them to get their attention

D．beat them to make them grow deep roots

【小题2】What does the author think of the way Doctor Gibbs planted trees?

A．Strange and harmful.

B．Interesting and funny.

C．Cruel and unacceptable.

D．Original and reasonable.[

【小题3】Which prayer does the author wish for his sons?

A．Meet people like Dr Gibbs in the future.

B．Be able to stand the rain and wind in their lives.

C．Have an easy life, without too much to worry about.

D．Have good luck, encountering less hardship in their life.

【小题4】Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Prayers for my sons

B．Doctor Gibbs and his trees

C．Growing roots

D．Watering trees

   If I were a boy again, I would practice perseverance more often, and never give up a thing because it was hard or inconvenient. 【小题1】“There are only two creatures,” says a proverb, “who can surmount(越过) the pyramids — the eagle and the snail.”
If I were a boy again, I would school myself into a habit of attention. I would let nothing come between me and the subject in hand. 【小题2】 The habit of attention becomes part of our life, if we begin early enough. I often hear grown-up people say, “I could not fix my attention on the lecture or book, although I wished to do so,” and the reason is, the habit was not formed in youth.
If I were a boy again, I would cultivate courage. “Nothing is so mild and gentle as courage, nothing so cruel and pitiless as cowardice (怯懦),” says a wise author. 【小题3】The fear of ill exceeds(超过) the ill we fear. Dangers will arise in any career, but presence of mind will often conquer the worst of them.【小题4】
If I were a boy again, I would look on the cheerful side. Life is very much like a mirror: if you smile upon it, it smiles back upon you; but if you frown and look doubtful on it, you will get a similar look in return. Inner sunshine warms not only the heart of the owner, but of all that come in contact with it.
【小题5】I might write pages on the importance of learning very early in life to gain that point where a young boy can stand straight and decline doing an unworthy act because it is unworthy.
Finally, instead of trying hard to be happy, as if that were the sole purpose of life, I would, if I were a boy again, try still harder to make others happy.

A．If we want light, we must conquer darkness.

B．If I were a boy again, I would school myself to say “No” oftener.

C．We too often borrow trouble, and expect that may never appear.

D．I would remember that a good skater never tries to skate in two directions at once.

E．If I were a boy again, I would demand of myself more courtesy towards my companions and friends and indeed towards strangers as well.

F．Perseverance can sometimes equal genius in its results.

G．Be prepared for any fate, and there is no harm to be feared.