Question

Are you an optimist? Do you look at your glass and see it as half full? Do you believe that every cloud has a silver lining and that generally things turn out for the best? Do you believe that if something is meant to be, it will be? If you reply “yes” to all of these questions, then you are an optimist. You probably are enthusiastic, cheerful and outgoing. You may well be successful atwork and in love.

But you may be misguided because things don’t turn out for the best. You may believe that when one door closes another one opens (for example，you may fail to obtain a new job，another chance will come around soon), Wrong. When one door closes, another door slams in your face. That's bitter reality.

Now a book has been published which confirms what we pessimists(悲觀者）have suspected all along. It's called The Positive Power of Defensive Pessimism. Its author argues that defensive pessimism can lead to positive results. Defensive pessimism is a strategy used to manage fear, anxiety and worry. Defensive pessimists prepare for things by setting low outcomes for themselves. They carefully consider everything that may go wrong and plan for ways to handle these problems. And this gives them a sense of control. Lawrence Sanno, a psychology professor, says, “What’s interesting about defensive pessimists is that they tend to be very successful people, so their low opinion of the situation’s outcomes is not realistic. They use it to motivate themselves to perform better. ”

So far, so good. This is not rocket science. Defensive pessimists prepare carefully and consider what might go wrong, whether at work, on a date or even in a sports game. It makes sense to have a back-up plan. There are many sayings in English urging caution. For example, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” and “ Don’t count your chickens until they hatch. “ To have a confident and optimistic approach to life’s problems is good. But listen to what Woody Alien，the American comedian says, ”Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem.”

There are pros and cons to being an optimist and a pessimist. Don’t feel bad if you see the glass half empty. You are a realist. But lighten up and hook up with someone who sees the same glass half full.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A．A book that has recently been published.

B．The dangers of being too optimistic.

C．How to become successful in life.

D．The benefits of defensive pessimism.

2.The underlined sentence “This is not rocket science” in paragraph 4 means     .

A．it is quite simple to understand             B．there is no real proof

C．it’s not a dangerous thing to do            D．the cost is not so high

3.The writer would probably describe himself as          .

A．a(chǎn)n optimist        B．a(chǎn) defeatist         C．a(chǎn) realist           D．a(chǎn) scientist

4.Which of the following English expressions would a defensive pessimist believe?

A．“Every cloud has a silver lining.”           B．“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

C．“Whatever will be, will be.”              D．“The glass is half full not half empty.”

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：文章主要表示的是樂觀和悲觀各有優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)，不要太在乎。

1.主旨大意題。文章在第一段提出了人應(yīng)該樂觀一點(diǎn)會(huì)更好，接著主要討論了要做一個(gè)有意識(shí)的悲觀者，因?yàn)檫@樣的悲觀者才會(huì)對(duì)以后的事情做好充分的準(zhǔn)備，會(huì)有詳細(xì)的計(jì)劃和安排。那樣才能有更好的結(jié)果。故D正確。

2.推理題。諺語(yǔ)This is not rocket science.中的rocket science指困難的事情，指那些很難以理解的事情。本句話的意思就是指這很好理解，不是那么難以理解的事物。故A正確。

3.推理題。根據(jù)第二段的最后三句：當(dāng)上帝關(guān)上一扇門的時(shí)候，他會(huì)為你打開另外一扇門。但是實(shí)際上并不是總是如此，說明他對(duì)待一切是很現(xiàn)實(shí)的。以及文章后幾段的內(nèi)容可在C正確。

4.推理題。根據(jù)文章倒數(shù)第二段3,4行There are many sayings in English urging caution. For example, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,”說明該諺語(yǔ)就是指那些表示謹(jǐn)慎的諺語(yǔ)，故B項(xiàng)符合那些pessimists (悲觀者）的特點(diǎn)。故B正確。

考點(diǎn)：考查議論文

點(diǎn)評(píng)：此類閱讀理解首先要能基本讀懂文章，然后再根據(jù)問題，在文章中去找到相應(yīng)的依據(jù)，研究相關(guān)信息句給出準(zhǔn)確的答案。特別是對(duì)一些長(zhǎng)句難句的理解要細(xì)致。