Question

If you have failed in the past to try to make big changes in life, try again now, one tiny step at a time.

Every year it's the same. As December comes to an end, you think about the new year and all the ways you want to improve your life. But as you start to write down your hopes for the new year, you think about the last year. You excitedly write down all the changes you are going to make, but by the end of January those ideas get lost in your busy life.

Here's a suggestion : Forget the too big, hard-to-achieve goals and just think about the small ones. "We often think that we have to do everything in big steps, even though it's so hard for us to reach it," said Robert Maurer, who recently wrote the book One Small Step Can Change Your Life. "What we try to do is to begin with such a small step that we can't find any excuse not to do it. "

“Kaizen”, a Japanese word, is used to mean to change behavior and attitudes. During World War II, American factory managers were able to increase productivity by trying small, continuous improvements instead of sudden changes. After the war, the idea was brought to a rebuilding Japan. It made Japan develop fast. The Japanese called it “kaizen”, which means “improvement”.

Maurer studied the idea and did some experiments with it. "Kaizen" could possibly help people succeed in doing everything.

1.At the end of December, people usually________.

A. fail to make big changesB. plan for the last year

C. think about the new yearD. try to lose their ideas

2.Robert Maurer wrote a book to tell us_________.

A. we should do everything in big steps

B. how to change one's life with one small step

C. we should try a lot of sudden changes

D. how to find a small step without any excuse

3.The underlined part "increase productivity" in the passage means “________”.

A.提高生產率B.增加成本C.增加出口量D.提高待遇

4.The writer of the passage suggests we should_________.

A. make changes at the end of the year

B. do few experiments with "kaizen"

C. do things with hard-to-achieve goals

D. take a tiny step to achieve big goals

5.Which of the following is true from the passage?

A. You can achieve your goals if you are not too busy.

B. Robert Maurer studied “kaizen” and found it helpful.

C. You can’t find any excuse not to reach a big goal.

D. “Kaizen” was brought to Japan during World War II.

 

Answer 1

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.D

5.B

【解析】

試題分析：這篇短文中作者主要介紹了我們在年末展望未來時往往目標過于宏達而不易實現，要注重小的細節，從小的步驟開始，就有可能實現更大的目標。

1. As December comes to an end, you think about the new year and all the ways you want to improve your life.可知，在年末大家都會展望新年；故選C。

2. "What we try to do is to begin with such a small step that we can't find any excuse not to do it. "及其他的書名One Small Step Can Change Your Life.可知，他寫這本書的目的就是告訴人們通過小的步驟來逐步改變自己的生活；故選B。

3. It made Japan develop fast.可知，"increase productivity"的意思是提高生產率；故選A。

4.If you have failed in the past to try to make big changes in life, try again now, one tiny step at a time.及后面的內容說明可知，作者的目的就是鼓勵大家要注重小的步驟來實現大的目標；故選D。

5.Maurer studied the idea and did some experiments with it. "Kaizen" could possibly help people succeed in doing everything.可知，B項正確；其他幾項在文中都沒有理論依據；故選B。

考點：教育類短文閱讀。