An optimist doesn't necessarily try______.

You Are What You Think

Do you see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty？ Do you keep your eye upon the dough-nut (油炸圈饼), not upon the hole？ Suddenly these cliches (陈词滥调) are scientific questions, as researchers scrutinize the power of positive thinking.

A fast-growing body of research--104 studies so far, involving some 15,000 people--is proving that optimism can help you to be happier, healthier and more successful. Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hopelessness, sickness and failure, and is linked to depression, loneliness and painful shyness. "If we could teach people to think more positively," says psychologist Craig A. Anderson of Rice University in Houston, "it would be like inoculating (接种) them against these mental ills."

1. Influence on their abilities

"Your abilities count," explains psychologist Michael F. Scheier of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, "but the belief that you can succeed affects whether or not you will." In part, that's because optimists and pessimists deal with the same challenges and disappointments in very different ways.

Take, for example, your job. In a major study, psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania and colleague Peter Schulman surveyed sales representatives at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. They found that the positive thinkers among long-time representatives, sold 37 percent more insurance than did the negative thinkers. Of newly hired representatives, optimists sold 20 percent more.

Impressed, the company hired 100 people who had failed the standard industry test but had scored high on optimism. These people who might never have been hired, sold 10 percent more insurance than did the average representatives.

How did they do it？ The secret to an optimist's success, according to Seligman, is in his "explanatory style". When things go wrong the pessimist tends to blame himself. "I'm no good at this," he says, "I always fail." The optimist looks for other explanations. He blames the weather, the phone connection, even the other person. That customer was in a bad mood, he thinks. When things go right, the optimist takes credit while the pessimist thinks success is due to luck.

Negative or positive, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy (预言能力). "If people feel hopeless," says Anderson, "they don't bother to acquire the skills they need to succeed."

A sense of control, according to Anderson, is the real test for success. The optimist feels in control of his own life. If things are going badly, he acts quickly, looking for solutions, forming a new plan of action, and reaching out for advice. The pessimist feels like a toy of fate and moves slowly. He doesn't seek advice, since he assumes nothing can be done.

2. Influence on their health

Optimists may think they are better than the facts would justify--and sometimes that's what keeps them from getting sick. In a long-term study, researchers examined the health histories of a group of Harvard graduates, all of whom were in the top half of their class and in fine physical conditions. Yet some were positive thinkers, and some negative. 20 years later, there were more middle-age diseases among the pessimists than the optimists.

Many studies suggest that the pessimists' feeling of helplessness undermines the body's natural defenses, the immune system. Dr. Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan has found that the pessimist doesn't take good care of himself. Feeling passive and unable to avoid life's blows, he expects ill health and other misfortunes, no matter what he does. He eats unhealthy food, avoids exercise, ignores the doctor, has another drink.

3. What underlines pessimism and optimism？

Most people arc a mix of optimism and pessimism, but are inclined in one direction

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

You Are What You Think

Do you see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty？ Do you keep your eye upon the dough-nut(油炸圈饼), not upon the hole？ Suddenly these cliches(陈词滥调)are scientific questions, as researchers scrutinize the power of positive thinking.

A fast-growing body of research—104 studies so far, involving some 15,000 people—is proving that optimism can help you to be happier, healthier and more successful. Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hopelessness, sickness and failure, and is linked to depression, loneliness and painful shyness. "If we could teach people to think more positively," says psychologist Craig A. Anderson of Rice University in Houston, "it would be like inoculating(接种)them against these mental ills."

1. Influence on their abilities

"Your abilities count," explains psychologist Michael F. Scheier of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, "but the belief that you can succeed affects whether or not you will." In part, that's because optimists and pessimists deal with the same challenges and disappointments in very different ways.

Take, for example, your job. In a major study, psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania and colleague Peter Schulman surveyed sales representatives at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. They found that the positive thinkers among long-time representatives, sold 37 percent more insurance than did the negative thinkers. Of newly hired representatives, optimists sold 20 percent more.

Impressed, the company hired 100 people who had failed the standard industry test but had scored high on optimism. These people who might never have been hired, sold 10 percent more insurance than did the average representatives.

How did they do it？ The secret to an optimist's success, according to Seligman, is in his "explanatory style". When things go wrong the pessimist tends to blame himself. "I'm no good at this," he says, "I always fail." The optimist looks for other explanations. He blames the weather, the phone connection, even the other person. That customer was in a bad mood, he thinks. When things go right, the optimist takes credit while the pessimist thinks success is due to luck.

Negative or positive, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy(预言能力). "If people feel hopeless," says Anderson, "they don't bother to acquire the skills they need to succeed."

A sense of control, according to Anderson, is the real test for success. The optimist feels in control of his own life. If things are going badly, he acts quickly, looking for solutions, forming a new plan of action, and reaching out for advice. The pessimist feels like a toy of fate and moves slowly. He doesn't seek advice, since he assumes nothing can be done.

2. Influence on their health

Optimists may think they are better than the facts would justify—and sometimes that's what keeps them from getting sick. In a long-term study, researchers examined the health histories of a group of Harvard graduates, all of whom were in the top half of their class and in fine physical conditions. Yet some were positive thinkers, and some negative. 20 years later, there were more middle-age diseases among the pessimists than the optimists.

Many studies suggest that the pessimists' feeling of helplessness undermines the body's natural defenses, the immune system. Dr. Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan has found that the pessimist doesn't take good care of himself. Feeling passive and unable to avoid life's blows, he expects ill health and other misfortunes, no matter what he does. He eats unhealthy food, avoids exercise, ignores the doctor, has another drink.

3. What underlines pessimism and optimism？

Most people are a mix of optimism and pessimism, but are inclined in one direction or the other. It is a p

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

Unleashing Your Creativity

By Bill Gates

I've always been an optimist and I suppose that is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intelligence can make the world a better place.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved learning new things and solving problems. So when I sat down at a computer for the first time in seventh grade, I was hooked. It was a clunky old Teletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today. But it changed my life.

When my friend Paul Allen and I started Microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of "a computer on every desk and in every home," which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when most computers were the size of refrigerators. But we believed that personal computers would change the world. And they have. And after 30 years, I'm still as inspired by computers as I was back in seventh grade. I believe that computers are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and inventiveness--to help us solve problems that even the smartest people couldn't solve on their own.

Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it "tap-dance to work." My job at Microsoft is as challenging as ever, but what makes me "tap-dance to work" is when we show people something new, like a computer that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime's worth of photos, and they say, "I didn't know you could do that with a PC!"

But for all the cool things that a person can do with a PC, there are lots of other ways we can put our creativity and intelligence to work to improve our world. There are still far too many people in the world whose basic needs go unmet.

I believe that my own good fortune brings with it a responsibility to give back to the world. My wife, Melinda, and I have committed to improving health and education in a way that can help as may people as possible.

As a father, I believe that the death of a child in Africa is no less poignant (辛酸的) or tragic than the death of a child anywhere else. And that it doesn't take much to make an immense difference in these children's lives.

I'm still very much an optimist, and I believe that progress on even the world's toughest problems is possible and it's happening every day. We're seeing new drugs for deadly diseases, new diagnostic tools, and new attention paid to the health problems in the developing world.

I'm excited by the possibilities I see for medicine, for education and, of course, for technology. And I believe that through our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve tough problems, we're going to make some amazing achievements in all these areas in my lifetime.

Bill Gates : Unleashing Your Creativity

I've always been an optimist and I suppose that is and intelligence can make the world a better place.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved learning down at a computer for the first time in seventh grade, chine and it could barely do anything compared to the

life. rooted in my belief that the power of creativity new things and solving problems. So when I sat I was hooked. It was a clunky old teletype ma- computers we have today. But it changed my

When my friend Paul Allen and I started Microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of "a computer on every desk and in every home, " which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when most computers were the size of refrigerators. But we believed that personal computers would change the world. And they have.

And after 30 years, I'm still as inspired by computers as I was back in seventh grade.

I believe that computers are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and inven-tiveness to help us solve problems that even the smartest people couldn't solve on their own.

Computers have transformed how we learn, giving kids everywhere a window into all of the world's knowledge. They're helping us build communities around the things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important to us, no matter where they are.

Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it "tap-dancing to work". My job at Microsoft is as challenging as ever, but what makes me "tap_dance to work" is when we show people something new, like a computer that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime's worth of photos, and they say, "I didn't know you could do that with a PC! "

But for all the cool things that a person can do with a PC, there are lots of other ways we can put our creativity and intelligence to work to improve our world. There are still far too many people in the world whose most basic needs go unmet. Every year, for example, millions of people die from diseases that are easy to prevent or treat in the developed world.

I believe that my own good fortune brings with it a responsibility to give back to the world. My wife, Melinda, and I have committed to improving health and education in a way that can help as manypeople as possible.

As a father, I believe that the death of a child in Africa is no less poignant or tragic than the death of a child anywhere else, and that it doesn't take much to make an immense difference in these children's lives.

I'm still very much an optimist, and I believe that progress on even the world's toughest problems is possible-and it's happening every day. We're seeing new drugs for deadly diseases. new diagnostic tools, and new attention paid to the health problems in the developing world.

l'm excited by the possibilities I see for medicine, for education and, of course, for technology. And I believe that through our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve tough prob- lems, we're going to make some amazing achievements in all these areas in my lifetime.

A computer was as big as an icebox when Bill Gates was a high school student

A.Right

B.Wrong

C.Not mentioned

A．He doesn't have any bread pudding.

B．He doesn't have any salmon.

C．He doesn't have any iced tea.

D．He doesn't have any chicken soup.

s and I suppose that is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intelligence can make the world a better place. For as long as I can remember, I've loved learning new things and solving problems. So when I satdown at a computer for the first time in seventh grade, I was hooke D. It was a chunky old teletype ma-chine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today. But it changed my life. When my friend Paul Allen and I started Microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of“a computeron every desk and in every home,” which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when mostcomputers were the size of refrigerators. But we believed that personal computers would change their world. And they have. And after 30 years, I'm still as inspired by computers as I was back in seventh grade. I believe that computers are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and inven-tiveness-to help us solve problems that even the smartest people couldn't solve on their own. Computers have transformed how we learn, giving kids everywhere a window into all of theworld's knowledge. They're helping us build communities around the things we care about and to stayclose to the people who are important to us, no matter where they are. Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day that I love todo. He calls it "tap-dancing to work". My job at Microsoft is as challenging as ever, but what makesme "tap-dancing to work" is when we show people something new, like a computer that can recognizeyour handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime's worth of photos, and they say, "Ididn't know you could do that with a PC!" But for. all the cool things that a person can do with a PC, there are lots of other ways we can putour creativity and intelligence to work to improve our worl D. There are still far too many people in theworld whose most basic needs go unmet. Every year, for example, millions of people die from diseasesthat are easy to prevent or treat in the developed world. I believe that my own good fortune brings with it a responsibility to give back to the world. My wife, Melinda, and I have committed to improving health and education in a way that can help as manypeople as possible. As a father, I believe that the death of a child in Africa is no less poignant or tragic than the deathpf a child anywhere else, and that it doesn't take much to make an immense difference in thesechildren's lives. I'm still very much an optimist, and I believe that progress on even the world's toughest problemsis possible--and it's happening every day. We're seeing new drugs for deadly diseases, new diagnostictools, and new attention paid to the health problems in the developing world. I'm excited by the possibilities I see for medicine, for education and, of course, for technology.And I believe that through our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve tough prob-lems, we're going to make some amazing in all these area in my life. {TS}A computer was as big as an icebox when Bill Gates was a high school student. A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned

A．He already knows how to play.

B．He doesn't have a partner.

C．He doesn't like to play games.

D．He doesn't have enough free time.

A．He already knows how to play.

B．He doesn't like to play games.

C．He doesn't have a partner.

D．He doesn't have enough free time.

A．He doesn't know it at all.

B．He doesn't want to tell her.

C．He can't remember it.

D．He never remembers numbers.