Unit 2
Section I Listening Comprehension
I.Short conversations
Directions:In this section you'll hear some short conversations. Listen carefully and choose the best answer to the questions you hear.
1. A. Talking about arts.
B. Writing up local news.
C. Reading newspapers.
D. Putting up advertisements.
C
2. A. He should wait.
B. He should call and check on it.
C. He should make a complaint.
D. He should go and check it by himself.
A
3. A. A student.
B. A teaching assistant.
C. A professor.
D. A journalist.
D
4. A. When the woman’s birthday is．
B. What the book is about．
C. Why the book is popular．
D. What is out of stock．
C
5. A. At the office.
B. At a bank.
C. In a hospital.
D. At the library.
D
6. A. $6.9.
B. $10.68.
C. $8.69.
D. $1.99.
B
7. A. He should finish all the pages before midnight.
B. He should work from midnight to morning.
C. He shouldn’t try to finish everything tonight.
D. He should leave in the morning.
C
8. A. They should go to the movie.
B. They should read the book.
C. They should go to the movie and then read the book.
D. They should read the book and then go to the movie.
D
9. A. The man bought quite a lot of books.
B. The man should set up a library.
C. The bookstore doesn’t have many books.
D. The man doesn’t know what books to buy.
A
10. A. He dislikes it.
B. He loves it.
C. He doesn’t want to read it.
D. He loves the beginning part of the book.
B
II.Long conversations
Directions:In this section you'll hear a long conversation or conversations. Listen carefully and choose the best answer to the questions you hear.
Conversation 1
1. A. An autobiography of Bob Dylan.
B. A book written by Bob Dylan.
C. An autobiography of Howard Sounes.
D. A biography by Howard Sounes.
D
2. A. 5.
B. 13.
C. 15.
D. 30.
C
3. A. By Friday.
B. By Monday.
C. In three days.
D. Not given.
A
4. A. Colleagues.
B. Classmates.
C. Teacher and student.
D. Librarian and reader.
B
Conversation 2
1. A. At home.
B. At her parents’ home.
C. In her office.
D. They are lost.
B
2. A. Runaway Bunny.
B. Goodnight Moon.
C. Green Eggs and Ham.
D. Stephen King’s novel.
C
3. A. He doesn’t like reading.
B. It’s difficult for him to find the time to finish a book.
C. He begins to love reading from now on.
D. He usually reads at least two or three books a month.
D
III.Understanding Passages
Directions: In this section you'll hear a passage or passages. Listen carefully and choose the best answer to the questions you hear.
Passage 1
1. A. Losing weight.
B. Making more money.
C. Falling in love.
D. Reading more.
B
2. A. Interesting but hard ones.
B. Good but hard ones.
C. Good and not too difficult ones.
D. Extremely difficult ones.
C
3. A. A book.
Ｂ. The purse.
Ｃ. A map.
Ｄ. A card.
A
Passage 2
1. A. A new bookstore.
B. An traditional bookstore.
C. An online bookstore.
D. A clothing store.
D
2. A. It switched focus.
B. It was closed.
C. It was bought by Kitson.
D. It was planning to merge with Kitson.
A
3. A. 100,000.
B. 2,00.
C. 200 or so.
D. Not mentioned.
C
4. A. Because they are not allowed to be sold online.
B. Because they can not arouse readers’ interest.
C. Because they have beautiful covers to attract readers.
D. Because they can get lost in online book selling.
D
Passage 3
1. A. Books.
B. Love.
C. Friendship.
D. Knowledge.
D
2. A. It broadens our horizon.
B. It improves our talking.
C. It creates awareness for other people and culture.
D. It gives a new direction to the mind to think.
B
3. A. Parents should read aloud to children.
B. Children should read by themselves to feel the benefits of reading.
C. Reading aloud would enhance children’s creative thinking.
D. Children should read only fairy tales.
C
Passage 4
1. A. It is held to call for children to celebrate the birthday of Dr Seuss.
B. It is held on March 5.
C. Its activities aim to bring reading excitement to children of all ages.
D. It is an annual reading motivation and awareness program.
B
2. A. Athletes and actors.
B. Teachers and principals.
C. Children.
D. Governors, mayors and other elected officials.
D
3. A. Issue reading challenges to young readers.
B. Dye their hair green or be stuck to a wall to boost reading.
C. Assign reading tasks to children.
D. Celebrate the birthday of the beloved children’s author.
B
Passage 5
1. A. Because we cannot absorb all the information into our brain by reading.
B. Because we have different ways of thinking.
C. Because the work is too difficult.
D. Because we are like computers linked in networks.
A
2. A. It means the reading process is casual.
B. It means the reading process depends on the reader’s knowledge or capacity of perception.
C. It means the reading process depends on the reader’s mood.
D. It means that the writer can channel the reader into certain interpretations.
D
3. A. The writer divides the essay into parts.
B. The writer writes long paragraphs.
C. The writer gives the reader certain clues.
D. The writer channels the reader into certain interpretations.
B
4. A. How to read creatively.
B. How to read effectively.
C. How to write creatively.
D. How to write for creative reading.
D
https://www.doczj.com/doc/a213704889.html,pound Dictation
Directions: In this section you will hear a passage or passages three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the information you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
Passage 1
Writers come in all shapes and sizes — film critics, novelists, editorial columnists (报纸专栏作家), screenwriters (剧作家) and technical writers. Many spend the beginnings of their careers (1) their skills as they await a big break. While all writers prefer to write on (2) of personal interests, most professionals are (3) topics by an editor. Writers may work at home or in an office, but (4) their office is, writers generally spend upwards of 40 hours a week hard at work — even if only a fraction (小部分) of that time is spent actually (5) the keys of a word processor. Writers begin by asking questions and researching a subject. The process of “writing” may involve (6) interviews, reading up on a subject at the library, (7) to a far-off location or even surfing the Internet for (8) . A writer must be open to the possibility that new information will change the original angle of a piece. (9)
. Then it may be time for an editor to review the material and suggest changes. (10)
. The editing process continues until the editor and the writer judge the material ready for publication. Writers cooperate with the other professionals involved in the media, such as photographers, graphic designers, and advertisers. (11)
.
Keys:
(1)practicing (2)subjects (3)assigned (4)wherever (5)tapping (6)conducting (7)traveling/travelling (8)clues
(9)As he gathers the necessary information, he gradually develops a working outline from which he then works up a draft
(10)A writer may wait and send a completed draft to an editor, while others may prefer to send it in parts
(11)And screenwriters write original pieces or adapt existing books or stories for the stage or screen
Passage 2
The Art of War is the greatest military theoretical (理论的) work in ancient China which also has a (1) amount of influence worldwide. The book deals with both (2) thought and philosophical (哲学的) ideas, which have since been widely (3) in the areas of the military, politics, and economics. Its author, Sun Wu, was a great Chinese strategist during the Spring and Autumn Period and is (4) as Military Sage (贤人). He came to Wu State to (5) the war and was nominated (任命) as a general by the king of Wu State. He (6) 200,000 Chu State soldiers with only 30,000 soldiers. This established his fame in the military field. After (7) on his experiences, he wrote The Art of War, which discusses a (8) of universal military rules and proposes a complete military theoretical system. The book has 13 subjects in 13 chapters. For example, Strategy Chapter talks about the merits of waging (发动) a particular war.
(9) . He wrote the five basic elements decisive for war: politics, timeliness (时机), favorable geographical location, commanders and law. The Chapter of Strategy of Attack is about how to attack the enemy. Sun Wu believed battles should be won with the least cost; (10)
. He thought the best way to win a war is through political strategy. In the Chapter of Use of Spy, (11)
.
Keys:
(1)tremendous (2)strategic (3)applied (4)honored/honoured (5)escape (6)defeated (7)reflecting (8)series
(9)It reminds the reader of the strong relationship between war and politics and the economy.
(10)such as capturing an enemy’s castle without a direct fight or conquerring an enemy state without an enduring war.
(11)he said various spies must be used to obtain a wide range of information before a war.
Section II Vocabulary
V.Blank filling (with the correct form)
Directions: Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the correct form of the words given in the brackets.
1. After a ______ five-year absence from his tribe in the 1850s, Molalla had returned in silk robes.
(mystery)
Key: mysterious
2. I was invited to attend the meeting as an ______. (observe)
Key: observer
3. ______ on these machines, we start knitting from the right and patterns are worked out
accordingly. (normal)
Key: Normally
4. Teams need to be developed in terms of their ability to ______ and to make use of systematic
approaches to problem-solving. (interaction)
Key: interact
5. The view from its window across Thrush Green never ceased to ______ Ruth Bassett.
(enchantment)
Key: enchant
6. An improvisation of this kind does ______ the actors with a situation where they have to be
emotionally truthful. (confrontation)
Key: confront
7. The object of these letters was to bring Vial’s plan to the notice of the ______ readers of The
Gentleman’s Magazine. (influence)
Key: influential
8. She was so deeply impressed by his ______ language that she decided to marry him in no time.
(poem)
Key: poetic
9. The answer to the problem of anxiety and ______ which is derived from the sense of loneliness,
is to be found through love. (meaningless)
Key: meaninglessness
10. Due to inadequate consideration beforehand, we have been cast into ______. (passive)
Key: passivity
11. Certainly it must help them locate a mate and ______ a feeling of social togetherness.
(inducement)
Key: induce
12. You should always keep in mind that a bright future ______ you. (wait)
Key: awaits
13. The ______ is a thrilling one, and I enjoy it immensely. (sense)
Key: sensation
14. A two-run defeat seemed set fair to ______ England, but their batsmen did not do badly in the
second game at Sydney. (moralize)
Key: demoralize
15. After signing the ______, he was taken to the jail by the police. (confess)
Key: confession
16. Government itself was rarely the active initiator in the move to criminalize _______.
(immoral)
Key: immorality
17. The ______ of documents helps us a lot to find the right one we need. (classify)
Key: classification
18. The aim of the course is to ______our understanding of other cultures. (rich)
Key: enrich
19. Many bus companies provide ______ fare tickets especially for tourists. (advantage)
Key: advantageous
20. Indeed the scale of decline for such a major party is virtually ______ in any other state in
postwar Western Europe. (paralleled)
Key: unparalleled
VI.Choosing the right word
Directions: Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words in the box.
1.My mother had wept very little, her tears dried by her ______, but I had cried for her.
2.Some is cut and stored in silos by being packed tightly to _______ air.
3.Five minutes later, the alarm wakes him again, cheeping ______ like a mechanical bird.
4. As the 20th century has shown, this bond was strong enough to ______ even greater demographic changes.
5.She stood undecided in the rain, wanting ______ to find Simon yet not daring to step inside.
6.Environmentalists advocate a total ______ on the dumping of nuclear waste.
7.We were briefly over a thousand feet per minute of the Vertical Speed Indicator before I had
to ______ back to slide into position.
8.In the course of the trial, Lucas made a false ______ which he later denied.
9. It is this person’s duty to ______ and maintain communication with affiliated member groups and other interested groups.
10. The need to ______ for such aims that can only be thought of as fundamental and humanitarian.
Keys:
1. wrath
2. exclude
3. insistently
4. withstand
5. desperately
6. prohibition
7. throttle
8. confession
9. foster 10. strive
1. I know how ______ you have felt the influence of nature — its loveliness, its deep solemnity and its overwhelming power to strike awe.
2. He reached into any dip of information for ______ on the customs of the people of Oceania.
3. You may have to help him at first, but as he progresses, he can ______ more complicated puzzles.
4. She clasped her hands in excitement, every inch of her filled with an ______ happiness.
5. The big talking point is the addition of grated chocolate to darken and ______ the sauce.
6. Flush from his success at national level, he decided to turn his ______ talents to European politics.
7. I’ve got all this correspondence to ______ through before I can go home.
8. The volunteers are not free from their own ______ view of the inner London paid worker.
9. Moran complained about the unnecessary disturbance though it was the cost that he was ______ worried about.
10. Your article included some ______ remarks about lifestyle and income.
Keys:
1. intensely
2. enlightenment
3. tackle
4. irrepressible
5. enrich
6. prodigious
7. wade
8. stereotypical
9. secretly 10. gratuitous
VII. Multiple choices
Directions: Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D.
1. On my first day at work I was ______ with the task of chairing a meeting.
A. met
B. tackled
C. confronted
D. encountered
Key: C
2. Death, for us, is the sorry end of the human story, not the ______ prelude to a new one.
A. mystery
B. mysterious
C. mythology
D. mythological
Key: B
3. What is truly ______ about the story is the result of the fall, and the divine purpose behind it.
A. disconcerting
B. embarrassing
C. puzzled
D. disapproving
Key: A
4. There is also a games room with table tennis, pool and video games and ______ some sort of activity or entertainment goes on.
A. normally
B. actually
C. formerly
D. typically
Key: A
5. He becomes absorbed with the search for answers, not from an ______ curiosity, but out of a deeply felt need to find out why people live.
A. ideal
B. absolute
C. isolated
D. idle
Key: D
6. The measures we have taken to ______ the crisis are starting to work.
A. deal
B. challenge
C. tackle
D. oppose
Key: C
7. The packing must be strong enough to ______ rough handling.
A. withstand
B. resist
C. repel
D. ensure
Key: A
8. Up the garden path, there is no house, but a ______ of a majestic lake.
A. vision
B. prospect
C. image
D. vista
Key: D
9. Venice ______ each visitor as soon as their arriving.
A. attracted
B. enchanted
C. charmed
D. captivated
Key: B
10. The Sherman Act was amended in 1982 to ______ trade or commerce with foreign nations.
A. expel
B. remove
C. exclude
D. eliminate
Key: C
11. He was off to have a good time in where Lydia used to live, and this would ______ envy in
her.
A. deduce
B. reduce
C. introduce
D. induce
Key: D
12. He was held overnight in police cells but freed without bail yesterday to ______ trial.
A. await
B. expect
C. wait
D. look forward to
Key: A
13. It is this environment of faith in the home that Western society needs so ______ to recover.
A. desirably
B. desperately
C. admirably
D. definitely
Key: B
14.When Jane awoke from the car accident, she had lost all ______ in her legs.
A. sense
B. emotion
C. sensation
D. feeling
Key: C
15. They can recognize also that the joints of a tie must ______ tearing, whereas those of a strut
must resist buckling.
A. withstand
B. tolerate
C. stand
D. hold
Key: A
16. As in Germany, the intention in 1945 had been to deprive Japan of the economic resources to
______ a war in the foreseeable future.
A. combat
B. wage
C. mobilize
D. wager
Key: B
17.They tried to put _______ in the way of our negotiation.
A. defeats
B. restrictions
C. entanglements
D. obstacles
Key: D
18. Such a move would undermine standards in schools and ______ teachers.
A. defeat
B. distrust
C. dissolve
D. demoralize
Key: D
19. It was some time after making his first ______ that he bumped into the pupil in Addison’s
Walk.
A. confirmation
B. frankness
C. confession
D. assurance
Key: C
20.Our special price will ______ your appetite for the dry season’s gardening essentials.
A. wet
B. stimulate
C. increase
D. whet
Key: D
21.These government restrictions are going to ______ our trade.
A. throttle
B. control
C. suppress
D. contain
Key: A
22.The world was divided into the ______ rich and the labouring poor.
A. idle
B. redundant
C. scattered
D. unused
Key: A
23.The Prince of Wales is an ______ font of great ideas, a classic entrepreneur.
A. irrepressible
B. uncontrollable
C. unsurpassed
D. unrepressed
Key: A
24.Student demonstrations developed an ugly edge of _____ violence.
A. unreasonable
B. gratuitous
C. groundless
D. unbiased
Key: B
25.Accepting that the rhythms of children in a structured environment appear to develop more
quickly, is this ______ to the child?
A. advanced
B. advantageous
C. advisable
D. additional
Key: B
26. He had acted ______ in coming here, but now he was here and yet he found he could do nothing to help.
A. rudely
B. improperly
C. rashly
D. impolitely
Key: C
27. Without seeing her for three months, it can be seen how ______ he longs to reach her on the telephone.
A. insistently
B. constantly
C. faithfully
D. earnestly
Key: D
28. They may often have to ______ social evenings and holidays because of their busy work.
A. forgive
B. forgo
C. abandon
D. forfeit
Key: B
29. She had no workshop, nobody to help her and no business ______.
A. capability
B. smartness
C. intelligence
D. acumen
Key: D
30. Although Schubert died when he was only 32, he composed a ______ amount of music.
A. prodigious
B. gigantic
C. tantamount
D. titanic
Key: A
31. Overall it was a good tour and several players grew both in _____ and confidence.
A. stature
B. position
C. status
D. height
Key: A
32. Our history — national and imperial — provides a wonderful ______ of film drama.
A. storehouse
B. database
C. storage
D. warehouse
Key: A
33. He was probably one of a number of bishops whom Guntram intended to ______.
A. dispel
B. deport
C. exile
D. exclude
Key: C
34. Even if he cared, he probably wouldn’t believe her anyway, she thought _____.
A. smartly
B. decisively
C. bitterly
D. diligently
Key: C
35. These are men whose masculinity does not conform to ______ images of the unfeeling male.
A. typical
B. stereotypical
C. statistical
D. obvious
Key: B
36. Robots are used in ______, monotonous tasks in which human performance might degrade
over time.
A. varied
B. repetitive
C. boring
D. bored
Key: B
37. You will be tested on the material by the hackers who will _____ attempt to penetrate your
site.
A. doubtfully
B. uncomely
C. undesirably
D. indubitably
Key: D
38. Diligence means work ______, but it doesn’t mean work day and night.
A. consistently
B. insistently
C. persistently
D. constantly
Key: B
39. We hope this meeting will help ______ friendly relations between our two countries.
A. foster
B. encourage
C. induce
D. formulate
Key: A
40. I believe that we should all ______ investors who understand exactly what we are doing and
why we are doing it.
A. search out
B. find out
C. seek out
D. look out
Key: C
Section III Structure
https://www.doczj.com/doc/a213704889.html,plete the sentences
Directions: Complete the sentences by translating into English the Chinese given in brackets.
1. ______________ (通常), calendars will have a lower mark-up than posters, card or other paper products.
Key: For the most part
2. I love shoes and have boxes of worn-out pairs ______________________ (我不忍丢弃). Key: I can’t bear to part with
3. Elsa _____________________________ (把玩着咖啡杯) while she was talking to her ex-boyfriend.
Key: toyed with her coffee cup
4. For the second time in her life, she says, he had appeared out of the blue __________________
(可以说是).
Key: as it were
5. At 14 he ran away, deciding to __________________________ (寻求当地人的帮助).
Key: seek out help from local people
6. And, ________________ (为激发你的兴趣), there are many delightful colour photographs in
this book.
Key: to whet your appetite
7. __________________________ (她活跃的天性) was reflected in her early stage names. Key: Her irrepressible nature
8. Your article included some ______________________________ (关于生活方式和收入的毫无根据的评论).
Key: gratuitous remarks about lifestyle and income
9. People in Donegal ____________________ (认真地听牧师布道), but did not seem to be taking in the words.
Key: listened earnestly to the priest
10. This doctor obviously had ______________________ (比当地人聪明得多).
Key: much more acumen than the locals
11. It is reasonable to assume ________________________ (仓库就是我们当地的教堂).
Key: that the storehouse is our local church
12. I no longer felt strong or calm, and ___________________________ (我心酸地哭了). Key: I began to cry bitterly
13. While I was doing my research, I __________________________ (偶然发现一些有趣的新
数据).
Key: stumbled upon some fascinating new data
14. ______________________________ (他们的共同点是) is that they combine fun with the opportunity to learn something.
Key: What they all have in common
15. He’s a mechanic, but he makes a little money _________________________ (业余时间兼职修车).
Key: on the side by repairing cars in his free time
IX. Multiple choices
Directions: Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D.
1. The next big issue ______ the workers is the question of low wages.
A. confronts
B. confronting
C. to confront
D. confronted
Key: B
2. They are left gazing upon a vista of ruined businesses, ______ borrowings and inadequate public services.
A. crippling
B. cripples
C. cripple
D. to cripple
Key: A
3. I take the trouble ______ my schedule, but he does not even want to go another round.
A. rearrange
B. rearranging
C. to rearrange
D. and will rearrange
Key: C
4. Valuable experiences ______ from project to design construction and monitoring are presented through the engineering case study.
A. that range
B. ranged
C. ranging
D. which will range
Key: C
5. Another moment of tension descends while students ______ the domestic flight that will take them to their temporary home in America.
A. are awaiting
B. awaited
C. will await
D. await
Key: D
6. The chemical constituents and traditional uses of 20 species ______ to the genus are reviewed and compared.
A. attributed
B. attributing
C. attribute
D. will attribute
Key: A
7. Books lying idle in the library are ______ wasted ammunition.
A. a
B. \
C. the
D. an
Key: B
8. Indeed, ______ are the expectations of Mr Obama that one of his biggest challenges will be to manage them so that he does not disappoint too much.
A. such
B. much
C. so
D. that
Key: A
9. I very much doubt if it ______ the first edition of his novel.
A. be
B. is
C. will be
D. must be
Key: A
10. In many ways, children live, ______, in a different world from adults.
A. as they were
B. as it is
C. as they are
D. as it were
Key: D
11. ______ in Shanghai in the 18th century, the movie describes the ups and downs of a broken
family.
A. Being set
B. Sets
C. Set
D. To be set
Key: C
12. ______ people of different backgrounds may enable him to be familiar with the idea of
multiculturalism and equality.
A. To be interacted with
B. To interact with
C. Interact with
D. To interacting with Key: B
13. Ask yourself carefully whether it ______ the right time to take the initiative.
A. will be
B. is
C. might be
D. be
Key: D
14. Throw used tissues away into a trash can ______ with a disposable plastic bag.
A. lined
B. lining
C. line
D. to be lined
Key: A
15. ______ if the area would put bird flu under complete control within one month’s time, the spokeswoman gave a guarded reply.
A. When asked
B. When was asked
C. When being to asking
D. When asking
Key: A
X. Blank filling (with the appropriate preposition or adverb)
Directions: Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with an appropriate preposition or adverb. Fill in each blank with only ONE word. Fill in the blanks with proper prepositions and adverbs.
1. Apart from the orthodox account, all the theories examined so far have something _____ common.
Key: in
2. Human beings, in contrast, interact _____ one another not only because of gravity but because of dependence, love, envy, hate, etc.
Key: with
3. It’s to participate and support anything that encourages charities to strive _____ the highest standards.
Key: for
4. Searches and edits can then be carried out on these components so avoiding the need to wade _____ huge fields of unstructured text.
Key: through
5. _____ the most part, the damage is done by soluble aluminum released from soil by acid water. Key: For
6. He looks ______ the challenge as an obstacle in his life.
Key: upon
7. At that time all that is left to do is swing with the punches and part _____ as little bad feeling as possible.
Key: with
8. As the courses came and went, she could only toy _____ her food.
Key: with
9. You might even stumble ______ a theorem or two in your researches.
Key: upon
10. The two sauces ______ the side were apple and sour cream with chives.
Key: on
11. He was prepared to vindicate the bombing of South Arabian villages by the RAF as necessary ______ the pacification of the country.
Key: for
12. The charter is up for review at any event, very shortly, because it was on a six-month trial ______ it were.
Key: as
13. When the police confronted her ______ the evidence, she admitted everything.
Key: with
14. Girls come up ______ an obstacle or two, maybe on tour, and they tend to give way instead of
trying to overcome them.
Key: against
15. Mark Clayton’s cooking has grown ______ stature with his job responsibility.
Key: in
16. She is a recent convert _____ the idea of an European defence policy.
Key: to
17. He wants to contribute his share towards the pacification ______ the world.
Key: of
18. Attached are old photos showing the villagers performing smoke sacrifice ______ the local mountain god.
Key: to
19. Finally the enlightenment _____ relation between brain maturation and child behavioural development is discussed.
Key: of
20. After all, the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal is immensely advantageous ______ India.
Key: for
Section IV Fast reading
XI. Fast reading (True or False Questions + Blank Filling)
Directions: Read the following passages and then answer the questions. For questions 1-7, choose Y (YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage, choose N (NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage, choose NG (NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
Passage 1
There are no mistakes, only lessons
Human growth is a process of experimentation, trial, and error, ultimately leading to wisdom. Each time you choose to trust yourself and take action, you can never quite be certain how the situation will turn out. Sometimes you are victorious, and sometimes you become disillusioned. The failed experiments, however, are no less valuable than the experiments that ultimately prove successful; in fact, you usually learn more from your perceived “failure” than you do from your perceived “success”.
To ease this process of learning, you must first master the basic lessons of compassion and forgiveness. Without these essential lessons, you remain trapped in your limited view and unable to turn mistakes into valuable learning opportunities.
Compassion
Compassion is the act of opening your heart. To live in a state of compassion means you approach the world with your emotional barriers lowered. Compassion is the emotional glue connecting you to your essence and to the essence of those around you.
You have the ability to choose whether or not you will learn the lessons you are presented with, so you will then need to use your discretion to choose whether to invite in compassion or remain closed. If you choose compassion, you can try on what it would feel like to be that person you are judging and imagine putting yourself in his reality. This will connect you to his essence and evaporate the judgment encrusted around your heart.
Compassion is also required at those times when you are harshly judging yourself. If you have made what you perceive to be a mistake, or failed to live up to your own expectations, you will most likely put up a barrier between your essence and part of you that is the alleged wrongdoer. Compassion will then open the door to the possibility of forgiveness and will allow you to release those judgments that are holding you in self-contempt.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is the act of erasing an emotional debt. As you move from compassion to forgiveness, your heart is already open, and you engage in a conscious and deliberate release of resentment. Perceiving past actions as mistakes implies guilt and blame, and it is not possible to learn anything meaningful while you are engaged in blaming.
There are four kinds of forgiveness. The first is beginner forgiveness for yourself.
The second kind of forgiveness is beginner for another.
The third kind of forgiveness is advanced forgiveness of yourself. This is for serious transgressions (违反), the ones you carry with deep shame. When you do something that violates your own values and ethnics, you create a gap between your standards and your actual behaviour. In such a case, you need to work very hard at forgiving yourself for these deeds so that you can close this chasm (鸿沟) and realign with the best part of yourself. This does not mean that you should rush to forgive yourself or not feel regret or remorse, but wallowing in these feelings for a protracted period of time is not healthy, and punishing yourself excessively will only create a bigger gap between you and your ethnics.
The last and perhaps most difficult one is the advanced forgiveness of another. At some time of your life, you may have been severely wronged or hurt by another person to such a degree that forgiveness seems impossible. However, harbouring resentment and revenge fantasies only keep you trapped in victim-hood. Under such a circumstance, you should force yourself to see the bigger picture. By doing so, you will be able to shift the focus away form the anger and resentment. It is only through forgiveness that you can erase wrongdoing and clean the memory. When you finally release the situation, you come to see it as a necessary part of your growth.
It may come as relief to finally understand that you never actually master life and that striving to do so will only lead to frustration. The best you can do is to strive to master the process by which you experience it. Life is a year-round school from which you never actually graduate, so it is the learning process itself that brings true value to existence. The challenge here is to embrace your role as a perpetual student of life. In order to embrace your role as a perpetual student, you need to learn the lessons of surrender and flexibility. Without these important lessons, you will never be able to open your mind, heart, and spirit wide enough to allow yourself to take in all that life has to teach you.
Surrender
Surrender is the transcendence of ego and release of control. When you surrender to your lessons that arise, you allow yourself to flow with the rhythm of life, rather than struggle against it. The peaks and valleys that mark your personal path become easier to go through when you surrender to them.
The key to coming to peace with your role as a perpetual student lies in surrendering to what is, rather than trying to create what you imagine should be. If resistance has been a theme throughout your life, then surrender will appear in your curriculum. If you are one of those people who
always have to do things on your own way or who possess a strong, willful ego, then surrender will seem like defeat to you. But surrender only signifies defeat in war. In life it signifies transcendence. This is not to say that you should remain passive and just let life happen to you. Rather, you need to learn to surrender to those circumstances over which you never really had any control anyway. If you surrender to the fact, you will be amazed how much easier life gets when you stop resisting and controlling it, and ride the waves towards the fulfillment of your destiny.
Flexibility
Flexibility is defined as being adaptable to changes. In the course of your lifetime, it is essential that you learn to bend and flex around every new circumstance, as rigidity deprives you of the opportunities to see new possibilities. Paradigms change over time, and so must you. Your company may restructure, and you will have to survive. Your spouse may choose to leave the marriage, and you will have to cope. Technology will continue to advance and change, and you must constantly learn and adapt or risk becoming a dinosaur. Flexibility allows you to be ready for whatever curve lies ahead in life instead of getting blindsided by it.
Learn to be flexible; it makes the curves in your life path much easier to deal with.
1. One can learn more from their success than their failure.
2. In order to shift from one’s mistakes to valuable learning opportunities, one should learn the lessons of compassion and forgiveness.
3. Compassion means that you should pay more attention to the people who are lower in position than you.
4. If one masters forgiveness, they will forget their resentment or anger.
5. The most difficult forgiveness is to forgive those who have seriously wronged or hurt you.
6. One might always be a student in his life because life has much to teach.
7. Surrender for one’s goal is the best way to become a perpetual student.
8. Because of the rapidly developing society, one must constantly learn and adapt or _______.
9. In order not to panic over whatever curve lies ahead in life, one must learn to be _______.
10. Being a perpetual student in one’s life, they must learn the lessons of _______.
Key:
1. N
2. Y
3. NG
4. N
5. Y
6. Y
7. N
8. risk becoming a dinosaur
9. flexible 10. surrender and flexibility