We often talk about ourselves as if we have permanent genetic defects （缺陷） that can never be changed. “I’m impatient.” “I’m always behind.” “I always put things
36 !” You’ve surely heard them. Maybe you’ve used them to describe
37 . These comments may come from stories about us that have been
38 for years—often from
39 childhood. These stories may have no
40 in fact. But they can set low expectations for us. As a child, my mother said to me, “Marshall, you have no mechanical （操作机械的） skills, and you will never have any mechanical ski
lls for the rest of your life.” How did these expectations
41 my development? I was never
42 to work on cars or be around
43 . When I was 18, I took the US Army’s Mechanical Aptitude Test. My scores were in the bottom for the entire nation!
Six years later,
44 , I was at California University, working on my doctor’s degree. One of my professors, Dr. Bob Tannbaum, asked me to write down things I did well and things I couldn’t do. On the positive side, I
45 down, “research, writing, analysis, and speaking.” On the
46 side, I wrote, “I have no mechanical skills.”
Bob asked me how I knew I had no mechanical skills. I explained my life
47 and told him about my
48 performance on the Army test. Bob then asked, “
49 is it that you can solve
50 mathematical problems, but you can’t solve simple mechanical problems?”
Suddenly I realized that I didn’t
51 from some sort of genetic defect. I was just living out expectations that I had chosen to
52 . At that point, it wasn’t just my family and friends who had been
53 my belief that I was mechanically hopeless. And it wasn’t just the Army test, either. I was the one who kept telling myself, “You can’t do this!” I realized that as long as I kept saying that, it was going to remain true.
54 , if we don’t treat ourselves as if we have incurable genetic defects, we can do well in almost
55 we choose.
| 小题2: | | A．yourself | B．myself | C．them | D．others |
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| 小题3: | | A．said | B．repeated | C．spread | D．spoken |
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| 小题4: | | A．as long as | B．as much as | C．as well as | D．as far back as |
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| 小题5: | | A．cause | B．plot | C．basis | D．meaning |
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| 小题6: | | A．affect | B．improve | C．lead | D．change |
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小题7:A hoped B. demanded C. encouraged D. agreed
| 小题8: | | A．means | B．hammers | C．facilities | D．tools |
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| 小题9: | | A．therefore | B．however | C．instead | D．somehow |
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| 小题10: | | A．took | B．turned | C．settled | D．got |
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| 小题11: | | A．negative | B．active | C．passive | D．subjective |
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| 小题12: | | A．roads | B．trips | C．experiences  | D．paths |
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| 小题13: | | A．unexpected | B．average | C．excellent | D．poor |
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| 小题15: | | A．common | B．advanced | C．complex | D．primary |
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| 小题16: | | A．suffer | B．separate | C．arise | D．come |
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| 小题17: | | A．adopt | B．suspect | C．believe | D．receive |
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| 小题18: | | A．weakening | B．accepting | C．abandoning | D．strengthening |
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| 小题19: | | A．As a result | B．On the contrary | C．In addition | D．At the same time |
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| 小题20: | | A．nothing | B．something | C．anything | D．all |
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lls for the rest of your life.” How did these expectations 41 my development? I was never 42 to work on cars or be around 43 . When I was 18, I took the US Army’s Mechanical Aptitude Test. My scores were in the bottom for the entire nation!