A
Eat healthier. Exercise twice a week. Read more books. Lose weight. We make the same resolutions (决心) every year, but most of us fail, dying out after only a few days or, at best, weeks. Even the most successful among us crash and burn when it comes to personal change. President Barack Obama struggles to get out of his cigarette habit.
Professionals who help people make changes in their lives suggest the change is decided not by one’s surroundings, but one’s mind. Beginning with small goals or steps usually leads to a better result later, they say. But they notice that the experience is different for everyone.
“People are more likely to make positive changes in their lives not only when their friends do, but when their friends of friends do, and when their friends of friends of friends do,” said Nicholas Christakis, a professor of medical sociology at Harvard University. “People are better able to make changes in their lives—lose weight, quit smoking, become happy—when they do this with a large number of other people, and so taking advantage of your social network ties can contribute to your own efforts.”
Johnny Augustin understands that well. His resolution for 2008 was to reduce 30 pounds from his 237-pound frame. But the change didn’t come easily. He said, “I’m a huge procrastinator, I kept putting it off until tomorrow. I didn’t get to do it until the summer.” However, Augustin got encouraged when he saw his older brother working out. Today, Augustin weighs 190 pounds.
“Of course, change can happen only if people don’t set their expectations too high or try to deal with too many changes at once; one of the biggest mistakes we make is setting unrealistic goals,” said Dalia Liera, a psychologist at Lesley University. “You can’t accomplish in a few weeks what you haven’t accomplished in a few years,” said Liera.
1. From the first paragraph we can infer that _________.
A. change for a person is challenging
B. famous people have great resolutions
C. most people don’t want to change themselves
D. personal change is beyond belief
2. The word “procrastinator” in Paragraph 4 refers to those who_________.
A. have great determination to make a change
B. put off work especially because of laziness
C. have habitual carelessness and laziness
D. have no desire to do something great
3. According to the passage, Dalia Liera suggested that __________.
A. people should understand their goals well
B. people should try their best to change themselves
C. people should have confidence and positive habits
D. people should start with setting small goals to meet
【答案】1. A 2. B 3. D
【解析】
【分析】
这是一篇议论文。日常生活中我们常常下决心，但是很难坚持下去，本文通过具体的事例和专家的分析说明应该怎样去做才能改变：利用社交网络，和很多人一起做，这能使自己的改变努力产生巨大的结果；起初设定小目标和小步伐才能最终通往最终的大目标。
【1题详解】
推理判断题。由第一段中“Even the most successful among us crash and burn when it comes to personal change.(当涉及到个人的改变时，即使我们中最成功的人也会失败)”可以推断出，改变对一个人来说很难，故选A项。
【2题详解】
词义猜测题。由第四段中“I kept putting it off until tomorrow. I didn’t get to do it until the summer.(我一直把它推迟到明天。我直到夏天才开始去做这件事。)”可知，Johnny Augustin认为自己是个严重的拖延症者，故选B项。
【3题详解】
细节理解题。根据最后一段中Dalia Liera说的话“change can happen only if people don’t set their expectations too high or try to deal with too many changes at once(只有当人们设定的期望值不是太高，或不要一下子处理太多的改变的情况下，改变才会发生)”可知，他建议人们设定小目标。故选D项。
【点睛】依据逻辑推理猜测词义：运用逻辑推理猜测词义是使用最广考查最多也最易失分的猜词方式。要求考生具备整合分散、复杂信息的能力，充分利用上下文中相关的词汇并结合具体的语境，从形式和内容上把握语言之间的内在联系，理顺语言之间的逻辑关系，进而达到猜词的目的。在第2小题中，考生可以根据该词所在的上下文语境来推测词义。I’m a huge procrastinator, I kept putting it off until tomorrow. I didn’t get to do it until the summer.由该词所在句的后面两句可知，procrastinator会“把事情推迟到明天，直到最后一刻才开始做事情”。所以改词的意思是“拖延症者”。
