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C
While success is surely sweeter than failure, it seems failure is a far better teacher, and organizations that fail miserably often flourish (繁荣) more in the long run, according to a new study by Vinit Desai, assistant professor of management at the University of Colorado Denver Business School. Researchers have found that people missing their goals perform much better in the long run. That is because they gain more knowledge from their failures than their successes and the lessons are more likely to stay longer in their minds.
“We found that the knowledge gained from success was often fleeting while knowledge from failure stuck around for years,” said professor Desai, who led the study. “But companies often ignore failure. Managers may fire people or turn over the whole workforce while they should treat the failure as a learning opportunity.”
Prof Desai compared the flights of the space shuttle Atlantis and the Challenger. During the Atlantis flight last year, a piece of insulation (绝缘体) broke off and damaged the left solid rocket booster (助推火箭) but didn’t influence the program. There was little investigation. The Challenger was launched next and another piece of insulation broke off. This time the shuttle and its seven–person crew were destroyed. The disaster led to a major investigation resulting in 29 changes to prevent future disasters.
The difference in response in the two cases came down to this: Atlantis was considered a success and the Challenger a failure.
“Despite crowded skies, airlines are extremely reliable,” he said. “The number of failures is extremely small. And past researches have shown that older airlines, those with more experience in failure, have a lower number of accidents.”
Prof Desai doesn’t recommend finding out failure in order to learn. Instead, he advises organizations to analyze small failures to collect useful information rather than wait for major failures.
63. Why did experts pay little attention to the problem of Atlantis?
A. Because it worked perfectly.
B. Because the right booster was still OK.
C. Because nothing serious happened then.
D. Because fewer people died in the flight.
64. Fewer accidents happen to older airlines in that ________.
A. their planes couldn’t fly high in the sky B. they gained much from experience in failure
C. their planes were often checked by the experts D. they were unpopular among passengers
65. The passage is written mainly to ________.
A. show failure is a better teacher than success B. explain why Challenger failed
C. introduce something about Prof Desai D. tell managers how to achieve success
66. Which writing strategy is NOT used in developing the passage?
A. Giving definitions. B. Making comparisons.
C. Analyzing causes. D. Providing different examples.
D
Culture helps human societies survive in changing natural environment．For example, the end of the last Ice Age, beginning about 15,000 years ago, brought a big challenge to which humans had to adapt．Before this time, large parts of the northern hemisphere were covered in great sheets of ice that contained much of the earth' s water．In North America, large animals that wandered the vast tundra （冰原） provided people with food and materials for clothing and simple shelters．When the earth became warm, large Ice Age animals disappeared, and many land areas were covered by rising sea levels from melting ice．But people survived, they developed new technologies and learned how to survive on new plant and animal species． Finally some people settled into permanent villages, durable houses and farms．
Cultural adaptation has made humans one of the most successful species on the planet． Through history, major developments in technology, medicine, and nutrition have allowed people to reproduce and survive in ever-increasing numbers．The global population has risen from 8 million during the Ice Age to about 6 billion today．
However, the successes of culture adaptation can also create problems in the long run．Over the last 200 years, people have begun to use large quantities of natural resources and energy and to produce a great amount of material and chemical wastes．The global population now consumes some important natural resources—such as petroleum, wood, and minerals—faster than nature can produce them．Many scientists believe that in the process of burning fuels and producing wastes, people may be changing the global climate in unpredictable and possibly harmful ways．Thus, the adaptive success of the present-day global culture of production and trade may be temporary．
67．What is the first paragraph mainly talking about?
A．How the human beings survived in the Ice Age．
B．What the situation was like during the Ice Age．
C．What caused the Ice Age to come to an end．
D．Why the Ice Age was very important．
68．To deal with the problems, human beings should ______according to the passage．
A．stop developing any longer
B．reduce the overuse of natural resources
C．stop the global warming and using natural resources
D．save more animals in case they all die out
69．Which of the following is the problem caused by cultural adaptation according to the passage?
A．A very developed culture came into being．
B．New technologies have been developed．
C．Natural resources have been used up．
D．Human activities have done damage to the balance of nature．
70．Which of the following can be the best tide of the passage?
A．Natural Environment Should Be Protected．
B．The Success of Cultural Adaptation Is Not Permanent．
C．The Global Population Is Increasing Since Ice Age．
D．Human Beings Are Capable of Surviving on Earth.
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