Fourteen – year – old Richie Hawley had spent five years studying violin at the Community School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles when he took part in a violin contest. Ninety two young people were invited to the contest and Hawley came out first．
The contest could have been the perfect setup for fear, worrying about mistakes, and trying to impress the judges．But Hawley says he did pretty well in staying calm. “I couldn’t be thinking about how many mistakes I’d make—it would distract me from playing,” he says．“I didn’t even remember trying to impress people while I played． It’s almost as if they weren’t there． I just wanted to make music．”
Hawley is a winner． But he didn’t bee a winner by concentrating on winning． He did it by concentrating on playing well．
“The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part,” said the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin．“The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle．The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well．”
A characteristic of high performers is their intense, pleasurable concentration on work, rather than on their petitors or future glory or money, says Dr．Charles Garfield, who has studied 1,500 achievers in business, science, sports, the arts, and professions．“They are interested in winning, but they’re most interested in self-development, testing their limits．”
One of the most surprising things about top performers is how many losses they’ve had and how much they’ve learned from each． “Not one of the 1,500 I studied defined losing as failing,” Garfield says．“They kept calling their losses ‘setbacks’．”
A healthy attitude toward setbacks is essential to winning, experts agree．
“The worst thing you can do if you’ve had a setback is to let yourself get stuck in a prolonged depression． You should analyze carefully what went wrong, identify specific things you did right and give yourself credit for them．” Garfield believes that most people don’t give themselves enough praise． He even suggests keeping a diary of all the positive things you’ve done on the way to a goal．
【小题1】Hawley won the contest because ．A．he put all his mind to his performanceB．he cared much about the judges’ feelingsC．he tried his best to avoid making mistakesD．he paid close attention to the people around【小题2】High performers is that they tend to give priority to ．A．gloryB．wealthC．pleasureD．work【小题3】According to the passage, successful people concentrate on ．A．challenging their own limitsB．learning from othersC．defeating their opponentsD．avoiding setbacks【小题4】 It can be learned from the passage that top performers are not ．A．interested in winningB．free of lossesC．accustomed to failuresD．concerned about setbacks【小题5】The passage tells us that “praise” in times of trouble ．A．helps people deal with their disappointmentB．makes people forget their setbacksC．makes people regret about their pastD．helps people realize their goalsA
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(答案→)A
解析：文章大意为：小提琴大赛前Richie Hawley在学校里学了5年小提琴，在大赛中他脱颖而出接着在分说其参赛时的心态、获胜原因以及成功者的特点。
【小题1】A 细节理解题：根据第二段第三句及第四、五句“I couldn’t be thinking about how many mistakes I’d make—it would distract me from playing,” he says．“I didn’t even remember trying to impress people while I played． It’s almost as if they weren’t there． I just wanted to make music．”
可知他全身心投入比赛。
【小题2】D细节理解题：根据第四段第一句“A characteristic of high performers is their intense, pleasurable concentration on work, rather than on their petitors or future glory or money,”可知D项正确。
【小题3】A细节理解题：根据第四段最后一句“They are interested in winning, but they’re most interested in self-development, testing their limits．”可知选A。
【小题4】B 推理判断题：A 在第五段提到; B 谁都会有失败，该说法太绝对，文章第六段也提到成功人士会失败，但他们把失败当挫折并从中学习; C 成功者也有很多失败，但他们的心态积极健康，能从失败中走出，能从中学到很多东西，这表明成功者对失败是抱着一种平常心的；D 成功者也会关心挫折，他们会去分析错在哪里，从中学到什么。故选B项。
【小题5】A 细节理解题很明显地，本文写的是关于成功者的心态方面的问题，探究了如何对待失败。所以A正确。