阅读理解。
We live in a very competitive world. Everybody seems to be competing with someone at
some level. Each week we spend hours playing or watching others compete in sporting activities
all over the world. We cannot help being impressed by the level of excellence that these people
achieve.
In sport and business, competition encourages excellence in performance. Where there is no
competition, improvement in performance is less likely. Some level of competition is a have-to in
all aspects of life.
The following story makes this point.
As two friends are hiking in the forest they encounter a huge, ferocious and obviously hungry
Grizzly Bear. Its next meal has just come into sight, and they are it! The first friend calculates that
the bear will overtake them in 27.3 seconds. At that point, she panics; realizing there is no escape.
She faces her friend, with the fear of death in her eyes. To her amazement, she observes that her
friend is not scared at all. To the contrary, her friend is quickly but calmly taking off her hiking boots
and putting on jogging shoes. "What do you think you're doing?" the first hiker says to her companion,
"You'll never be able to outrun that grizzly." "That's true," says the companion, "but all I have to do
is outrun you."
We all compete when the motivation is strong enough. However, competition is not the real
purpose of life. Fulfilling the measure of our creation can only be achieved individually.
Most of time, we are not in competition with any other person, so we do not have to compare
ourselves with others. There is only one person that can fulfill our role and that is us. This means
that others cannot beat us to the finish line because there is no race. This is not to say that others
do not have a similar role to us, but it is never the same. This is important to understand if we are
going to enjoy life. Every human being is unique and cannot be duplicated. In this, I am not referring
to the body, only to the spirit, soul, or the essence of a person.
1. The first 4 paragraphs tell us that competition
A. is necessary though harmful
B. only exists in sports and business
C. is unavoidable and beneficial
D. is a fight against oneself
2. Why is the story of two friends told in the passage?
A. To advise friends to be loyal even in competition.
B. To expose the weak side of friendship when tested.
C. To support the author's own argument on competition.
D. To offer evidence of necessary competition in life.
3. From the last two paragraphs we learn that .
A. competition plays an important role in social development
B. we don't have to compete since we are all different
C. we have to beat others in order to survive
D. there is more to life than just competition
4. As a whole the passage advises the readers to .
A. realize we are living in a world of competition
B. face competition in a balanced state of mind
C. have a strong sense of being a possible winner
D. value friendship however fierce competition may be
