Confucius said, “In a group of three people, there is always something I can learn. Choose to follow the strengths of others, and use their shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves.”
As you can see from what Confucius said, everyone that we come across can teach us something useful. As long as we reflect on the lessons learnt from and by other people, we can continuously improve ourselves. But take note that when you reflect on these lessons, you apply some wisdom to each lesson because each situation is unique although they share some common principles.
We can learn a lot from everyone. We always tend to think that we can only learn from those who are higher in status or have more knowledge than us, but that is not really the case. We learn from those who are lower in status than us as well, because the experience and knowledge of each person is very different.
The best thing about this type of learning, reflecting other people’s strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves, is that we do not pay for the mistakes that are made. The only cost to us is the time that is needed to learn about and reflect on these lessons from other people’s lives.
As we all know, some mistakes can be ones which people cannot afford to make, for instance, a broken friendship or a financial loss. Thus constantly using other people’s strengths and shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves makes us realize the costs of these mistakes and reduces the possibility that we will make similar mistakes.
What can we do now to learn from others? By keeping our eyes and ears open. Be observant and able to realize what strengths and shortcomings other people have. A lot of people in this world like to complain about their lives. Listen to them and make you own assessment and from your own assessment, reflect upon your life and make improvements where necessary.
小题1:According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A．Confucius thought we should learn from strengths of others.
B．Only from those who have more knowledge than us can we learn.
C．It is by reflecting on the lessons learnt by others that we can improve ourselves.
D．Reflecting upon other people’s strengths and shortcomings can help us make fewer mistakes.小题2:The underlined part “this type of learning” in the fourth paragraph probably refers to_______.
A．learning from other people’s mistakes
B．learning from others’ experiences
C．finding what strengths and shortcomings other people have
D．reflecting others’ strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves小题3:From the fifth paragraph, we learn that _______.
A．sometimes we can afford the costs of a broken friendship
B．our reflection will necessarily reduce our mistakes
C．some reflection will help to improve ourselves
D．reflection will stop us from making any mistakes in life小题4:The passage is probably taken from __________.
A．a magazine about life
B．a book about travel
C．an advertisement
D．a research report小题5:What does this passage mainly talk about?
A．How to improve oneself.
B．How to use the shortcomings of others to reflect upon ourselves.
C．How to reduce the mistakes in one’s life.
D．How to learn from other people’s strengths and shortcomings.
小题1:B
小题2:D
小题3:C
小题4:A
小题5:D
题目分析：本文主要告诉我们要向别人学习。我们要向每个人学习，无论他的地位高低，知识与经验的多少，都有值得我们学习的地方。并经常用别人的优点和缺点在我们自己身上进行反思，吸取优点，避免犯同样的错误，从而，不断提高自身的素质。
小题1:细节理解题。根据第三段的We can learn a lot from everyone. We always tend to think that we can only learn from those who are higher in status or have more knowledge than us, but that is not really the case. 我们可以向每个人学习，无论他的地位高低，知识与经验的多少，都有值得我们学习的地方。B项的描述是错误的故选B。
小题2:细节理解题。第四段的The best thing about this type of learning, reflecting other people’s strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves, 关于这种类型的学习最好的方面,就是把别人的优点和缺点反映在我们自己身上。故选D。
小题3:细节理解题。Thus constantly using other people’s strengths and shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves makes us realize the costs of these mistakes and reduces the possibility that we will make similar mistakes.因此经常使用别人的优点和缺点来反思我们自己，让我们意识到这些错误所付出的代价,减少我们会犯同样的错误的可能性。即反思可以提高自己的能力。故选C。
小题4:篇章理解题。纵观全文，我们知道这是一篇告诉人们向他人学习从而完善自己，更好的生活的小品文，应可能出现在生活杂志上。故选A。
小题5:主旨判断题。第一段的Confucius said,“In a group of three people, there is always something I can learn.”孔子说，三人行，必有我师。最后一段的Be observant and able to realize what strengths and shortcomings other people have. 有敏锐观察力的人,能够认识到优点和缺点别人。从中可知全文为主要将我们要学习别人的优点和缺点并进行反思。故选D
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