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 come across a huge, ferocious and obviously hungry bear. Its next meal has just come into sight, and they are it! The first friend calculates that the bear will catch 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. On the contrary, her friend is quickly but calmly taking off her hiking boots and putting on running shoes. “What do you think you’re doing?” the first hiker says to her companion. “You’ll never be able to run faster than that bear”. “That’s true,” says the companion, “but all I have to do is escape, faster than 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 cloned. In this, I am not referring to the body, only to the spirit, soul, or the essence of a person.
小题1:The first four paragraphs tell us that competition .
A．is necessary though harmful
B．only exists in sports and business
C．is a fight against oneself
D．is unavoidable and beneficial小题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 persuade people to beat others, even friends.小题3:From the last two paragraphs we learn that .
A．there is more to life than just competition
B．we don’t have to compete since we are all different
C．we have to beat others in order to survive
D．competition plays an important role in social development小题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
小题1:D
小题2:C
小题3:A
小题4:B
题目分析：作者认为竞争是不可避免的，是有益的，用一个故事印证作者的观点，但是作者提出人生中不仅仅是竞争，面对竞争要保持平衡的思想状态。
小题1:推理题：从第一段的句子：Where there is no competition, improvement in performance is less likely. Some level of competition is a have-to in all aspects of life.可知竞争是不可避免的，是有益的，选D
小题2:推理题：从第二段的句子：The following story makes this point.可知下面的故事是印证作者的观点的，选C
小题3:推理题：从文章倒数第二段的句子：competition is not the real purpose of life. Fulfilling the measure of our creation can only be achieved individually.可知人生中不仅仅是竞争。选A
小题4:写作意图题：从最后一段的句子：This is important to understand if we are going to enjoy life. Every human being is unique and cannot be cloned. In this, I am not referring to the body, only to the spirit, soul, or the essence of a person.可知作者建议读者面对竞争要保持平衡的思想状态。选B。
点评：作者认为竞争是不可避免的，是有益的，用一个故事印证作者的观点，但是作者提出人生中不仅仅是竞争，面对竞争要保持平衡的思想状态。日常生活这一话题主要涉及人们衣食住行等方面的活动。这一话题的选材主要针对人们日常的工作，生活以及学习情况。做这一类题时，最主要的是要把握好人物的活动内容，时间和地点。