In the modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity (繁荣). Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another, that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is really forgotten.
However, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often notice that they have a desire to fail. They seem to choose failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” They don’t believe that if they had really tried and lost, such a loss would prove their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison(比较) with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.
小题1:What does this passage mainly talk about?
A．Competition helps set up self-respect.
B．Failures are necessary experiences in competition.
C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development.
D．Opinions about competition are different among people.小题2:Why do some people value competition according to the passage?
A．It builds up a sense of duty.
B．It pushes society forward.
C．It improves personal abilities.
D．It encourages individual effects.小题3:The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 refers to_______.
A．those who try their best to win
B．those who value competition most highly
C．those who are against competition most strongly
D．those who rely on others most for success小题4:What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”?
A．One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.
B．One’s success in competition needs great efforts.
C．One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills.
D．One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others’.小题5:Which point of view may the author agree to?
A．Every effort should be paid back.
B．Competition should be encouraged.
C．Winning should be a life-and-death matter.
D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition.
