“Luck is a matter of
preparation meeting opportunity,” said the American
talk show host Oprah Winfrey. I’ ve never watched her show, but when a
self-made billionaire gives life advice it’ s probably worth listening to.
Her point is that blind luck is very rare.
You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean
you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you. If you’ re a Chinese,you may
already be familiar with the tale of a farmer waiting by a tree stump (樹樁) for a
rabbit to run out and break its neck.
A book by the UK psychologist Richard
Wiseman, called The Luck Factor, argues we can all make ourselves luckier. It’ s not about going
to a temple to burn some incense (香) in hopes that the gods will give you good
fortune; it’ s practical advice you can follow each day.
Wiseman conducted an experiment as part of
his studies. First he divided volunteers into two groups:those
who said they were lucky in life and those who said they were not. He gave
everyone a newspaper and asked them to look through it to count how many
photographs it had inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two
minutes to count the photographs while the lucky people took just seconds. Why?
On the second page of the newspaper, a command, “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in
this newspaper,” was written in big letters. The unlucky
people mostly did not spot the message.
It’s easy to compare this situation to a young
person looking for jobs in a local paper. They might search so hard for one
type of position that they miss an even better opportunity. People who are “l(fā)ucky”, in fact, keep an open mind and don’t go through the
same routine every day.
I first came to China in 2002 when it was
considered a rather strange thing to do. Like many foreigners,my plan
was to teach English for one year. Seven years later, and still here, I’ ve had many great
opportunities such as writing for newspapers and magazines. I did not dream
these would have been possible. I’ ve also never been sick, had an accident,
got into a fight or had problems with the police. Coincidence(巧合)?
After reading about Professor Wiseman’ s studies I think not.
As Wiseman advises, I usually trust my own
judgment. Your friends and parents may give you advice based on rational (理性)thinking,
but it’s
important to consider how you feel about each choice you make. Your feeling
acts as a warning for a potential (潛在)problem.
Finally, try to turn bad luck into good. Even
if you do fall down and break a leg, the time spent at home can be used wisely
to study English.
1.Which of the following proverbs most agrees with the writer’ s point?
A. Make the best of a bad job.
B. Rome was not built in a day.
C. All is not gold that glitters.
D. A good heart conquers ill fortune.
2.What do you know about Oprah Winfrey?
A. She became famous through her family
background.
B. She was very lucky and seldom suffered
setbacks (挫折)in her life.
C. She is a British talk show host.
D. She became successful by her own effort.
3.The writer quoted(引用) the Chinese tale of a farmer in order to
show________.
A. luck is in your own hand
B. bad luck can turn into good
C. you should not sit at home waiting for the
opportunity to come to you
D. man can conquer nature
4.From the experiment Wiseman drew the conclusion that________.
A. lucky people are quick-minded
B. unlucky people are slow to read
C. lucky people often have an open mind
D. unlucky people are more creative
5.The underlined word “spot” is the closest in meaning to“________”.
A. discover B.
mark C. make D.
receive