41. 推理判断题。由倒数第二段中的“The researchers think the Parramatta red gums were able to effectively sweat — even without photosynthesis — because they are particularly good at tapping into water deep in the soil. But if a heat wave and a severe drought （干旱）were to hit at the same time and the groundwater was exhausted, the trees may not be so lucky, Drake says.”可知，这些树擅长吸取地下水，如果热浪干旱同时发生，地下水枯竭的话，那么这些树生存的可能性就比较小了。由此可以推知，地下水帮助这些树存活下来。故D选项正确。

【点睛】根据事实细节，推断合理信息。推理题要求在理解原文表面文字信息的基础上，作出一定判断和推论，从而得到文章的隐含意义和深层意义。推理题所涉及的内容可能是文中某一句话，也可能是某几句话，但做题的指导思想都是以文字信息为依据，既不能做出在原文中找不到文字根据的推理，也不能根据表面文字信息做多步推理。在第四小题中，考生可以根据倒数第二段中的“if a heat wave and a severe drought （干旱）were to hit at the same time and the groundwater was exhausted, the trees may not be so lucky”可知，地下水对于桉树的生存起着重要作用，从而确定答案为D选项。

C

We want our children to succeed, in school and, perhaps even more importantly, in life. But the paradox(悖论) is that our children can only truly succeed if they first learn how to fail. Consider the finding that world-class figure skaters fall over more often in practice than low-level figure skaters. At first sight this seems contradictory. Why are the really good skaters falling over the most?

The reason is actually quite simple. Top skaters are constantly challenging themselves in practice, attempting jumps that stretch their limitations. This is why they fall over so often, but it is precisely why they learn so fast. Lower-level skaters have a quite different approach. They are always attempting jumps they can already do very easily, remaining within their comfort zone. This is why they don’t fall over. In a superficial sense, they look successful, because they are always on their feet. The truth, however, is that by never failing, they never progress.

What is true of skating is also true of life. James Dyson worked through 5,126 failed prototypes(原型) for his dual cyclone vacuum before coining up with the design that made his fortune. These failures were essential to the pathway of learning. As

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Dyson put it: “You can’t develop new technology unless you test new ideas and learn when things go wrong. Failure is essential to invention.”

In healthcare, however, things are very different. Clinicians don’t like to admit to failure, partly because they have healthy egos(自我)(particularly the senior doctors) and partly because they fear litigation(诉讼). The consequence is that instead of learning from failure, healthcare often covers up failure. The direct consequence is that the same mistakes are repeated. According to the Journal of Patient Safety, 400,000 people die every year in American hospitals alone due to preventable

error. Until healthcare learns to respond positively to failure, things will not improve.

But let us return to children. One of the major mistakes in education in the 1970s was the attempt to equip children with confidence by giving them lots of successes （setting the bar very low）. The consequence was that the ego of kids became bound up with success, and they became unable to take risks and collapsed as soon as they hit a proper challenge.

We need to flip(翻转) this approach. In a complex world, failure is inevitable. It is those individuals and institutions that have the flexibility to face up to failure, learn the lessons and adapt which eventually excel(突出). 42. The question raised in the first paragraph is to ________.

A. open up a discussion on the topic B. analyze the reason for success C. express the author’s opposition D. doubt the abilities of the top skaters 43. Which of the following is the structure of the passage?

A. B.

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C. D.

44. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. How we can avoid failure in life B. What we should learn from failure C. Why failure is the key to flying high D. Where we further improve ourselves 【答案】42. A 43. A 44. C

【解析】这是一篇议论文。作者通过正反两方面的例子论证了“失败是孩子成功的必须条件”这一观点。

42. 推理判断题。由第一段中的“But the paradox（悖论）is that our children can only truly succeed if they first learn how to fail.”可知，文章的中心论点是如果孩子想要真正成功，首先就要学会失败。后面以世界级滑冰运动员摔倒的次数更多来证明这一点，最后一句提出问题：为什么好的滑冰运动员反而摔倒的次数多呢？下文对这个问题做了回答，进一步阐明了文章的中心论点。很明显，这个问题就是为了引出下文对中心论点的论述服务的。故A选项正确。

43. 文章结构题。第一段提出中心论点并以滑冰运动员为例引出第二段。第三段James Dyson为正面例子证明：成功是建立失败的基础上的。而第四和第五两段分别以医疗和20世纪七十年代的儿童教育为反例证明：不经历失败就不会获得成功和提高。最后一段再次强调中心论点。故A选项正确。

44. 标题归纳题。文章第一段即提出中心论点：the paradox（悖论）is that our children can only truly succeed if they first learn how to fail，中间几段以正反两方面的例子证明了该论点。最后一段又重新强调了该论点。很明显，文章的中心意思就是：失败是孩子真正成功的必要条件。结合选项，C选项为最佳标题。

D

This is my origin story: when I was a teenager I wrote terrible poetry. Like really bad. Worse than yours, I bet. A lot of it about how every little thing reminds me that we’re all going to die one day. I wrote collections and collections of these

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poems, thinking one day I would have my moment. I named one collection, ironically,

The Eternal Optimist.

In 1996, I found an advert for the International Poetry Competition. I was 16 years old and ready for my poetry to be released on the world. Not only was it a competition with a cash prize, but it was poetry, which I wrote, and international. This was my ticket to becoming world-famous. I submitted a poem called Trail of Thought. If you ever wrote bad poetry as a teenager, you’ll have written something like it. In the poem, I went for a walk and noticed small poignant(辛酸的) things in nature, and each one reminded me that we were all going to die one day.

I filled out the form, printed off the poem and sent it off, fingers crossed. I waited to hear back I carried on writing, I probably finished another collection. Then I got a letter from the International Society of Poets. I opened the envelope carefully, just in case a prize-winning cheque fell out I hadn’t won. But, they liked my poem enough to include it in their anthology(诗选), Awaken to a Dream. I closed my eyes, I wanted to scream with happiness. I was going to be a published poet.

All I had to do in order to be published was accept the terms and pay ￡ 45（plus ￡ 5 p & p）for an anthology. If I didn’t buy a copy of the anthology, my poem wouldn’t be included. I had to convince my mum, who thought my writing a meaningless pastime, to part with ￡ 50. She even asked the question: “Why do you have to pay to be in this book?” Nevertheless, she wrote a cheque for ￡ 50 and I returned it with my letter of agreement.

I was 16 and about to be a published poet. This was what it had all been about. This is what it had all been leading to. The months waiting for the anthology were a torture. I hit some sort of writer’s block, I couldn’t write anything. It was almost as if, now I was published, it mattered more what I committed to page and I didn’t want to write anything down unless it was good enough to go into an anthology like Awaken to a Dream.

The book arrived through the post. Here it was. The first thing I had ever been published in a book called Awaken to a Dream, featuring a blistering take on the mundanity(世俗) of mortality by yours truly. I opened the package to find a book,

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