题文
Are you an optimist? Do you look at your glass and see it as half full? Do you believe that every cloud has a silver lining and that generally things turn out for the best? Do you believe that if something is meant to be, it will be? If you reply “yes” to all of these questions, then you are an optimist. You probably are enthusiastic, cheerful and outgoing. You may well be successful atwork and in love.
But you may be misguided because things don’t turn out for the best. You may believe that when one door closes another one opens (for example，you may fail to obtain a new job，another chance will come around soon), Wrong. When one door closes, another door slams in your face. That's bitter reality.
Now a book has been published which confirms what we pessimists(悲观者）have suspected all along. It's called The Positive Power of Defensive Pessimism. Its author argues that defensive pessimism can lead to positive results. Defensive pessimism is a strategy used to manage fear, anxiety and worry. Defensive pessimists prepare for things by setting low outcomes for themselves. They carefully consider everything that may go wrong and plan for ways to handle these problems. And this gives them a sense of control. Lawrence Sanno, a psychology professor, says, “What’s interesting about defensive pessimists is that they tend to be very successful people, so their low opinion of the situation’s outcomes is not realistic. They use it to motivate themselves to perform better. ”
So far, so good. This is not rocket science. Defensive pessimists prepare carefully and consider what might go wrong, whether at work, on a date or even in a sports game. It makes sense to have a back-up plan. There are many sayings in English urging caution. For example, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” and “ Don’t count your chickens until they hatch. “ To have a confident and optimistic approach to life’s problems is good. But listen to what Woody Alien，the American comedian says, ”Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem.”
There are pros and cons to being an optimist and a pessimist. Don’t feel bad if you see the glass half empty. You are a realist. But lighten up and hook up with someone who sees the same glass half full.
小题1:What is the passage mainly about?A．A book that has recently been published.B．The dangers of being too optimistic.C．How to become successful in life.D．The benefits of defensive pessimism.小题2:The underlined sentence “This is not rocket science” in paragraph 4 means .A．it is quite simple to understandB．there is no real proofC．it’s not a dangerous thing to doD．the cost is not so high小题3:The writer would probably describe himself as .A．an optimistB．a defeatistC．a realistD．a scientist小题4:Which of the following English expressions would a defensive pessimist believe? A．“Every cloud has a silver lining.”B．“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” C．“Whatever will be, will be.”D．“The glass is half full not half empty.” 题型：未知难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:D
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:B
解析
文章主要表示的是乐观和悲观各有优缺点，不要太在乎。
小题1:主旨大意题。文章在第一段提出了人应该乐观一点会更好，接着主要讨论了要做一个有意识的悲观者，因为这样的悲观者才会对以后的事情做好充分的准备，会有详细的计划和安排。那样才能有更好的结果。故D正确。
小题2:推理题。谚语This is not rocket science.中的rocket science指困难的事情，指那些很难以理解的事情。本句话的意思就是指这很好理解，不是那么难以理解的事物。故A正确。
小题3:推理题。根据第二段的最后三句：当上帝关上一扇门的时候，他会为你打开另外一扇门。但是实际上并不是总是如此，说明他对待一切是很现实的。以及文章后几段的内容可在C正确。
小题4:推理题。根据文章倒数第二段3,4行There are many sayings in English urging caution. For example, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,”说明该谚语就是指那些表示谨慎的谚语，故B项符合那些pessimists (悲观者）的特点。故B正确。
点评：此类阅读理解首先要能基本读懂文章，然后再根据问题，在文章中去找到相应的依据，研究相关信息句给出准确的答案。特别是对一些长句难句的理解要细致。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“Are you an optimist?.....”主要考查你对 [人生感悟类阅读 ]考点的理解。人生感悟类阅读
人生感悟类阅读的概念：
生活感悟类的文章就是指能给人心灵以启迪，使人从中受到教育的文章。这类文章的体裁可以是记叙文，如生活中一些感人故事或情感故事，有点类似心灵鸡汤一样的短文。
生活感悟类阅读解题指导：
一、文章特点：
生活感悟类的文章就是指能给人心灵以启迪，使人从中受到教育的文章。这类文章的体裁可以是记叙文，如生活中一些感人故事或情感故事，有点类似心灵鸡汤一样的短文。有时故事的结尾会有一句“点睛之笔”，点出全文的中心思想，就像《伊索寓言》里的寓言一样。还可能是夹叙夹议的哲理散文或生活随笔。散文随笔通常会阐述一种朴素易懂，耳熟能详的人生道理或宝贵品质。文章的结构和议论文类似，一般是总分总或总分结构。每段首句或尾句为主题句（论点），其它句子围绕主题展开论述（论据），论证方法多种多样，或举例，或引用名言，或正反对照等。
二、解题技巧：
针对生活感悟类文章的特点，做这类文章的完形填空时，要特别注意以下几点：
1、重点理解全文的首句。如果是记叙文，找出when，where，who，what等基本要素。如果是散文随笔，充分理解文章的中心句—全文的主题。
2、阅读全文的结尾段或结尾句，有助于理解文章所阐述或蕴含的哲理、感悟或忠告等。
3、调动自己的背景知识和情感。这类文章不会讲大道理也不会涉及到一些很专业的知识技术领域，而是谈一些小事和简单的道理，所以如果读者能和作者产生感情上的共鸣，读者会更好地把握作者的意图态度，从而提高做题的准确度。因此，考生在平时要做一个有心人，即用心去感悟生活中发生的小事，思考人生的一些基本道理，多阅读一些短小精悍的美文，多写写自己的心情故事和对生活学习的感悟。只有平时多用心，做题时才能调动自己的背景知识和情感。
