Before my first summer vacation at college, my roommate Ted asked me to work with him on his father’s farm in Argentina. The idea of spending two months in Argentina was exciting. But I was afraid of it. I had never been far from New England. What would it be like in a strange country? What about the language? The more I thought about it, the more the idea worried me.
In the end I
turned down the invitation. As soon as Ted asked somebody else to go, I began kicking myself. I had turned down something I wanted to do because I was afraid, and had ended up feeling depressed (沮喪的) . That unhappy summer taught me a valuable lesson out of which I developed a rule for myself: do what makes you worried; don’t do what makes you depressed.
At the end of my senior year, I began to think about becoming a writer. But my professor was telling me to aim at teaching. I hesitated (猶豫). The idea of trying to live by writing was a lot scarier than spending a summer in Argentina. Back and forth I went, making my decision, unmaking it. Suddenly I realized that every time I gave up the idea of writing, that downhearted feeling went through me.
Giving up on what I really wanted to do depressed me. Right then I learned another lesson. To avoid that kind of depression meant having to bear a certain amount of worry and concern.
When I first began writing articles, I was frequently required to interview big names. Before each interview I would get anxieties (焦慮) in the mind and my hands would shake. One person I particularly admired was the great composer Duke Ellington. On the stage and on television, he seemed the very model of confidence. Then I learned Ellington still got stage fright and had anxietyattacks. I went on doing those frightening interviews. Then I realized that I was even looking forward to the interviews. What had happened to those anxieties?
Well, in truth, the anxieties were still there, but there were fewer of them. I had benefited from a process of overcoming them. If you put an individual in an anxious situation often enough, he will eventually learn that there isn’t anything to be worried about. This brings me to a conclusion: you’ll never get rid of anxiety by avoiding the things that caused it. The point is that the new, the different, is definitely scary (可怕的). But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning piles up, the world opens to you.
小題1:What does the phrase
“turned down” mean in the second paragraph?
| A．To say “No” to his roommate. | B．To say in a low voice. |
| C．To put away the invitation. | D．To take the invitation. |
小題2:We can infer from the passage that the writer________.
| A．finds it difficult to make decision |
| B．has found out what causes anxiety |
| C．was inspired (受啟發(fā)的) by Duke Ellington’s stage fright |
| D．no longer feels anxious about new experiences |
小題3:Which of the following opinions does the writer probably accept?
| A．Hesitation leads to depression. |
| B．Anxiety can be a positive drive. |
| C．Avoiding anxiety reduces depression. |
| D．Depression is a signal that one is growing up. |
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