Section A Exploratory Reading
Skim the following passage and answer the questions in 3 minutes.
While it is possible for people with great talent or drive to achieve with a bad attitude， it doesn't happen very often， and it takes an incredible amount of effort. And even if they do achieve some degree of success， they aren't happy.（And they make the people around them miserable too.）Most often， people with a bad attitude don't get very far in life.
On the other hand， even barely average people can do great things when their attitudes are great. In The Winner's Edge （优势）， Denis Waitley observed， “The winner's edge is not in a gifted birth， a high IQ， or in talent. The winner's edge is all in the attitude， not aptitude（才能）. Attitude is the criterion for success.”
Choose the best answer.
1. Which one of the following is the key word in the passage？
A. Effort. B. Attitude. C. Success. D. Edge.
2. The passage mainly tells us that________.
A. people with great talent can always achieve great success
B. successful people tend to make those around them unhappy
C. good attitude contributes greatly to one's success
D. it takes talented people great effort to become successful
3. The main idea of Para. 1 is that________.
A. people with a bad attitude can still be successful
B. people with a bad attitude are unhappy
C. people with a bad attitude usually will not be very successful
D. people with a bad attitude make people around unhappy
Explanations
1. The key is B. The topic of the passage centers around people's attitude， so B is the correct answer.
2. The key is C. The last sentence in Para. 2 “Attitude is the criterion for success.” best summarizes the main idea of the passage.
3. The key is C. The last sentence in Para. 1 is the conclusion made on people with a bad attitude. Pay attention to organizers like “while， even if， most often” as they can guide you to follow the author's thought.
Reading Skill： Skimming for the Main Idea （1）
Skimming is defined as reading quickly to get the main idea of a text. It is a technique used in previewing or for getting an overview of a text. When skimming， your eyes read rapidly over the page， just pick out the main ideas and topics. Scanning also involves rapid movement through a text， but it aims at searching for specific information rather than the main points.
Skimming enables you to quickly go through the text without paying attention to all parts of it. It is a valuable preparation for intensive reading as it allows you to select what is essential to read and to gain an overview of the structure of the material.
Strategies for skimming involve reading：
1）title， subtitles， subheading；
2）the first and last paragraphs；
3）the first sentence of each paragraph；
4）words in bold type， italics， digits， or tables.