We live in a culture that sends out very mixed messages about mistakes: We're told we

learn by making them, but we work hard to avoid them. So the result is that most of us know

that we are going to make mistakes, but deep down, we feel we shouldn't.

Experiments with schoolchildren who did well on a given test show that those who were

praised for being smart and then offered a more challenging or less challenging task afterward

usually chose the easier one. On the other hand, children praised for trying hard-rather than

being smart-far more often selected the more difficult task.

If we try hard to avoid mistakes, we aren't open to getting the information we need in

order to do better. In a writing study, experiments showed that those who are so scared to

make mistakes perform worse in writing tasks than those who aren't as worried about being

perfect. They fear receiving any kind of negative feedback, so they don't learn where they went

wrong and how to get better.

We don't just learn more when we're open to mistakes, we learn deeper. Research tells us

that if we're only concerned about getting the right answer, we don't always learn the

underlying concepts that help us truly understand whatever we're trying to figure out. Mistakes

need to be seen not as a failure to learn, but as a guide to what still needs to be learned. As

Thomas Edison said, “I am not discouraged, because every abandoned wrong attempt is

another step forward. "

Furthermore, we often make mistakes because we try new things-we wander away from

accepted paths. Teflon, penicillin-these are examples of great discoveries made by mistake.

Take a page from Albert Einstein, who said, "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never

tried anything new. "

28. What will happen to students praised for being smart in face of choosing tasks compared to

students praised for working hard?

A. He will ask his teachers for advice.

B. He will hide his mistakes from his teachers.

C. He will work harder to avoid mistakes.

D. He will choose a less challenging task.

29. Which of the following statements is NOT acceptable according to the passage?

A. The more mistakes we make, the more we learn.

B. Mistakes can be used as a positive factor for success.

C. Being open to mistakes help you understand the truth.

D. A step forward may come from mistakes you've made. 高考英语模拟试题库  http://www.17xuexiba.com/yy/