But great success in life is， in fact， the exception； failure is one of life s fellow travelers， a constant and unwelcome companion.For every hugely talented performer like Bryan Adams who finds a popular following， hundreds of would-be stars spend their entire careers singing in back street cafes.For every professional hockey player who makes it to the National Hockey League， scores more languish in minor leagues.
The reasons for failure are no secret ： from bad upbringings to poor attitudes or sheer bad luck or small voice - implanted in childhood - telling them that they were failures no matter what they did.Experts say that the inner voice is perhaps the greatest promoter of failure.And sometimes， high expectations and predictions of success in young people are themselves a cause for failure.
There are also people for whom success， no matter how large， remains meaningless.“There s something called the post Nobel Prize syndrome (综合症)，”says University of Waterloo psychologist Herbert Lefcourt.“People who win it have usually been trying to win it.But after the acclaim， there s often nothing left to do.” Lefcourt divides successes into two classes.Some achievements come from intrinsic (固有的) and harmonious inner desire， such as a musician s true love of the violin.But others come after relentless battles in pursuit of a goal people have set themselves.Lefcourt says： “ These are the people who are continuously trying to catch the gold ring， and who become so invested in it that everything else is cast aside.”
For the many Canadians who have met time and again with failure， that may be a minor consolation.Not having experienced in success themselves， they still dream of it， wish for it， demand it at almost any price.Sadly， for them a gold ring， however tarnished (失去光泽)，is better than no ring at all.
1.From the passage we know that.
A.most people fail at an early age.
B.few people fail anonymously.
C.many singers become famous overnight.
D.failure always accompanies one s life.
2.The following are the causes for failure except.
A.high expectation of success B.great misfortune.
C.bad upbringings D.lack of education.
3.The word languish in the last line of the first paragraph is closest in meaning to.
A.anger B.suffering.
C.happiness D.disappointment.
4.In Lefcourt s opinion.
A.great success means nothing to some extraordinary people， sometimes.
B.the inner desire and the set goal are the same thing.
C.all successes come after countless fights for a goal.
D.there are many different kinds of achievements.
Who Are Successful People？Interestingly， the word“success”itself has got three S s， which can be written as ＄＄＄.The two C s as Cents while U for You， and the E is for Efforts.
We can now simply deduce from this coincidence that success is the positive result of our efforts - the result that brings us satisfaction， happiness， and tranquility.
To be successful you must have clear goals， plan of action and determination to achieve your goals.
Going through failures after failures doesn t mean that you are a failure.
Thomas Edison“failed”thousands of times but he never considered himself a failure.He experienced more failures than anybody else but he had achieved more successes than anybody else too.
Life is full of challenges.Nobody is excluded from this.But， challenges make us stronger if we take them positively.All successful people went through hurdles after hurdles before they achieved greatness ！ This seems to be the rule of success.The attitudinal difference between the failures and the victorious is persistence.
Successful people are those who continuously work diligently and persistently in getting whatever they want，despite the obstacles， hurdles，challenges， and failures in the process.And that， because of these traits and philosophies， successful people get whatever they want most of the time.
Successful people possess extraordinary determination in achieving what they set to achieve ！
