According to Rich DeVos, there seems to be a natural cause-and-effect relationship between optimism and success.
2) Why should each of us choose between optimism and pessimism to shape our outlook and our expectations?
Because there is enough good and bad in everyone‘s life and this serves as a rational basis for us to choose either optimism or pessimism.
3) What is the author‘s choice? Why does he make such a choice?
Rich DeVos chooses to highlight the positive and slip right over the negative, because he is an optimist by choice as much as by nature. And he found that the good in life is far greater and more important than the bad.
4) What does the author‘s experience in the service station tell us?
It tells us that a negative attitude may have a profound effect on the way we feel and act.
5) What‘s the meaning of the sentence ―Optimism doesn‘t need to be naive‖(Para. 9)?
We can be optimists and still recognize that problems exist and that some of them are not dealt with easily.
2 Text A can be divided into three parts with the paragraph number(s) of each part provided as follows. Write down the main idea of each part.
Part: One; Paragraph(s): 1-3; Main Idea: It is necessary to choose optimism to shape our outlook and expectations.
Part: Two; Paragraph(s): 4–7; Main Idea: The author illustrates the effect of negativism through his own experience.
Part: Three; Paragraph(s): 8-10; Main Idea: The author suggests that we direct our attention to positive and constructive thinking rather than to negativism.
Task Two Reading Between the Lines
Read the following sentences carefully and discuss in pairs what the author intends to say.
1) An optimistic attitude is not a luxury; it‘s a necessity. (Para. 4)
An optimistic attitude is not something that is enjoyable but unnecessary. It is essential for our life.
2) Pessimism creates a sad and hopeless place where no one wants to live in. (Para. 4)
If you are a pessimist, you will find that the environment you live in is always dull, uninteresting and hopeless.
3) That seemed like an odd question, but I felt fine and told him so. (Para. 5)