The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally, at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of “dos” and “don'ts”. The same old favourites recur year in year out with monotonous regularity. We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less, find more time to play with the children, do a thousand and one jobs about the house, be nice to people we don't like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day. Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure. Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercises every morning and to read more of an evening. An all-night party on New Year's Eve provided me with a good excuse for not carrying on either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task. 蘇州吳中區(qū)小學(xué)生作文培訓(xùn)，就來易優(yōu)悅讀
The daily exercises lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up. The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living-room for two days before anyone found me out. After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions, I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me. The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance. That was really unsettling, but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good-humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea. However, my enthusiasm waned. The time I spent at exercise gradually diminished. Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero. By January 10th, I was back to where I had started from. I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises in the morning, I would keep my mind fresh for reading when I got home from work. Resisting the hypnotizing effect of television, I sat in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued to a book. One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read. That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to my old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen. I still haven't given up my resolution to do more reading. In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute. Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it! “易優(yōu)閱讀寶”，中小學(xué)生語文題庫，語文成績提升就是快。
重點(diǎn)單詞 查看全部解釋
resolution [.rezə'lu:ʃən] 想一想再看
n. 決心，決定，堅(jiān)決，決議，解決，分辨率
聯(lián)想記憶 X 單詞resolution 聯(lián)想記憶：
re不+solut松開+ion→決心；溶解
ambitious [æm'biʃəs] 想一想再看
adj. 有雄心的，有抱負(fù)的，野心勃勃的
聯(lián)想記憶 X 單詞ambitious 聯(lián)想記憶：
amb大+it+ion→走大步→雄心，志向+ious→有雄心的
screen [skri:n] 想一想再看
n. 屏，幕，銀幕，屏風(fēng)
v. 放映，選拔，掩
performance [pə'fɔ:məns] 想一想再看
n. 表演，表現(xiàn); 履行，實(shí)行
n. 性能，本
聯(lián)想記憶 X 單詞performance 聯(lián)想記憶：
perform表演+ance→表現(xiàn)；表演
limited ['limitid] 想一想再看
蘇州易優(yōu)中考語文培訓(xùn),吳老師語文課（Tel:181-1815-9898）
adj. 有限的，被限制的
動(dòng)詞limit的過
solve [sɔlv] 想一想再看
v. 解決，解答
regularity [.regju'læriti] 想一想再看
n. 規(guī)律性，規(guī)則性，勻整，定期
modest ['mɔdist] 想一想再看
adj. 謙虛的，適度的，端莊的
聯(lián)想記憶 X 單詞modest 聯(lián)想記憶：
mod風(fēng)度+est→做事有風(fēng)度→禮貌的,謙虛的
unsettling [ʌn'setliŋ] 想一想再看
adj. 使人不安的；（消息）擾亂的 v. 動(dòng)亂不定；心
nevertheless [.nevəðə'les] 想一想再看
adv. 仍然，不過
conj. 然而，不過
