课时作业26 Improving yourself-（课时作业）【红对勾讲与练】2024版新高考英语大一轮复习全新方案（外研版）

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8: 课时作业 26　 Improving yourself Ⅰ. 阅读理解 " (2022·浙江宁波二模) I had just delivered a memorized speech that I had labored over for months, and I was about to learn how the experts judged my performance. The polite audience leaned forward in their folding chairs. Silence fell across the room and the drum rolled in my mind. The contest organizer announced the third- place winner. Alas, the name was not mine. Then the second, and once again it was not me. At last, the moment of truth came. Either I was about to be bathed in the warmth of victory or regretted the last several months spent preparing. While neither of these came to pass, my heart just sank. Losing is a part of life, but it was an indescribable depression to drive 200 miles round trip, get up early on a freezing Saturday morning, and yet still finish fourth out of four contestants. After Lincoln lost the 1858 Illinois Senate race, he reportedly said, “ I felt like the 12-year-old boy who stubbed his toe. I was too big to cry and it hurt too bad to laugh. ” Oh yeah, I could relate. Months before the contest, I had spent hours in front of a computer and in libraries doing research for the Lincoln Bicentennial Speech Contest. As I read through several biographies, one idea stood out: Lincoln was handed many sound defeats, but he never allowed them to permanently stop his spirit or ambition. I thought “ failing successfully ” was a very appropriate topic, given the many let-downs Lincoln experienced, and so this b