Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below:
The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally at
least most of us could compile formidable lists of 'do's' and 'don'ts'. The
same old: favourites recur year in and 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 the dog for a walk every day. Past experience
has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain
deep-rooted lairs, it is only certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If
we remain deep-rooted lairs, 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 exercise every morning
and to read more in the evening. Anall-night party on New Year's Eve provided
me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of
these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but
on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the tasks?
The daily exercise 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
arid twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions, I set 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 on 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 1 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 satin 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 the old bad habit of dozing off in front of the
screen. I still haven't given up resolution to do more reading. In fact, I have
just bought a book entitled 'How to.Read at thousand Words a Minute’. Perhaps
it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it.
Questions:
- (a) What, according to the writer, has past experience of New Year Resolution taught us?
- (b) Cite the reasons as to why do most of the people fail in their efforts for self improvement.
- (c) What was the New Year's resolutions of the writer?
- (d) Why did the writer not carry out his resolutions on New Year's Day?
- (e) What is the name of the book mentioned in the passage?
- (f) Give the adverb form of ‘ambition’.
- (g) Find-words in the passage which means:
determination .
