沪江英语绿宝书之

2011年12月大学英语四级考试
Writing外教版

Part I Writing
Nothing Succeeds Without a Strong Will

Essay #1
Self-help books and online coaches tell us that we have to use our willpower to “force” ourselves to accomplish our goals and to complete all of our tasks. Forcing ourselves only goes so far, however. Take dieting, for instance. If you want to lose 12 kilos and you think you have to force yourself to only eat cucumbers every day, you’ll quit. It’s the same with smoking or exercising. If your only weapon is willpower, then you’ll probably fail. Ninety-nine percent of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned before the end of January. In my opinion, it’s true that nothing succeeds without strong will, but I have a different definition of the word.
For me, strong will means that I have the power to set my own goals and the intention to complete them. If I want to do something instead of have to do something, I’m much more likely to finish the task. I have to have good reasons to keep me going when times get tough. Therefore, if I want to go on a diet, I’ll choose a diet that I can stick with and have a good reason why I want to do it—to be healthier—not just to lose weight. That way, I’m willing to maintain the new menu. If I want to exercise more, I’ll make a plan that I can live with and I’ll do a sport I like so that I’ll stick with it. True success is about action. When we set a goal, it’s like a race. At first we might have to “force” ourselves, but then the actions should become pleasurable habits that we’re willing to do if we want to get to the finish line.

外教介绍：

Cindy Savage has more than 35 years of experience as a teacher, principal and administrator of schools in the U.S., South America and China. In addition, she’s a writing expert with 40+ published novels for young people and 100+textbooks to her credit. Her specialty is training students to write and speak with clarity, enthusiasm and style. She’s taught workshops worldwide, has published hundreds of articles on the subject, including a regular column for the Shanghai Student Post.
Cindy老师是《上海学生英文报》专栏作者，从事教育事业已有35年，在中国、美国和南美地区的许多学校担任过校长，擅长写作和口语教学，出版过40余部青年小说，撰写过近百部教科书，同时在多种期刊杂志上发表过相关文章