2016 英语专四听力讲座原文和题目.docx

2016 TEM 4 Mini- Lecture text：What is Grit?Good afternoon, everyone. Today, I would like to talk about my research project concerning the key to success. I would like to start my topic with my own story. When I was 27 years old, I left a very demanding job: teaching seventh graders math in the New York City public schools. And like any teacher, I made quizzes and tests. I gave out homework assignments. When the work came back, I calculated grades. What struck me was that IQ was not the only difference between my best and my worst students. Some of my strongest performers did not have super IQ scores. Some of my smartest kids werent doing so well. Then I felt very interested in knowing the reason why the students math performance is not that closely related to their IQ scores. [2]I started studying kids and adults in all kinds of challenging settings, and in every study [1]my question was, who is successful here and why? My research team and I went to West Point Military Academy. We tried to predict which students would stay in military training and which would drop out. [3]We went to the National Spelling Contest and tried to predict which children would advance farthest in competition. We worked with private companies, asking, which of these salespeople is going to keep their jobs? And whos going to earn the most money? We went to many places, and finally one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasnt social intelligence. It wasnt good looks, physical health, and it wasnt IQ. It was grit. What is grit? Well, [4]grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, [5]and working really hard to make that future a reality. [6]Grit is living life like its a marathon, not a sprint. A few years ago, I started studying grit in the Chicago public schools. I asked thousands of high school juniors to take grit questionnaires,