My name is Alice. Early last year, I was troubled by an anxiety that weakened my ability to do anything. I felt like a storm cloud hung over me. For almost a year I struggled on, constantly staring at this wall that faced me. My perfectionist tendencies were the main root of this: I wanted to be perfect at whatever I did, which obviously in life is not possible, but it consumed me.
One day, I attended a presentation by wildlife conservationist Grant Brown at my high school. His presentation not only awed and inspired me, but also helped emerge an inner desire to make a difference in the world. I joined a pre-presentation dinner with him and that smaller setting allowed me to slowly build up my courage to speak one-on-one with him –– an idea that had seemed completely impossible. This first contact was where my story began.
A month later, Brown invited me to attend the World Youth Wildlife Conference. Looking back, I now see this would be the first in a series of timely opportunities that my old self would have let pass, but that this new and more confident Alice enthusiastically seized. Shortly after I received his invitation, applications to join the Youth for Nature and the Youth for Planet groups were sent around through my high school. I decided to commit myself to completing the applications, and soon I was a part of a growing global team of young people working to protect nature. Each of these new steps continued to grow my confidence.
I am writing this just six months since my journey began and I’ve realized that my biggest obstacle the whole time was myself. It was that voice in the back of my head telling me that one phrase that has stopped so many people from reaching their potential: I can’t. They say good things come to those who wait. I say: grab every opportunity with everything you have and be impatient. After all, nature does not require our patience, but our action.
【小题1】What was the main cause of Alice’s anxiety?| A．Her wish to be perfect. | B．Her habit of consumption. |
| C．Her lack of inspiration. | D．Her inability to act her age. |
| A．She built up her courage to speak up. | B．She tasted the sweetness of friendship. |
| C．She learned about the harm of desire. | D．She decided to do something for nature. |
| A．critical | B．intelligent | C．confident | D．innovative |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Action is worry’s worst enemy. |
| C．Patience is a cure of anxiety. | D．Everything comes to those who wait. |
