Mark Twain said that “habit is habit, and not to be flung(扔) out the window by anyone, but coaxed (劝诱)downstairs a step at a time.” The chances of successfully changing negative behavior         when you make gradual changes that give you time to         negative patterns for positive ones.
On any given day, countless numbers of us get out of bed and         to begin to change a given behavior “today.” Whether it be exercising more, drinking less, managing time         or some other change in a negative behavior, we start out with high        . In a short time, however, a vast majority of people fail and are soon doing         it was they thought they shouldn't be doing.
After considerable research, some researchers believe that behavior changes usually do not         if they start with the change itself.        , they believe that we must         a series of “stages” to adequately prepare ourselves for that         change. Once you have analyzed all the factors that         what you do, you must decide which behavior-change technique will work best for you.
According to the psychologist Albert Ellis, most         problems and related behaviors arise from irrational (不理性的) statements that people make to         when events in their lives are different from what they would like them to be. For example, suppose alter doing         on an exam, you say to yourself, “I can't believe I failed that easy exam, I’m so stupid.” By changing this irrational “catastrophic” self-talk into rational,         statements about what is really going on, you can increase the         that positive behaviors will occur.
Positive self-talk might be         as follows: “I really didn’t study enough for the exam. I just need to prepare for the next        .”
Such self-talk will help you to recover quickly from         and take positive steps to correct the situation. Some other technique like purposefully         or stopping negative thoughts and refusing to dwell on(沉湎于) negative images can also spare you wasted energy, time and emotional resources and move on to positive changes.

A．decline B．remain C．disappear D．improve

A．substitute B．cancel C．find D．ignore

A．refuse B．determine C．hesitate D．advocate

A．more B．better C．worse D．less

A．values B．requirements C．expectations D．levels

A．whichever B．however C．wherever D．whatever

A．succeed B．fail C．exist D．fade

A．Nevertheless B．Otherwise C．Instead D．Moreover

A．look through B．break through C．go through D．pull through

A．initial B．temporary C．instant D．eventual

A．involve B．influence C．explain D．adjust

A．emotional B．physical C．technical D．professional

A．all B．others C．someone D．themselves

A．poorly B．carefully C．completely D．slowly

A．positive B．ridiculous C．negative D．explicit

A．danger B．awareness C．amount D．probability

A．written B．phrased C．listed D．captioned

A．research B．test C．talk D．problem

A．tiredness B．habits C．disappointment D．burdens

A．recalling B．starting C．blocking D．holding