Overall, men are more likely than women to make excuses. Several studies suggest that men feel the need to appear competent in all 26, while women worry only about the skills in which they've invested 27. Ask a man and a woman to go diving for the first time, and the woman is likely to jump in, while the man is likely to say he's not feeling too well.
Ironically, it is often success that leads people to flirt with failure. praise won for 28 a skill suddenly puts one in the position of having everything to lose. Rather than putting their reputation on the line again, many successful people develop a handicap—drinking, 29, depression—that allows them to keep their status no matter what the future brings. An advertising executive 30 for depression shortly after winning an award put it this way: “Without my depression, I’d be a failure now; with it, I’m a success ‘on hold.’”
In fact, the people most likely to become chronic excuse makers are those 31 with success. Such people are so afraid of being 32 a failure at anything that they constantly develop one handicap or another in order to explain away failure.
Though self-handicapping can be an effective way of coping with performance anxiety now and then, in the end, researchers say, it will lead to 33. In the long run, excuse makers fail to live up to their true 34 and lose the status they care so much about. And despite their protests to the 35， they have only themselves to blame.
A) contrary
B) fatigue
C) heavily
D) heaving
E) hospitalized
F) labeled
G) legacies
H) mastering
I) momentum
J) obsessed
K) potential
L) realms
M) reciprocal
N) ruin
O) viciously
答案解析：
26. 根据上下文“men feel the need to appear competent in all ___”，这句话的意思是“男性觉得有必要在所有___领域都表现得很有能力”。空格需要填入一个表示“领域、范围”的复数名词。选项中 `L) realms` 意为“领域、范围”，符合语境，所以选 L) realms。
27. 根据上下文“women worry only about the skills in which they've invested ___”，这句话的意思是“女性只担心那些她们投入了大量精力的技能”。空格需要修饰动词 `invested`(投入)，表示“大量地、重度地”。选项中 `C) heavily` 是副词，意为“严重地，大量地”，符合语境，所以选 C) heavily。
28. 根据上下文“Praise won for ___ a skill suddenly puts one in the position...”，这句话的意思是“因___一项技能而赢得的赞扬，会突然使人处于一个……的位置”。空格需要填入一个动名词，与 `a skill` 搭配，表示“掌握一项技能”。选项中 `H) mastering` 是动名词，意为“精通、掌握”，符合语境，所以选 H) mastering。
29. 根据上下文“many successful people develop a handicap—drinking, ___, depression—...”，这句话列举了一些成功人士可能制造的“障碍”(handicap)，如饮酒、___、抑郁。空格需要填入一个与 `drinking`(饮酒)和 `depression`(抑郁)并列的、表示负面状态的名词。选项中 `B) fatigue` 意为“疲劳、疲乏”，是一种常见的生理或心理问题，符合语境，所以选 B) fatigue。
30. 根据上下文“An advertising executive ___ for depression shortly after winning an award...”，这句话的意思是“一位广告高管在获奖后不久因抑郁症被___”。空格需要填入一个动词的过去分词，构成被动语态，描述这位高管的状态。选项中 `E) hospitalized` 意为“住院”，是被动语态，符合语境，所以选 E) hospitalized。
31. 根据上下文“the people most likely to become chronic excuse makers are those ___ with success”，这句话的意思是“最有可能成为长期找借口者的人是那些___于成功的人”。空格需要填入一个过去分词，与 `with` 搭配，构成 `be obsessed with` 结构，意为“痴迷于、执着于”。选项中 `J) obsessed` 符合语境，所以选 J) obsessed。
32. 根据上下文“Such people are so afraid of being ___ a failure at anything...”，这句话的意思是“这些人非常害怕在任何事情上被___为失败者”。空格需要填入一个过去分词，构成被动语态，表示“被贴上……的标签”。选项中 `F) labeled` 意为“被贴上标签”，符合语境，所以选 F) labeled。
33. 根据上下文“...in the end, researchers say, it will lead to ___”，这句话的意思是“……研究人员说，最终它将导致___”。文章最后一段指出了这种行为的负面后果，空格需要填入一个表示“毁灭、垮台”的名词。选项中 `N) ruin` 意为“毁灭，崩溃”，符合语境，所以选 N) ruin。
34. 根据上下文“...excuse makers fail to live up to their true ___...”，这句话的意思是“……找借口者未能发挥出他们真正的___”。空格需要填入一个名词，与 `true` 搭配，表示“真正的潜力”。选项中 `K) potential` 意为“潜力，潜能”，符合语境，所以选 K) potential。
35. 根据上下文“And despite their protests to the ___， they have only themselves to blame”，这句话的意思是“尽管他们提出了与___相反的抗议，但他们只能怪自己”。空格需要一个名词，与 `to the` 搭配，构成固定短语 `to the contrary`，意为“相反地”。选项中 `A) contrary` 符合语境，所以选 A) contrary。
