[originaltext] Welcome to my lecture! Today, I will tell you a maxim—giving

Welcome to my lecture! Today, I will tell you a maxim—giving up. When you try too hard but you don’t succeed; when despite all your efforts you don’t get the results you need, give up and move on. Drop it like it’s hot, and run in the opposite direction as fast as you can.
    Confused? What is wrong with giving up?
    Oh, yes, we all have been trained and conditioned to work hard to achieve our dreams, and that is a good thing.
    The problem arises when all these inspirational quotes start confusing us. These messages tell people not to give up, but they don’t tell you that it should only apply to your true dreams. They tell one to "try and try again" until they succeed, but that amount of effort should only be put towards what you really want in life and one should never quit what they think to be their life’s purpose. The rest is all just there to confuse you, distract you, give you a headache, heartache and depress you, so don’t let it.
    If you suck at piano and you know it’s because you don’t even like the instrument, give it up.
    If no matter how hard you study you can hardly score an above average grade, don’t worry, your talent lies somewhere else. Not everybody is an A student.
    If you always end up burning the chocolate cake you are trying to bake, maybe it is because you were born to buy one and not make one. Quit baking.
    Are you the worst performer on your sales team, and even the interns are better than you are? It’s because you were not supposed to be a sales person, you were meant to be a DJ.
    Try to recognize your talent, your ability and your skills. Find out what you are good at, what makes you happy and then work on it. If you do, no one would have to tell you or inspire you to give up because when you love something, you keep trying until you get it right and the enthusiasm flows from within.
    Don’t worry about what people will say or think. It’s your life. You have to live it and you have to be your own boss.
    If at the end of the day, you have a sense of fulfillment, peace of mind, a smile on your face and can sleep well at night, you can be sure you are making the right decisions. Even if some of them are deciding to give up on certain things in your life.
    Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
    16. What can we learn about the speaker’s attitude towards giving up?
    17. Under what circumstances should people NOT give up?
    18. What do the examples about failure illustrate?