Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Preface-Part 1, Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. What fraction of West Point cadets quit during their rigorous training?

2. What was the common factor among students who remained at West Point?

3. Do companies tend to hire the “natural” or the “striver?”

4. What term describes the practice of ranking professionals and firing the bottom 15%?

5. According to Duckworth, what do tests fail to determine?

6. What is Duckworth’s formula for achievement?

7. What does Irving overcome in order to become a successful novelist?

8. What are the two elements of grit?

9. What type of goal do people need to set in order to have a clear focus?

10. What percentage of perseverance is inherited?

11. What do researchers call the dramatic increase in IQ over the last century?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What conclusion does the author make about higher SAT scores and its correlation to lower grit?

2. What distinction does Duckworth make between raw talent and hard work?

3. Why does Friedrich Nietzsche believe people prefer the mystical term of “talent?”

4. What four traits does Cox identify as separating the greatest historical figures from ordinary people?