The word proactivity is fairly common in management literature, but you won't find it in the dictionary. It means that as a human being you take responsibility for your own life.
Look at the word responsibility: ability to choose your response, response-ability. Effective people are proactive because they take responsibility. Their behavior is a product of their own decisions, based on values, rather than being a product of their own conditions, based on feelings. For instance, you are planning a picnic with your family. You're excited. You have all the preparations．You've decided where to go, and then it becomes stormy, killing your plan. Proactive people carry weather within them. They realize what their purpose really was, and they creatively have a picnic elsewhere even if it's in their own basement with some special games, and make the best of that situation. The opposite of being proactive is to be reactive. Reactive people would say, "What's the use?" "We can't do anything." "Oh, this is so upsetting after all of our preparations and arrangements." They try to persuade the people around them and usually the picnic will be cancelled.
Being proactive is really just being true to your human nature. Your basic nature is to act, and not to be acted upon. That's true, despite widely accepted theories of determinism used to explain human nature. Determinism says that you don't really choose anything and that what you call choices are nothing more than automatic responses to outside conditions.
The language of reactive people is like: " I can't." " Don't have time." " I have to." " I must." The whole spirit of that language is the transfer of responsibility. They think things are determined by their environment, or by their conditions, or their genetic makeup. Psychologically, people who believe they are determined will produce the evidence to support the belief, and they increasingly feel victimized and out of control. They're not in charge of their life at all.
On the contrary, a proactive person exercises free will, the freedom to choose the response that best applies to his values. In that way, he gains control over the circumstances, rather than being controlled by them.
【语篇导读】本文是一篇议论文，主要论述了积极主动的人和消极被动的人的行为有何不同。积极主动的人会主动应对外部条件，而消极的人总是会把事物归结于外部条件或者是基因组成所影响，爱抱怨，最终放弃。
25. According to the passage, a proactive person's behavior can result from __________ . （ ）
26. When a picnic plan is threatened by a sudden storm, reactive people will probably __________ . （ ）
27. What does "carry weather within them" in the second paragraph probably mean? （ ）
28. It can be concluded from the passage that determinists (宿命论者) __________ . （ ）
确定题目关键词，在文章中找到对应部分，回到题目逐一对照。都不符合题意，因此选B
事实细节题，直接信息理解题。根据倒数第二段“They think things are determined by their environment, or by their conditions, or their genetic makeup.” 可知，消极被动的人认为，事物是由周围的环境和条件以及基因组成所决定的 。而题目问的是积极主动的人的行为，因此其他三项不符合题意，所以选择B。
把握不住细节信息。
抓取文章大意，综合事实。句意：A按计划进行野炊，C好好利用野炊机会，D选择其他地方野炊。结合文章，选择B。
主旨大意题。根据文章第二段整体描述，Reactive people would say, "What's the use?" "We can't do anything." "Oh, this is so upsetting after all of our preparations and arrangements." 可知，消极人总是会抱怨从而选择放弃，可以判断B。
把握不住文章中心。
本题考查了学生猜测词义的能力。根据单词所在句子，联系文章主旨，所以选择D。
词义猜测题。根据单词所在句子，Proactive people carry weather within them. They realize what their purpose really was, and they creatively have a picnic elsewhere even if it's in their own basement with some special games, and make the best of that situation积极主动的人会灵活应对各种天气，他们会充分利用周围条件选择其他地方野炊，所以选择D。
把握不住相关信息。
抓取文章大意，综合事实。句意：A你积极活跃的人相似B能控制住自己，D主动应对外部条件。结合文章，选择C。
主旨大意题。根据文章第三段描述，”Determinism says that you don't really choose anything and that what you call choices are nothing more than automatic responses to outside conditions.”相信宿命论的人会说你并没有选择什么,你所谓的选择只不过是对外部条件的应激反应，可以判断C。
把握不住文章中心。