When Jack Ma founded the Alibaba Group in 1999, he had 500,000 yuan in his hand and the support of 17 friends. Now eight years later, Alibaba has become China’s largest online commerce company, earning a profit of 1.36 billion yuan in 2006.
But when asked what makes him proud, Ma surprised many people by putting his employees way ahead of his legendary e-commerce websites.
“I feel most proud of my team, and the least of the websites,” Ma said. “The secret of my success is relying on team work and having a sense of mission(使命)”
Ma made the remarks on the eve of Alibaba Group’s shares becoming available for trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last Tuesday. On the first day of trading, the shares more than doubled in value.
Eight years ago, when Ma created Alibaba, he envisioned(预想)that the Internet would change people’s lives. But the former English teacher knew little about computer science. “So I decided to hire someone who knows technology and respected his decisions,” he said.
Ma said he trusts his employees fully as long as they are diligent and have a sense of purpose.
“When people apply to work for Alibaba, I talk with them for two hours to lower their expectations. I tell the applicants not to expect a pay raise or promotion, but to prepare to work long hours and to be criticized by the boss, “ Ma said.
But Ma is not a rigid(严厉的)boss. He is like a friend in the eyes of most his employees. Unlike traditional companies where most of the people do just what their boss asks, he treats them as partners and encourages them to present their own ideas.
“I have confidence in the online commercial service in China and encourage my more than 4,000 staff to remain united to make Alibaba the biggest ecommerce supplier for China, Asia and even the world,” said Ma.
He promotes company values of honesty, passion and teamwork. Those who don’t accept these principals will find it hard to work there, no matter how talented they are.
“I have seen many who are more clever and hardworking than my team and me,” Ma said. But “we have a loyal team which has stayed on the same course, no wavering(摇摆).” And Ma pursuing his dream is the magnet(磁铁)that draws talents in.
57. What did Jack Ma do before he founded Alibaba?
A. He was a waiter.                B. He was a technician.
C. He was a teacher.               D. He was a manager of a small company.
58. What is Jack Ma’s characteristic in terms of his management?
A. Trusting his employees fully.
B. Putting his employees ahead of himself before performing and trade.
C. Promoting company values of honesty, passion and team work.
D. Pursuing his dream is the magnet that draws talents in.
59. What does Ma take the most pride in?
A. His employees.            B. His website.
C. Alibaba Group’s Shares.     D. His efficient management.
60. According to the text, which remarks following is NOT reasonable?
A. Jack Ma believes an employee’s talent is less important than the acceptance of the company’ principals.
B. Alibaba is an online commerce company started eight years ago.
C. Alibaba has become the biggest e-commerce company in China.
D. Alibaba’s shares rocketed after they made their first public appearance on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week.

Have you dreamed of building your own machine? Do you wish you could invent something new? Here we look at a few British inventions of recent times.

Adaptable glasses

Do you wear glasses? If so, can you imagine life without them? In 1985, Joshua Silver, a professor at Oxford University, asked himself, “Can I invent a pair of glasses that could be changed by the wearer?” He designed two plastic lenses(透镜)that are filled with a special liquid. Using syringes(注射器)you change the liquid between the lenses until you can see clearly. The glasses are not beautiful but they are easy to use and cheap to make.

The wind-up radio

When you switch your TV on tonight, think about all those people without electricity. Thinking about this, Trevor Baylis came up with the idea of designing a radio that could be powered by hand. In common with Joshua Silver he wanted his invention to be cheap and easy to use. He wanted even the poorest people in developing countries, who don’t have electricity and cannot afford batteries, to use it. The radio has a generator (发电机) which is powered by turning a handle. In 1996 it won a BBC Design Award for Best Protect and Best Design.

The Dyson cleaner

In many homes around the world you can see a cleaner that looks like a spaceship. This is the Dyson vacuum (真空) cleaner which uses something called “cyclonic separation” to separate the dirt. You do not need a bag for your cleaner and it does not get blocked so it is very practical. The idea came to Sir James Dyson after he kept having problems with his vacuum cleaner. He decided he could design a better one and in 1993 he opened his own factory. The Dyson is now one of the best-selling cleaners in the UK and Dyson is believed to have earned over a billion pounds.

The Zapata fly-board

Ever dreamed of zooming through the water and leaping in the air like a dolphin? Now you can thanks to a fly-board, built by water sports enthusiast Frank Zapata. With it you can dive back in the water and out again. It’s possible to jump to incredible heights out of the water — over 30 feet. The basic fly-board model comes in at £4,200.

So keep dreaming and inventing. One day you might get it right.

1.What can we learn about Adaptable glasses?

A. They are very expensive.                                                  B. The inventor is a student.

C. The glasses are fragile.                                            D. They don’t look very nice.

2.Which invention won an award?

A. Adaptable glasses.                                                           B. The wind-up radio.

C. The Dyson cleaner.                                                           D. The Zapata fly-board.

3.The Dyson cleaner was invented with the purpose of _________.

A. helping people use cleaners more easily

B. making Dyson a rich businessman

C. keeping the house cleaner than before

D. taking the place of human cleaners

 

(B)

Sixty-year-old grandmother, Fiona McFee, is going to stop working next year and she decided to realize a childhood dream and sail around the coast of Scotland in a small boat. Although the inside of the boat is very cosy it has no running water or electricity. Fiona says she can live without these things but she plans to take her small CD player, her hot water bottle and a bag of books to make sure life isn’t too uncomfortable.

We asked her if she was afraid of being at sea for so long. She said, “Well, I’m going to take a good compass (指南针). Anyway I’m not afraid of death because I love the sea---I just hope it loves me.” Fiona certainly has plenty of energy; in her spare time, she enjoys playing the piano, rock-climbing, canoeing and dancing. Although she is sixty, she doesn’t want to have a quiet and peaceful life. “I’m looking forward to having fun in the rest of my life and that’s exactly why I’d like to be a sailor for a while.”

1.The underlined word cosy in the first paragraph means ____ .

A.bright            B.dirty             C.comfortable       D.dark

2.When Fiona McFee said “---I just hope it loves me.” What she meant was ____

A.Of course , it loves me , since I love it .

B.If I love it , it should love me.

C.I hope it will bring me a safe sailing as a return for my love of it .

D.I hope it will save my life when I am in time of danger .

3. The reason why she would like to have the sail is that ____.

A.she thinks it will be very exciting

B.she likes sports and enjoys canoeing

C.she has decided to realize a childhood dream

D.she wants to be still active when she gets old

4.What kind of person would you say the old woman is ?

A.Someone who does not show what she is feeling .

B.Someone who is very proud and sure of her success .

C.Someone who doesn’t use her head much .

D.Someone who is open , honest and brave .

5.The best title for this passage is ____ .

A.Life Begins at Sixty                      B.A Round Coast Sail

C.An Old Woman Sailor                    D.An Unusual Hobby(爱好)

 

Kasey Kaczmarek: When I read “Would my dad love me?” by Martha, I related to how Martha felt about her father. I always wondered if my dad cared about me, or if he even loved me. All the kids would be with their dads and they would ask me where my dad was, and I would tell them that he was out of town. For all you kids who have a dad, tell him how much you love him because there are plenty of kids who would love to have a dad.

Armen Abidian: This article describes everything about me and my life. When I was about 3 years old, my mother and father had a big argument and got divorced. Now I’m 13 years old and I haven’t seen my father for 10 years. Just like Martha, I don’t know what he looks like now, whether or not he’s got married to a different woman, or if he has another child.

Emma Ramirez: When Martha talked about how “most girls have dads who take them to their practices, buy them things and play with them”, I thought I was one of those girls. I never stopped to think about how there are girls who have always dreamed of having those things but don’t have a father. After reading what Martha wrote, I told myself I would always appreciate the days I spend with my dad because I am very lucky to have a dad who does so much for me.

Stephanie Felix: This article reminded me of how much I missed my dad when I was younger. I really relate to this article because I used to always wonder about my dad, but not any more. Life without my father has made me more independent and responsible. By reading this article I remember all of this and I was able to understand what the writer was talking about.

1.The above four passages are most probably_______.

A.comments on a book about a girl who has no father

B.comments on Martha’s opinion about parents’ love

C.four people’s thoughts after reading Martha’s article

D.letters to Martha to comfort her

2.What does the passage suggest?

A.Martha’s father didn’t love her

B.Martha didn’t grow up with her dad

C.Martha was brought up by her grandparents

D.Martha’s parents got divorced when she was 13

3.What does Kasey Kaczmarek suggest kids do?

A.Not ask other kids where their dads are

B.Be kind to those kids who don’t have a dad

C.Tell their fathers how much they love them

D.Spend as much time with their fathers as possible

4.After reading what Martha wrote, Emma Ramirez_______.

A.decided to spend more time with her father

B.told herself to appreciate all that she had

C.realized how badly she behaved in the past

D.found how lucky she was to have a dad

 

If you ask Americans whether or not they think their former president George W. Bush is smart, most of them will probably tell you they don’t think so. However, Bush’s IQ score is estimated to be above 120, which puts him in the top ten percent of the population.

It doesn’t seem to make sense. How come someone with such an IQ score is not considered smart? Researchers say: IQ does not tell the whole story. Some people have high IQ scores, but still they can be poor thinkers and decision-makers.

Keith Stanovich, a Canadian professor of human development and applied psychology, has been looking into the “clever fools” phenomenon for 15 years. He says IQ tests are very good at measuring certain mental faculties(能力), including logic, learning ability, working-memory capacity (how much information you can hold in mind), etc. Those faculties play a part in one’s academic success, but rational thinking is more important for us to make good judgments in real-life situations.

IQ tests fail to work when it comes to rational thinking. That’s because they are unable to assess things such as a person’s ability to weigh up information, or whether an individual can set aside the cognitive biases(认知偏差)that may be misleading.

“A high IQ is like height in a basketball player,” says David Perkins, who studies thinking and reasoning skills at Harvard University. “It is very important, all other things being equal. But all other things aren’t equal. It takes a lot more to be a good basketball player than being tall, and it takes a lot more to be a good thinker than having a high IQ.”

1.According to the text your academic success depends on your __________.

A.logic

B.mental faculties

C.learning ability

D.working-memory capacity

2.If you need to decide where to invest your money, you must use your ______________

A.IQ scores

B.IQ test

C.rational thinking

D.cognitive biases

3.We know from the text that ____________

A.the former president George W. Bush has a high IQ score

B.many Americans think their former president George W. Bush is smart

C.David Perkins believe that a person’s IQ doesn’t need to be developed

D.Keith Stanovich looked into the “clever fools” phenomenon 5 years ago

4.What is the text mainly about?

A.Those who have high IQ do better than those who don’t in everything.

B.People with high IQ scores must be good decision-makers

C.People with high IQ scores are always smart in every way.

D.Why a high IQ doesn’t mean you’re smart

 

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