题目内容
Wall Street is the banking center of New York City. But how did the street get its unusual name? To find out, we must go back to the early years of exploration in North America.
New York City was first called New Amsterdam by the explorer Henry Hudson. He was working for a Dutch trading company when he entered what is now the lower Hudson River area in the year 1609. There he found an island that was a perfect trading harbor. The Manhattan Indians lived there.
Dutch traders built a town on the end of Manhattan Island. It became a rich trading center. But the British questioned the right of the Dutch to control the area. The two nations went to war in 1652.
The governor of New Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant, worried that British settlers in New England would attack his town. He ordered that a protective wall be built at the north edge of Manhattan. The wall was more than 2,290 feet long. It extended from the Hudson River to the East River.
The British never attacked New Amsterdam. So the wall was never tested in war. But the path beside it became known as Wall Street. Later, Wall Street became a street of banks and business.
Dealing in stocks and shares in the stock markets began in the 17th Century. An informal market developed around the coffee houses in the City of London gradually. In 1773 “New Jonathan’s” Coffee House became the informal Stock Exchange, and it was formally established till 1802. at that time London was the largest share market, and the growth of the Industrial Revolution helped the establishment of local share markets in other parts of the country --- more than 330 of them when there were most. These markets first began moves towards combination in 1890, when the Council of Associated Stock Exchanges was formed. By 1967 all the “Country” Exchanges had got together themselves into six regional exchanges, and in 1973 all seven exchanges in the British Isles came together to form The Stock Exchanges of Great Britain and Ireland, and its member firms spread from Aberdeen to the Channel Islands and from Lancaster to Limerick.
1. Manhattan was named after _____????????_____.
A. a Dutch explorer
B. a British colonist
C. an Indian tribe
D. the Dutch governor
2. The British and the Dutch went to war in 1652 because __________.
A. they both liked the rich island
B. they both wanted to have Wall Street
C. they both wanted to control the rich area
D. they had questions in some aspects unsolved
3. The wall _________.
A. was used in the war
B. was never used in the war
C. was destroyed later
D. was so weak that the British never tested it
4. In 1773 “New Jonathan’s” Coffee House became _________.
A. the place the merchants had their ventures
B. an informal stock exchanges
C. a formal stock exchanges
D. the biggest market in Britain
【小题1】C
【小题2】C
【小题3】B
【小题4】B
Jeffrey Bezos, founder, president and chairman of the board of Amazon.com, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother’s ancestors were early settlers in Texas, and over the generations had acquired a 25,000 acre farm at Cotulla. Jeffrey spent most summers of his youth working with his grandfather on their farm.
Jeffrey showed intense and varied scientific interests at an early age. He set up an electric alarm to keep his younger sisters and brothers out of his room and changed his parents’ garage into a laboratory for his science projects.
After he graduated from Princeton University with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering, Jeffrey Bezos found employment on Wall Street, where computer science was increasingly in demand to study market trends. He rose quickly, becoming a senior vice president, and looked forward to a bright career in finance, when he made a discovery that changed his life, and the course of business history.
In 1994, there was still no internet commerce to speak of. One day that spring, Jeffrey Bezos observed that Internet usage was increasing by 2300 percent a year. He saw an opportunity for a new circle of commerce, and immediately began considering the possibilities.
Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994, setting up the original company in his garage. The company was called Amazon for the seemingly endless South American river with its numberless branches. It started as an online bookstore but soon diversified to all kinds of products. His work with Amazon eventually led him to become one of the most excellent dot-com entrepreneurs. He was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999. In 2008, he was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders. Bezos’ Amazon has become “the Earth’s biggest anything store”. Amazon.com is now called “one of the smartest strategies in business history”.
Today, Jeffrey Bezos lives north of Seattle and is increasingly concerned with charity activities. “Giving away money takes as much attention as building a successful company,” he said.
【小题1】 In his childhood, Bezos ______.
A.had to work with his grandfather on their farm all day long |
B.showed great interest in science |
C.didn’t get along well with his brothers and sisters |
D.wanted to become a businessman |
A.looked forward to a bright career in finance on Wall Street |
B.considered the possibility of setting up an original company |
C.founded a new form of commerce that developed fast later |
D.was the first to speak of Internet commerce |
A.How hard Bezos studied in Princeton University. |
B.“Amazon.com” only sold books in the beginning. |
C.Bezos not only devoted his life to Internet commerce but also to charity. |
D.The reason why Jeffrey Bezos decided to found Amazon.com. |
A.it was Bezos’s grandfather on the farm who helped him a lot |
B.Bezos invented e-commerce to win the world fame overnight |
C.Bezos has a sharp business mind and a kind heart |
D.Bezos aimed at setting up “the Earth’s biggest bookstore” |
Jeffrey Bezos, founder, president and chairman of the board of Amazon.com, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother’s ancestors were early settlers in Texas, and over the generations had acquired a 25,000 acre farm at Cotulla. Jeffrey spent most summers of his youth working with his grandfather on their farm.
Jeffrey showed intense and varied scientific interests at an early age. He set up an electric alarm to keep his younger sisters and brothers out of his room and changed his parents’ garage into a laboratory for his science projects.
After he graduated from Princeton University with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering, Jeffrey Bezos found employment on Wall Street, where computer science was increasingly in demand to study market trends. He rose quickly, becoming a senior vice president, and looked forward to a bright career in finance, when he made a discovery that changed his life, and the course of business history.
In 1994, there was still no internet commerce to speak of. One day that spring, Jeffrey Bezos observed that Internet usage was increasing by 2300 percent a year. He saw an opportunity for a new circle of commerce, and immediately began considering the possibilities.
Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994, setting up the original company in his garage. The company was called Amazon for the seemingly endless South American river with its numberless branches. It started as an online bookstore but soon diversified to all kinds of products. His work with Amazon eventually led him to become one of the most excellent dot-com entrepreneurs. He was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999. In 2008, he was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders. Bezos’ Amazon has become “the Earth’s biggest anything store”. Amazon.com is now called “one of the smartest strategies in business history”.
Today, Jeffrey Bezos lives north of Seattle and is increasingly concerned with charity activities. “Giving away money takes as much attention as building a successful company,” he said.
1. In his childhood, Bezos ______.
A.had to work with his grandfather on their farm all day long |
B.showed great interest in science |
C.didn’t get along well with his brothers and sisters |
D.wanted to become a businessman |
2.Jeffrey changed the course of business history because he ______.
A.looked forward to a bright career in finance on Wall Street |
B.considered the possibility of setting up an original company |
C.founded a new form of commerce that developed fast later |
D.was the first to speak of Internet commerce |
3.Which of the following isn’t mentioned in the passage?
A.How hard Bezos studied in Princeton University. |
B.“Amazon.com” only sold books in the beginning. |
C.Bezos not only devoted his life to Internet commerce but also to charity. |
D.The reason why Jeffrey Bezos decided to found Amazon.com. |
4. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A.it was Bezos’s grandfather on the farm who helped him a lot |
B.Bezos invented e-commerce to win the world fame overnight |
C.Bezos has a sharp business mind and a kind heart |
D.Bezos aimed at setting up “the Earth’s biggest bookstore” |
I made a pledge (发誓) to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting (引用) a Biblical (圣经的) passage about husbands being considerate towards their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.”
“Oh, Tom, you noticed,” she said, surprised and pleased, maybe a little puzzled.
After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all the week and now she wants to stay with me.” We walked on the beach when the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed, I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love. There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. Last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with sorrow, “do you know anything I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…that checkup (体检) I had several weeks ago…our doctor…Did he tell you anything about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me... Am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”
1.
From the story we may infer that Tom went to the beach cottage ________.
A.with his family |
B.with Evelyn |
C.alone |
D.with his children |
2.
During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ________.
A.she looked lovely in her new clothes |
B.he had made a lot of money in Wall Street |
C.he was determined to be a good husband |
D.she was seriously ill |
3.
The underlined words “one thing” in the passage refer to the fact that ________.
A.he praised her sweater, which puzzled her |
B.she insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated |
C.he knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her |
D.he was so good to her that she thought she must be dying |
4.
By saying “I’m just starting to live”, Tom means that ________.
A.he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of work |
B.he is just beginning to enjoy his life as a loving husband |
C.he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change |
D.he is beginning to feel sorry for what he did to his wife |