When he was just 19, Michael Dell started the company that would dominate the industry.

At the time, IBM personal computers sold in stores for about $3,000. After taking them apart and rebuilding them, Dell realized the components (零部件) could be bought for one-fourth the price. Soon he was buying components to reduce the cost. A good business decision, but it meant his room was starting to look like a mechanic’s shop.

“I was quite excited about the possibilities for personal computers and how they could change society. I had this idea to sell the products directly to the users over the phone”, he said. College plans and his parents’ expectations bothered him a lot. But Michael Dell was determined. He drove off to the University of Texas at Austin in August 1983 in a car he’d bought with earnings from selling newspapers. He was surprised that his mother wasn’t suspicious about the three computers in the backseat. By November, news reached his parents that he wasn’t attending classes. On a surprise visit to Austin, they caught their son on spot. Michael Dell told his dad that he wanted to compete with IBM.

Although Michael agreed to focus on his studies, the business chances and the timing couldn’t have been better. The public was becoming more interested in computers, but no one was producing them. In early May, a week before his final exams, Michael started Dell computer Corporation with $1,000. He took his exams, and then dropped out of college at the end of his freshman year. It was time to try out his direct-to-customer business model.

“Three years later”, Dell says, “we had already achieved annual sales of about $150 million, I was 22 years old then.”

1.What does the underlined word in paragraph 1 mean?

A. affect                      B. develop                            C. support                            D. lead

2.Which of the following is true according to paragraph 2?

A. Dell discovered a good chance to make money

B. Dell could buy a computer at one-fourth the price

C. IBM made little money from personal computers

D. Dell rebuilt computers in a mechanic’s shop

3.When Dell’s parents learned about his absence from class, they       .

A. tried to help with his business                         

B. were too suspicious to accept it

C. wanted him to go hack to class                        

D. encouraged him to compete with IBM

4.It can be inferred from the article that       .

A. Dell was tired of his college life                       

B. Dell was not devoted to his study at college

C. Dell’s college life helped him greatly     

D. Dell didn’t finish his final exams

5.Dell’s experiences show that       .

A. determination and opportunity lead to success

B. family support plays an import in one’s success

C. there’s no need for all of us to go to college

D. we should insist on whatever we are doing

 

"Hitler and the Germans," an exhibition in Berlin's German Historical Museum which aims to investigate the society that created Hitler, has seen more than 10,000 visitors walk through its doors since opening on Friday.

Rudolf Trabold, a spokesman for the museum, said there were 4,000 visitors to the exhibition on the first day alone. People visiting the exhibition said they had waited as long as one and a half hours to get in. Ravi Nair, a 73-year-old Indian visitor, said: "I had to queue for about an hour but it was worth it. The exhibition should help people in democratic countries realize that their vote is very valuable."

Trabold said “Hitler and the Germans” was so popular because it was the first exhibition to explain how a man who lived on the margins of society for 30 years, in Vienna's men's hostels, could become an almost mythical(神话的)leader of the German people. "We are all affected by Hitler, so it speaks to all of us and helps Germans and foreigners to come to terms with the past." Inge Lonning, a 72-year-old tourist from Norway said: "I thought the exhibition was very impressive. I wanted to see it because I experienced the German occupation of Norway as a small child, so it's not just history for me." But not everyone was convinced there was something new to be learned from the exhibition. "So much has been done about this period over the years, it was like, I knew this and I knew that," said Canadian Julien Cayer, aged 28. "I thought I'd find something new but I didn't."

There has been widespread concern in the German media that the exhibition could become a magnet for neo-Nazi admirers of Hitler, but Trabold said that although there had been some right-wing extremist visitors, they had not caused any problems.

1.What is the main idea of the passage?

A.People have different attitudes to “Hitler and the Germans”.

B.“Hitler and the Germans” attracts plenty of people.

C.What effect “Hitler and the Germans” has on history.

D.What people should learn from “Hitler and the Germans”.

2.“Hitler and the Germans” is open to ________.

A.remind people not to forget history.         B.show how Hitler was hated by people

C.study the society that created Hitler         D.save money for economy growth

3.Trabold thought “Hitler and the Germans” was so popular because ________.

A.help people in democratic countries realize that their vote is very valuable

B.it was the first exhibition to explain how a man from the bottom of society becomes a leader

C.people can learn a lot from the exhibition

D.people have been affected by Hitler

4.Who experienced the German occupation according to the passage?

A.Inge Lonning.      B.Ravi Nair.          C.Rudolf Trabold.     D.Julien Cayer

5.What can we learn from the passage?

A.The visitors coming to “Hitler and the Germans” are all old people.

B.“Hitler and the Germans” has made an impression on every visitor.

C.Some neo-Nazi admirers of Hitler have caused a lot of trouble.

D.People visit “Hitler and the Germans” with variety of purposes.

 

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