Ryan and Lowry had been friends since high school, but it wasn’t until after college that they hit on the idea of a home-care-products company.“We were shocked to learn how toxic cleaning products were” says Ryan.Why couldn’t they create green products that would be just as environmentally pure as Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines?

When Ryan’s mom heard about the plan,she stared at him blankly: “I’ve never even seen you clean your room!” Not discouraged,Lowry experimented with nontoxic ways to clean while Ryan focused on marketing.In February 2001,they mixed their first four cleaning sprays and convinced the managers of 20 grocers to try them· Once they had their approval,they tapped friends and family and pooled their  savings to come up with $90,000 in seed money.

From the start,“Go big or go home’’ was their mantra(口头禅).Their first financing— that $l million—was due to be signed on September 11, 2001. By the time they got it, two months later,says Ryan, "we had$16 in the bank and personally owed$300,000.”

Seeking a national retailer(零售商)proved just as troublesome.The friends set their sights on Target,known for its trendy,affordable goods.“But Target didn’t like the product or the brand,”recalled Ryan.“We thought the deal was dead,but then a new buyer saw that even though we weren’t selling big volumes, we were  profitable, just on a smaller scale.”They won over Target.

Consumers were hooked on the natural things and wonderful fragrance. Today, the partners sell 130 products in more than 8,000 stores,and taxes are over$100 million. Such rapid growth has at times  stressed the men’s friendship. “Eric and I agree on ‘what’ but never on ‘how,’ says Lowry. “Although we are willing to challenge each other,we come up with interesting and smarter solutions.There’s little fire and ice between us.”

The underlined word “toxic” in Paragraph 1 most probably means——·

  A.poisonous    B.dirty    C.expensive    D.troublesome

When Ryan told his mom his plan, ___________.

A.he knew his mom was sure to support him

B.his mom asked him to clean his room

C.his mom suspected his ability

D.he was discouraged by his mom

We can learn from the third paragraph that ___________.

    A.Ryan and Lowry wanted to give up and go home at first

    B.their plan didn’t go smoothly at the very beginning

    C.they made profit two months later after their first financing

    D.$1 million was not enough as their seed money

The partners’ cleaning products are sold very well because_________.

    A.the products are made of natural material and smell nice

    B.their friends and family offered to use their products

    C.they cooperated with a well—known national retailer

    D.they convinced 20 grocer managers to try them

It can be inferred from the passage that___________.

    A.Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines are not so successful as Ryan and Lowry’s

    B.Target is a famous environment-friendly cleaning brand

    C.The friends "cooperation with Target was very successful

D.The partners get on well with each other in their business     

From Mr. Ward Hoffman.

   Sir, I was halfway through Professor Raj Persaud's article “What's the tipping point"

(Financial Times Weekend, April 9-l0) when it occurred to me that what I was reading was not ironic(讽刺的). If Prof Persaud wants to know why Americans tip in restaurants, he need only ask the first American he meets in London.

   Americans tip in restarts for one reason, and one reason only: we tip to supplement (补贴) the salary of restaurant workers. Quality of service does not enter into it, beyond the fact that one may tip a bit less for poor service, or a little more for good service.

   Not tipping at all in a non-fast-food restaurant is not a choice. In the US, one used to tip about 15 per cent for dining in a family-style restaurant or in an up-market (高档的) restaurant. Here, in San Francisco Bay area restaurants, we me encouraged to tip 20 per cent or more, to help restart workers live in this very expensive area.

   After eating at an Italian restart in my city, I left a tip of 20 per cent on the non-tax part of our dinner bill. It was expected. There is nothing more complicated (复杂的) than that about Americas tipping in restaurants.

Ward Hoffman, 

Palo Alto, CA 94306, US

*                *                  *

From Mr. Philip McBride Johnson.

    Sir, I agree with most of Raj Persaud's opinion about the doubtful value of tipping, but with one exception(例外). Tips can be very useful when one is a repeat customer or diner.

It is only when the tipper is a stranger and likely to remain so that the system does not work to his or her advantage. But frequent a hotel or a restaurant, always tip a bit more, and the difference in service and treatment will ha easily felt.

Phfiip McBnde Johnson,

Great Falls, VA 22066, US

68. What can we learn from Hoffrnan's letter?

     A. Quality of service determines tipping in the US.

     B. Americans don't tip in non fast-food restaurants.

     C. Tipping in US upmarknt restarts is unnecessary.

     D. How to tip in the United States is not complicated.                               

69. Johnson's letter shows ________.

     A. a stranger in a restaurant is likely to tip a bit more

     B. diners receive better service if they frequent a restaurant

     C. repeat dinners may get good service ifthay tip a bit more

     D. the tipping system works to the advantage of new customers           

70. From tbe two letters, we can learn Professor Raj Persaud ______ .

     A. feels doubtful about the value of tipping

     B. believes tipping improves quality of service

     C. wats to ask Hoffman about tipping m the US

     D. thinks tipping a bit mom one can get good service                     

71. The two letters most probably appears in a ______.

     A. notice             B. handbook      C. book review    D. newspaper          


Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.
Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.
There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.
There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime(消遣), it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food. What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.
The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steering them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.
【小题1】What kind of children may eat more unhealthy food according to the text? (回答词数不超过6个)
【小题2】 Why do the author thinks that children are becoming overweight? (回答词数不超过10个)
【小题3】What is the main purpose of the text? (回答词数不超过4个)
【小题4】What does the passage mainly talk about? (回答词数不超过5个)

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