Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York, in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank did not want to be a farmer. He took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.
Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people’s interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends(小商品)for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said “FIVE CENTS EACH’. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.
Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store, selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities directly from the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.
By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made many millions and his name became famous throughout the world. He always ran his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was : ‘THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”
【小题1】Frank took a short business course in order to __________.

A.earn more money for his family
B.learn something from a salesman
C.get away from the farm
D.get enough to eat
【小题2】Frank sold the odds and ends quickly because ________.
A.he knew how to get people to buy his goods
B.he cut down the price by half
C.he had put the goods on a table in a very nice way
D.the sign he put on the table was well designed
【小题3】 The price of the knives was cut down by half because _________.
A.the factory workers worked 24 hours a day
B.knives were ordered in large quantities directly from the factory
C.the knives were made in German, where labour was cheap
D.the knives were produced in one factory
【小题4】__________  make Woolworth a world-famous man.
A.His business skills and his wealth
B.The low price of the goods he sold
C.His trip to Germany and his huge order of knives
D.His natural skill for showing things
【小题5】The belief that “The customer is always right” suggests that __________.
A.whenever there is a quarrel between the customer and shop assistant, the customers are always right.
B.If you want to succeed, the rule is the only way
C.stores must always follow the customer’s orders if they want to make more money
D.stores should do their best to meet the customer’s needs if they want to be successful

When Boris left school,he could not find a job.He tried hard and pestered(纠缠)his relatives,but they had problems of their Own. He answered advertisements until he could not afford to buy any more stamps. Boris grew annoyed,then depressed,then a little hardened.Still he went on trying and still he failed.He began to think that he had no future at all.
“Why don’t you start your own business?” one of his uncles told him.“The world is a  money-locker. You’d better find a way of opening it.”
“But what can I do?”
“Get out and have a look round,” advised his uncle in a vague sort of way.“See what people want;then give it to them,and they will pay for it.”
Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of a waste ground in the end. Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer.He worked hard,made friends with his customers and gradually managed to build up his goodwill and profit.A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself.He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good:in the wrong position,too expensive or with some other snag(障碍). But at long last,he managed to find an empty shop on a new estate where there were plenty of customers but no competition.
Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair scooters and motor-cycles.Slowly  but surely the profits increased and the business developed. At last,Boris had managed to open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold Coins inside.
【小题1】Which of the following would be the best title for the passage ?

A.Goodwill is the key to success.
B.The world is a money-locker
C.No education, no future
D.Difficulty of starting a small business
【小题2】Which of the following best describes Boris’ job hunting experience?
A.SurprisingB.EncouragingC.Boring D.Disappointing
【小题3】Boris start his career by       . 
A.cycling around the town
B.developing a waste ground
C.repairing cycles
D.buying empty shops
【小题4】Boris finally chose an empty shop on a new estate because      .
A.it was not so expensive
B.he had a lot of old customers there
C.he could make good use of his skills there
D.there were good opportunities there
【小题5】We can infer from the last paragraph that Boris       .
A.still couldn’t make good profits
B.set off in a successful career
C.found a lot of gold coins by accident
D.had great difficulty running his business

The dirty, homeless man sat on the pavement, staring at the stones. He thought back more than twenty years to when he was a boy living in a small red brick house on this very street. He recalled the flower garden, the swing his dad made, and the bike he had saved up for months to buy.

The man shrugged impatiently, for the brightness of those pictures hurt him, and his memory traveled on another ten years. He had a job by then, plenty of friends and started to come home less. He did not really want to remember those years, nor the day when, because of debts, he had gone home planning to ask for money. He felt embarrassed, but he knew exactly where his dad kept the money. When his parents stepped out of the room, he took what he wanted and left.

That was the last time he had seen them. Ashamed, he went abroad, and his parents knew nothing about the years of wandering or time in prison. But locked in his cell he often thought of home. Once free, he would love to see his parents again, if they were still alive, and still wanted to see him.

When his prison time was up, he found a job, but couldn’t settle. Something was drawing him home. He did not want to arrive penniless, so he hitchhiked most of the long journey back. But less than a mile from his destination he started to feel sick with doubt. Could they ever accept this man who had so bitterly disappointed them?

He spent most of that day sitting under a tree. That evening he posted a letter which, although short, had taken him hours to write. It ended with:

I know it is unreasonable of me to suppose you want to see me ... so it’s up to you. I’ll come early Thursday morning. If you want me home, hang a white handkerchief in the window of my old bedroom. If it’s there, I’ll come in; if not, I’ll wave good-bye and go.

And now it was Thursday morning and he was sitting on the pavement at the end of the street. Finally he got up and walked slowly toward the old house. He drew a long breath and looked.

His parents were taking no risks. ________________________________________

The man threw his head back, gave a cry of relief and ran straight through the open front door.

1.Why did the man shrug impatiently (paragraph 2) while he was thinking of his childhood?

A. The thoughts made him angry.

B. He felt he had wasted time.

C. He was anxious to go home.

D. The sweet memory caused him much pain.

2.Why did it take him hours to write the letter?

A. He doubted if his parents still lived in that house.

B. He had much news to tell his parents.

C. He felt ashamed to ask for forgiveness.

D. He was longing to return home and felt excited.

3.In what order did the following events take place?

a. He took the money from his parents.

b. He bought a bicycle with his savings.

c. He was sentenced to prison.

d. He wrote the letter home.

e. He sat on the pavement.

f. He hitchhiked back home.

A. b, a, c, d, e, f                                                        B. b, a, c, f, d, e

C. a, c, b, d, f, a                                                         D. a, d, b, c, e, f

4.Which of the following best fits into paragraph 8?

A. Every inch of the house was covered in white. Sheets, pillowcases and table clothes had been placed on every window and door, making it look like a snow house.

B. The house before him was just as he remembered: the red bricks, the brown door and nothing else.

C. A colorful blanket was over the front door. On it, in large letters, was written, “Welcome home, son”.

D. A police car was parked in the drive way, and two officers stood at the front door.

5.The best title of the passage is _______.

A. Sweet Memory                                                   B. White Handkerchief

C. Abandoned Son                            D. Leaving Home

 

I have been very lucky to have won the Nobel Prize twice. It is, of course, very exciting to have such an important recognition of my work, but the real pleasure was in the work itself. Scientific research is like an exploration of a voyage of discovery. You are continually trying out new things that have not been done before. Many of them will lead nowhere and you have to try something different, but sometimes an experiment does work and tells you something new and that is really exciting. However small the new finding may be, it is great to think “ I am the only person who knows this” and then you will have the fun of thinking what this finding will lead to and deciding what will be the next experiment. One of the best things about scientific research is that you are always doing something different and it is never boring. There are good times when things go well and bad times when they don’t. Some people get discouraged at the difficult times but when I have a failure, my policy has always been not to worry but to start planning the next experiment, which is always fun.

   It is very exciting to make a new discovery. Some people will do the strangest things for this excitement, such as going round the world in a balloon or walking to the North Pole. There are not many new places to explore but there is a lot of new information to be discovered in science and a journey into this unknown area can be much more worthwhile and just as exciting.

   I am sometimes asked, “What do you have to do to win a Nobel Prize?” My answer is: “I don’t know. I have never tried.” But I know of one way not to win one. There are some people whose main reason for doing science is to win prizes and they are always thinking about how to do it. Such people don’t succeed. To do good science you must be interested in it and enjoy doing experiments and thinking out problems. And, of course, you must be prepared to work hard and not to be too discouraged by failure.

1.In the writer’s eyes his greatest pleasure in all his lifetime is _______.

A. to win the Nobel Prize for the first time

B. to be awarded the Nobel Prize for the second time.

C. in the work itself

D. to have a much more important recognition of his work.

2.Why did the writer think scientific research to be one of the best things?

A. You will be able to win the Nobel Prize through the scientific research

B. You can make as much money as possible by doing the scientific research.

C. You may continue doing with something different and exciting, so you can never be tired of doing the scientific research.

D. You can get much more chances of promotion by making the scientific research.

3.What would the writer do when he had a failure?

A. He would forget this failure and start the next experiment.

B. He used to be worried about it for several days and never forget it.

C. He always gave up his study as the result of the failure.

D. He used to think out the reasons and then continue to do it again.

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. The writer could still keep calm when he heard the news that he had won the Nobel Prize.

B. The writer always gave up his courage when he met with some difficulties in the course of his scientific research.

C. In the field of science there are still many new things which need to be studied further.

D. There are still many exciting places to explore in the world.

 

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