One day, Raul was miles away from the small ranch（牧场）house in a large valley. 36 seemed to be all right, yet he felt strange and somewhat uneasy. The wind had picked up, and angry, dark clouds 37 across the sky. He could smell the rain coming. And it did. 38 , the lightning flashed through the clouds, nearly 39 Raul. The thunder（雷声）was so loud that he buried his 40 in his hands and rubbed his eyes. Then he heard it. Hoofbeats（蹄声）. He 41 . There before him stood a tall, white 42 . An old man stared down at him from its back.

“Wh-wh-who are y-y-you?” asked Raul. “My name is Gray Cloud,” the old man answered 43 . “Come with me.”

Raul followed on his horse. A 44 feeling came over him. All 45 them the rain was pouring down, 46 not a drop fell on them. They seemed to be 47 back toward Raul’s home. Raul lost track of time. Then all at once he found 48 at the ranch gate. The old man turned his horse, 49 his hand, and smiled. Lightning flashed again. The old man and his horse were 50 .

Raul’s father ran out across the yard to 51 him. “We have been 52 about you. Are you okay? Hurry. Let’s get in out of the 53 .”

“Wait”, said Raul. “Have you ever heard of an old man called Gray Cloud?”

“Can’t say I…wait. I 54 my great-grandfather used to tell stories about a man called Gray Cloud. He died a long time ago. They say he was 55 by lightning during a terrible thunderstorm. Why do you ask?”

36．A．Something　　　 B．Everything　　　　 C．Anything　　　　 D．Nothing

37．A．dropped　　　　 B．fell　　　　　　　 C．rolled　　　　　 D．covered

38．A． Suddenly　　　 B．Strongly　　　　　 C．Quickly　　　　 D．Hardly

39．A．beating　　　　 B．blinding　 　　 C．burning　　　　 D．touching

40．A．nose　　　　　 B．hair　　　　　　 　 C．neck　　　　　 D．head

41．A．looked up　　　 B．woke up　　　　 　 C．lay down　　　　 D．sat down

42．A．tiger　　　　　 B．horse　　　　　 　 C．lion　　　　　　 D．elephant

43．A．lazily　 　　　 B．angrily　　　　　 　 C．coldly　　　　　 D．slowly

44．A．natural　　　　 B．common　　　　 　 C．strange　　　　 D．bad

45．A．around　　　　 B．beside　　　　 　　　 C．through　　　　 D．above

46．A．yet　　　　　　 B．for　　　　　　 　 C．so　　　　　　 D．or

47．A．walking　　　　 B．leading　　　　 　　 C．heading　　　　 D．returning

48．A．them　　　　　 B．themselves　　　 　　 C．him　　　　　　 D．himself

49．A．shook　　　　 B．waved　　　　　 　 C．held　　　　　　 D．took

50．A．gone　　　　　 B．left　　　　　　 　　 C．followed　　　　 D．lost

51．A．see　　　　　 B．meet　　　　　 　　 C．beat　　　　　　 D．ask

52．A．waited　　　　 B．thought　　　　 　　 C．worried　　　　　 D．excited

53．A．yard　　　　　 B．wind　　　　　 　　 C．grass　　　　　　 D．rain

54．A．believe　　　　 B．consider　　　 　　 C．doubt　　　　　 D．forget

55．A．defeated　　　 B．caught　　　　　　 C．damaged　　　　 D．struck

Everyone in business has been told that success is all about attracting and retaining(留住) customers. It sounds simple and achievable. But,   41   , words of wisdom are soon forgotten. Once companies have attracted customers they often    42   the second half of the story. In the excitement of beating off the competition, negotiating prices, securing orders, and delivering the product, managers     43    become carried away. They forget what they regard as the boring side of business---    44   that the customer remains a customer.

     45   to concentrate on retaining as well as attracting customers costs business huge amounts of money annually. It has been estimated that the    46     company loses between 10 and 30 percent of its customers every year. In constantly changing    47    , this is not surprising. What is surprising is the fact that few companies have any idea how many customers they have lost.

Only now are organizations beginning to wake up to these lost opportunities and calculate the   48  implications.     49    the number of customers a company loses can make a big    50   in its performance. Research in the US found that a five percent decrease in the number of defecting(流失的) customers led to    51   increases of between 25 and 85 percent.

In the US, Domino’s Pizza estimates that a regular customer is     52    more than five thousand dollars over ten years. A customer who receives a poor quality product or     53    on their first visit and    54     never returns, is losing the company thousands of dollars in   55    profits (more if you consider how many people they are likely to tell about their bad experience).

The logic behind cultivating customer   56    is impossible to deny. “In practice most companies’ marketing effort is focused on getting customers, with little attention paid to     57   them”, says Adrian Payne of Cornfield University’s School of Management. “Research suggests that there is a close relationship between retaining customers and making profits.     58     customers tend to buy more, are predictable and usually cost less to service than new customers. Furthermore, they tend to be less price    59   , and may provide free word-of-mouth advertising. Retaining customers also makes it   60  for competitors to enter a market or increase their share of a market.”