A TAXI driver taught me a million dollar lesson in customer satisfaction and expectation. Inspiring speakers charge thousands of dollars to give his kind of training to corporate directors and staff.  It cost me only a ＄12 taxi ride.

I had flown into Dallas just for the purpose of calling on a client. Time was important and my plan included a quick turn – around trip from and back to the airport. A clean taxi pulled up.

The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door. As be got in the driver’s seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to me for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy.

Well! I looked around for a “Candid Camera!” Wouldn’t you? I could not believe the service I was receiving! I took the opportunity to say, “Obviously you take great pride in you work. You must have a story to tell.”

“You bet,” he replied, “I used to be in Corporate America. But I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough. I decided to find my right position in life, somewhere I could feel proud of being the best I could be.

I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day’s work and done it well. I evaluated my personal property and, I became a taxi driver!

One thing I know for sure, to be good in my business I jus have to meet the expectations of my passengers. But, to be GREAT in my business, I have to EXEED the customer’s expectations! I like the sound of being ‘great’ better than just being ‘average’. ”

Did I tip him big time? You bet!

 The taxi driver taught me a great life lesson: Go an extra mile when providing any service to others. And there is no good or bad job you can make any job good.

What lesson did the author learn from the taxi driver?

    A．How to make the best use of time.

    B．How to do better in the service business.

    C．How to turn an interest into your career.

    D．How to become a motivational speaker.

Why did the author look around for a “Candid Camera”?

    A．Because he was afraid he would be photographed in the cab.

    B．Because he was worried what the driver could be up to.

    C．Because he was amazed by the way the driver was treating him.

    D．Because he wasn’t interested in the tapes offered by the driver

It can be inferred from the story that          .

    A．the taxi driver couldn’t accept just being average

    B．the author was anxious to get back to meet a client

    C．when the author waited for a taxi at the airport, he was not in a rush

    D．the taxi driver loved to play his favorite music during rides

According to the story, the taxi driver        .

    A．was dissatisfied wit his present job

    B．was once often rewarded for being a model worker

    C．enjoyed offering his customers more than they expected

    D．was forced to become a taxi driver to support his family

A lot of management training each year for Circle K Corporation, a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address in our course is the retention（保护力） of quality employees-a real challenge to managers when you consider the pay scale（标准）in the service industry. During these discussions, I ask the participants（参加者）, “What has caused you to stay long enough to become a manager?” Some time back a new manager took the question and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, “It was a ＄19 baseball glove.”

Cynthia told the group that she originally took a Circle K clerk job as an interim（临时的） position while she looked for something better. On her second or third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-year-old son, Jessie. He needed a baseball glove for Little League. She explained that as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check would have to go for paying bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check. When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning, Patricia, the store manager, asked her to come to the small room in the back of the store that served as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concerned and confused.

Patricia handed her a box. “I overheard you talking to your son yesterday,” she said, “and I know that it is hard to explain things to kids. This is a baseball glove for Jessie because he may not understand how important he is, even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. You know we can’t pay good people like you as much as we would like to; but we do care, and I want you to know you are important to us.”

The thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store manager demonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer cares than how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of a Little League baseball glove.

Among many of the problems in the service industry, talked about in this passage, is         .

       A．how to ensure his employees’ high pay

       B．how to attract more customers

       C．how to look carefully after the employees

       D．how to keep the good employees from leaving

Although a new manager, Cynthia would do her job well in keeping quality employees because she         .

       A．had mastered all the courses for the manager

       B．had already formed good relationship with the employees

       C．know the way how to deal with her employees

       D．had her own personal experience

This passage shows us that to run a business well it is necessary for managers to let their employees know         .

       A．how much they can get for their job.

       B．what good positions they can get later

       C．they are very necessary to the business  

       D．they are nice as well as useful

The story told in this passage tells us that employees care about         .

       A．only how large a pay they can get

       B．love from the managing people rather than only money

       C．if their children could be properly taken care of

       D．what position they can be offered

A TAXI driver taught me a million dollar lesson in customer satisfaction and expectation. Inspiring speakers charge thousands of dollars to give his kind of training to corporate directors and staff.  It cost me only a ＄12 taxi ride.
I had flown into Dallas just for the purpose of calling on a client. Time was important and my plan included a quick turn – around trip from and back to the airport. A clean taxi pulled up.
The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door. As be got in the driver’s seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to me for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy.
Well! I looked around for a “Candid Camera!” Wouldn’t you? I could not believe the service I was receiving! I took the opportunity to say, “Obviously you take great pride in you work. You must have a story to tell.”
“You bet,” he replied, “I used to be in Corporate America. But I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough. I decided to find my right position in life, somewhere I could feel proud of being the best I could be.
I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day’s work and done it well. I evaluated my personal property and, I became a taxi driver!
One thing I know for sure, to be good in my business I jus have to meet the expectations of my passengers. But, to be GREAT in my business, I have to EXEED the customer’s expectations! I like the sound of being ‘great’ better than just being ‘average’. ”
Did I tip him big time? You bet!
The taxi driver taught me a great life lesson: Go an extra mile when providing any service to others. And there is no good or bad job you can make any job good.
【小题1】What lesson did the author learn from the taxi driver?

A．was dissatisfied wit his present job

B．was once often rewarded for being a model worker

C．enjoyed offering his customers more than they expected

D．was forced to become a taxi driver to support his family

1.Voluntary learning in organized courses by mature men and women is called adult education. Such education is offered to make people able to enlarge and interpret their experience as adults. Adults may want to study something which they missed in earlier schooling, get new skills or job training, find out about new technological developments, seek better self—understanding, or develop new talents and skills.

2.This kind of education may be in the form of self-study with proper guidance through the use of libraries, correspondence courses, or broadcasting. It may also be acquired collectively in schools and colleges, study groups, workshops, clubs, and professional associations.

3.Modern adult education for large numbers of people started in the 18th and 19th centuries with the rise of the Industrial Revolution. Great economic and social changes were taking place: people were moving from rural areas to cities; new types of work were being created in an expanding factory system. These and other factors produced a need for further education and re-education of adults.

4.The earliest programs of organized adult education arose in Great Britain in the 1790s, with the founding of an adult school in Nottingham and a mechanics’ institute in Glasgow. The earliest adult education institution in the United States was founded by Benjamin Franklin and some friends in Philadelphia in 1727.

5.People recognize that continued learning is necessary for most forms of employment today. For example, parts of the adult population in many countries find it necessary to take part in retraining programs at work or even to learn completely new jobs. Adult education programs are springing up constantly to meet these and other needs.