Some people look at a hole and see empty space. Others see opportunity. That’s what Sheri Schmelzer spotted a few years ago when everyone—including her three children—started wearing Crocs, the colorful shoes dotted with holes.

“My kids and I were clowning around, and my eldest daughter, Lexie, got the sewing kit out. I brought one of the Crocs, pulled some buttons, rhinestones, and fabric out of the kit, and stuck them in the holes. Lexie said, ‘Mom, I love that!’”

Sheri and Lexie, then seven, spent the rest of the day filling holes in the family’s 12 pairs of Crocs. Every look-alike shoe was suddenly unique. When her husband, Rich, experienced in setting up businesses, came home later that day, says Sheri, “I could see the light bulb go on over his head,” Crocs had sold millions of pairs of shoes; the couple figured they could create a business simply by riding the wave. Rich refused to let a decorated Croc leave their Boulder, Colorado, house until he’d filed a patent.

But first they needed a name. “Rich and I had seen a movie where Meg Ryan says to Tom Hanks, ‘I’m such a flibbertigibbet!’ That became my nickname, so I called the business Jibbitz.” While Sheri designed, Rich strategized. They decided to sell the charms through a website, Jibbitz.com

Six months later, in February 2006, Sheri was doing so well that Rich left his business to work with her full-time. She was making hundreds of Jibbitz to order, by hand, by herself, in their basement. And filling those holes wasn’t as easy as it looked. The bigger the shoe, the bigger the holes; it took six models before Sheri figured out how to make her charms one-size-fits-all. Later Rich found a way to get plastic Jibbitz manufactured in China.

Someone at Crocs was sure going to notice the charms—after all, the company was headquartered (总部设在) just ten miles down the road. Duke Hanson, one of Crocs’ founders, spotted Lexie and her Jibbitz at the local pool, handed her his business card, and said, “Have your mom call me.”

Sheri and Rich met with Crocs executives, but no one suggested buying the company. Sheri was actually relieved because she wanted to see if she, not Crocs, could make it big. And she did. In December 2006, Crocs bought Jibbitz for $20 million, with the Schmelzers staying on board.

1. The passage is mainly about ____.

       A. how the Schmelzers found opportunities out of nothing.

       B. how the Schmelzers found opportunities and developed their business

       C. how creativity matters to a successful business

       D. how the business of Crocs became successful.

2. When Sheri said, “I could see the light bulb go on over his head”, she meant that ____.

       A. Rich was really excited              B. Rich liked their shoe charms

       C. saw this as a business opportunity   

D. Rich wasn’t satisfied with the decorations

3. From Paragraph 5, we can learn that ____.

       A. the Schmelzers kept improving to make their business successful

       B. Sheri does not trust others when it comes to designing Jibbitz

       C. making the products unique is key to business success

       D. Rich made a lot of sacrifices for their family business

4. Which of the following is arranged in the right order according to the text?

       a. the Schmelzers applied for a patent   b. Crocs’ shoes sold well

       c. the Schmelzers set up their website

       d. by making their products in China, the Schmelzers spread their business.

       A. acdb                 B.bacd                  C. bcad                 D. adcb

    第二部分:短文填词(每空1分,满分10分)

    阅读下面短文,根据以下提示:1)汉语提示,2)首字母提示,3)语境提示,在每个空格内填入一个适当的英语单词,并将该词完整地写在右边相对应的横线上。所填单词要求意义准确,拼写正确。

I’m sitting in the warm night air and reflecting on the day I went snorklling on

the reef offshore and saw extraordinary b       . It made me very excited.                  1.            

   I was aware of all the vivid colours          (围绕) me and the corals were              2.        

fantastic. I swam a        all kinds of small fish.                                       3.        

   I saw the little orange and white fish that        (躲藏) in the waving long thin           4.         

seaweed, and I also saw the yellow and green parrotfish hanging upside           .           5.        

I love them and felt them very magical.      there were some creatures that I didn’t              6.      

want to get too close to, especially grey reef sharks. I felt scared to            .             7.       

   I thought I was brave while I was swimming over the         (边缘) of the reef          8.      

and looking down into the depths of the ocean. My heart was beating w      . What a            9.     

magical day I had ! And          a  wonderful world it was down there!                10.     

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