One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and ,to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.
Standing before the group of overachievers（成绩超过预料的学生）,he said, "Ok, time for a quiz." He pulled out a one-gallon, wide -mouth jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The expert reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked again, "Is this jar full?"
"Probably not." one of them answered. "Good." He replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full？”
“No!" the class shouted. "Good." He replied. He grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager student raised his hand and said,“No matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"
"_______,"the expert replied.“The truth this illustration teaches us if you don't put the big rocks in first ,you'll never get them in at all. What are the "big rocks" in your life? Time with your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, or teaching others? Remember to put these big rocks in first or you'll never get them in at all."
1．Which group of words means containers?
A．jar, gravel, bucket B．jar, illustration, gravel
C．jar, bucket, pitcher D．jar, brim, pitcher
2．What replies would the expert probably make in the last paragraph?
A．I beg you pardon B．Good idea
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3．Choose the order that the expert put things in the jar．
A．rocks--->sand---->gravel---->water
B．rocks--->gravel--->sand---->water
C．gravel---->water---->sand---->rocks
D．gravel--->sand--->water--->rocks
4．What's the expert's conclusion?
A．We must think of all kinds of ways to solve our problems.
B．We must try really hard to fit more small things in our life.
C．We must know what big rocks are in our life and then put them in first.
D．We must know things like gravel, sand and water are not important at all.
It used to be that shopping was a fairly simple activity---you went to the supermarket, picked up what you need, paid for it and left. But in recent years it's become a lot more complicated. Supermarkets in the UK now sell much more than food you can get your insurance there ,pay bills and a variety of other services. In many ways they've become a one-stop shop for lots of life's daily chores.
You can also get "rewards"----join up and get a "loyalty card" and every time you shop you'll get points and discounts. And just when you thought supermarkets couldn't offer anything else, they turned into mini-banks, offering you cash when you shop. Go into any UK supermarket, pay for your shopping, and you're more than likely to be asked if you want "any cashback with that?”
This is only offered if you pay by debit card（签证卡）.Effectively ,if you buy ￡30 worth of shopping, you can pay ￡50 with your debit card and the supermarket will give you your shopping plus,￡20 in cash from the till（收款机）.
Originally introduced by the supermarket giant Tesco，it eases busy shoppers' lives by cutting out an extra visit to the bank. Of course, they didn't just introduce this for the customer's benefit---shops also benefit by having less cash in-house, and by paying less in fees for taking this cash to their local bank.
In recent years the phrase "Cashback!" has also been observed as an exclamation of joy or satisfaction, as in "It's three drinks for the price of two in the pub tonight. Cashback!"
1．Supermarkets in the UK now are different from what it used be because_______.
A．they will ask shoppers to pay only by cashback
B．they don't sell food and other daily necessities
C．they have made shopping much more complicated
D．they provide a variety of other services besides shopping
2．The cash you get when you shop in supermarkets comes from the______.
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C．supermarket giant Tesco D．extra visits to the bank
3．Who will benefit from "Cashback!"?
A．Only busy shoppers B．Only supermarkets
C．The local banks D．Both shoppers and shops
4．What may be the best title for the text?
A．UK Supermarkets B．Cashback!
C．One-stop Shops D．The Best Services