It was an international drug dealing case, one that involved a lot of money and a lot of violence. Agents who had entered the organization had worn wires and collected evidence for years. A conviction(法庭判决) depended on an accurate translation of their tape recordings. “Five languages were involved, “says Liz Elting, 44, one of the owners of TransPerfect, the translation company chosen for the job. “The slightest mistake could mean the criminals would go free.”

When Elting started her business 18 years ago with Phil Shawe, both were attending New York University’s Stern School of Business. Neither realized just how many situations would require their services. TransPerfect’s 4,000 linguists(通晓外语的人) cover more than 100 languages.

Getting Ahead with Liz Elting

What inspired you to start TransPerfect?

When I was eight, my dad bought a KFC in Portugal. Unfortunately, the Portuguese didn’t want anything American. They thought my dad was a CIA spy! That taught me how fast things can change. I’ve studied in Spain and worked in Venezuela. This business is the perfect combination of my love for languages, cultures and business.

Is the staff multilingual?

Many are. I speak French and Spanish. My partner, Phil, who is American, likes to say he speaks English on a good day.

What languages are requested most often?

Spanish and Japanese. Chinese, Middle Eastern, Indic(South Asia), and Eastern Europeans are on the rise.

How difficult is it to manage such a diverse workforce（员工团队）?

Our challenge is to be culturally appropriate in every country. When we hand our year-end bonuses in the US, for example, we have to remember that in India, bonuses are given in the fall.

Any advice for someone starting a business?

Get started before you have kids. In the beginning, I didn’t know how to do this business on the side. I wasn’t married, didn’t have kids, and wasn’t concerned about balancing my work and personal life. Now, with strong managers in place, I can spend more time with my family (husband Michael Burlant and sons Zachary, nine and Jacob, seven), traveling and playing baseball.

1.What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A. To report on an international drug dealing case.

B. To encourage people to start a business before they have kids.

C. To present the importance of learning foreign languages.

D. To introduce Liz Elting and her company TransPerfect.

2.What does the underlined word “wires” mean in the passage?

A. A type of clothes costing a lot of money.

B. A piece of equipment designed to record messages.

C. Thin metal worn to protect yourself against violence.

D. A organization symbol made of thin metal.

3.Neither realized just how many situations would require their services.  is ______________.

A. a company that offers international legal services

B. one which has branches in countries all over the world

C. one whose staff all have to speak several languages.

D. a company whose services are in great demand.

4.It can be inferred that _______________.

A. Liz learned that love is the answer to problems of cultural misunderstanding

B. Liz started her company with a schoolmate at the age of 18.

C. The success is simply a little beyond Liz and her partner’s expectations

D. Liz and Phil are now strong managers with rich experience.

Anne Sewell Young was born on January 2, 1871, in the United States. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1892 from Carleton College in Minnesota, where she also completed a master’s degree in 1897. She went on to earn a PhD (something very unusual for women in those days) from Columbia University in 1906.

Anne Sewell Young was the most famous of the early astronomy students at Carleton College, and one of the few professional women astronomers of her days. Carleton produced half a dozen professional women astronomers in the first 50 years of the course, but she was the only one whose name was recorded in the college’s “Who’s Who”(名人录)

Anne Sewell Young was a number of the AAVSO(美国变星观测者协会). She handed in over 6,500 observations over a 33-year period, and was also one of the first AAVSO Council members.

In 1881, Mt. Holyoke College set up the John Payson Williston Observatory (天文台), and in 1899 Young was named its director. In 1903, a library and a lecture room were added to the observatory building, and in 1907 astronomy was made a course in which one could major at the college, with Yong serving as Department Chair. She retired in 1936, and Alice Farnsworth succeeded her.

Young continued to work on astronomy, publishing her last paper in 1942. She died on August 15, 1961, in California.

68.   Put the following events in the correct order.

a.      Young graduated from Columbia University.

b.      Young served at Carleton College.

c.      Young served as Department Chair.

d.      Young publish her last paper.

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

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

69. From the passage we learn that Carleton College made great contribution to      .

A. “Who’s who”

B. astronomy

C. the AAVSO

D. Mt. Holyoke College

70. What is the author’s attitude toward Anne Sewell Young?

A. Negative       B. Neutral       C. positive.      D. We don’t know.

An epic^① love story, set against the sweeping landscapes of Wyoming and Texas, that tells the story of two young men — a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy — who meet in the summer of 1963 while driving cattle on a mountain range. They unexpectedly develop a lifelong connection, one whose complications^②, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love.

Notes:

epic  adj. 英雄的

complication  n. 复杂化

According to the passage, Brokeback Mountain is mainly about ______.

A. language study      B. love     C. violence     D. funny story

The film Brokeback Mountain is mainly from short story by ______.

A. Ang Lee     B. Michelle Williams      C. Diana Ossana     D. E. Annie Proulx

According to the passage, the natural sights in Brokeback Mountain was filmed in ______.

A. America     B. Canada      C. China     D. Mexico

If you live in New York on Jan. 25, you’d better enjoy the film in ______.

A. Loews Dupont Circle 5           B. Pacific’s The Grove Stadium 14

C. Embarcadero                   D. BAM Rose Cinemas

(B)
A learning style is a way of learning. The styles which are often talked about are the Auditory（听觉的）, Visual, and Tactile （触觉的） learning styles. Read about each of following learning styles to decide what your learning style is.
Are you an Auditory Learner?
Auditory learners learn best when information appears as sounds. Do you seem to learn best in classes where teachers speak more? Does listening to tapes help you learn better? Do you find yourself reading out loud or talking things out to gain a better understanding? If so, you are probably an auditory learner.
Are you a Visual Learner?
Visual learners learn best when information is presented as something such as a picture or a drawing. Do you do best in classes in which teachers do a lot of writing on the blackboard and make full use of the TV? Do you take written notes from your textbooks and in class? If so, you are probably a visual learner.
Are you a Tactile Learner?
Tactile learners learn best in hands-on learning settings in which they can use something or play with it in order to learn about it. Do you learn better when you touch or handle things? Do you do well in lab classes? If so, you are probably a tactile learner.
Your learning style is your strength. Go with it whenever you can. When you can choose a class, try to choose one that works best with your learning style. When you can choose a teacher, try to choose one whose teaching methods are the best match for your learning style.
65. How many learning styles are mentioned in the passage?
A. 2.         B. 3.            C. 4.            D. 5.
66. The underlined word “visual” in the first paragraph probably means “______”.
A. connected with one’s actions   B. connected with the sense of sight  
C. knowing by touching something  D. having good eyesight 
67. If you do well in lab classes, you are probably ______.
A. a Visual Learner           B. an Auditory Learner  
C. a Tactile Learner        D. an Active Learner
68. The last paragraph mainly tells readers ______.
A. how to choose good teachers and good classes
B. that learning styles are people’s strengths
C. how to choose good classes and good schools
D. that learning styles should go with classes and teachers

If I were writing a history of my family, some of the darkest moments recorded would be those surrounding Christmas trees. One would certainly think otherwise; selecting and putting up our trees have always been filled with risk. For example, one afternoon dangerously close to Christmas Eve my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain, a glorious tree that was so full and tall that we could hardly get it into the house. Once we did, my father immediately realized that we would have to hire a carpenter to build a stand for it. Another December, perhaps the very next one, we bought a tree earlier than we ever had before. We were happy with its shape and delighted that its size was manageable. We easily placed it in a stand, decorated it from top to bottom, and then self-satisfiedly sat back by the fire in its soft light. Two or three days passed and the truth could not be hidden; we had bought a tree cut so long ago that its needles were coming off. There was nothing to do but undecorate it, take it down, and begin tree shopping again. Our most recent Christmas tree offered still another difficult task. When we brought it home, once again it seemed larger than it was in the great outdoors. To complicate matters, we had bought a new stand, one whose nuts （螺帽） and bolts （闩子） worked more mysteriously than those of our old stands. I persuaded two young neighbors to stop playing basketball and to help us get the tree into the house and set it correctly in the stand. Unfortunately, no one noticed the mud on our helpers' shoes, so only after removing several reddish brown spots from the carpet were we able to discuss the question of where the lights and ornaments （装饰）were stored. Perhaps those who cut their own trees have tales more painful than these. I don't care to hear them, as my family's experiences are enough to cause me to make the following suggestion:" Let's forget the tree next Christmas. Let's simply hang some flowers on the front door and over the mirror in the hall. "
【小题1】The darkest moments in the writer's family were with the fact that _____.