Carolyn Stradley is the founder of C&S Paving Inc. (铺路公司) in Atlanta, USA. In the following account,
she recalls the job that challenged her 1 and skill but left her flying high.
"When the Atlanta Airport was under 2 in 1979, we were a new company struggling to make it. National
Car Rental wanted to have 2,500 square meters of dirt paved 3 the cars could be on site 4 the airport
opened, and the official opening was only ten days away! 5 other local paving company wanted to do the
job, 6 it couldn"t be done in such a short time.
"Because we were new and really needed the work, we were 7 to try harder. We gave National Car
Rental our offer and 8 our best effort to get the job finished within ten days. We also 9 them that if we
failed, they would be no worse off, 10 they had plenty to gain if we succeeded.
"We got the job and immediately went into 11 . Working at night needed lights, so I rented a machine to
produce electricity for the site. Our 12 challenge was to keep the rock mixture 13 enough. All the available
water wagons (洒水车) were rented out for the airport construction, and we certainly couldn"t afford to buy
a new one.
14 , I got a special 15 to rent fire engine hoses (消防水龙带) and connect them to nearby hydrants (消防栓);
then I 16 held one of those hoses to 17 down the rock.
"Those ten days were filled with challenges that 18 one creative idea after another. Nine days later, the night
before the airport opened, National Car Rental was the 19 company that had cars on the parking lot.
"The key to our success was having the 20 to take on any job and then being creative in our approach to
getting it done." |
( )1. A. kindness
( )2. A. construction
( )3. A. after
( )4. A. while
( )5. A. Some
( )6. A. stating
( )7. A. able
( )8. A. supported
( )9. A. asked
( )10. A. though
( )11. A. discussion
( )12. A. next
( )13. A. cold
( )14. A. Naturally
( )15. A. excuse
( )16. A. exactly
( )17. A. pull
( )18. A. required
( )19. A. best
( )20. A. courage | B. patience
B. repair
B. as
B. since
B. Any
B. reporting
B. nervous
B. promised
B. surprised
B. but
B. action
B. first
B. wet
B. Obviously
B. order
B. personally
B. knock
B. mixed
B. last
B. interest | C. imagination
C. control
C. for
C. where
C. No
C. telling
C. afraid
C. continued
C. reminded
C. as
C. practice
C. past
C. loose
C. Meanwhile
C. permit
C. angrily
C. hit
C. followed
C. second
C. hope | D. experience
D. development
D. so
D. when
D. Every
D. warning
D. willing
D. improved
D. demanded
D. unless
D. production
D. previous
D. clean
D. Instead
D. reason
D. hardly
D. water
D. formed
D. only
D. chance | | 完形填空。 | Ban the Band (乐队)
Every year, our school has a dance for all the students. It"s a little funny seeing friends in clean shoes and
trousers or colorful 1 , instead of the usual school uniform.
Most of us think the dance is great 2 -even the teachers enjoy being there. 3 , two weeks ago someone
said that there would be no 4 band this year-only CDs.
"I don"t 5 it!" Amy cried out during the lunch break.
"Someone said the school couldn"t 6 a band, and they think it"s too noisy anyway." added Daniel.
"Well, I don"t think it"s 7 enough without a band!"declared Angela."and I"m going to see what can be
done."
Angela was as good as her 8 . In the afternoon she went to see the school headmaster who agreed to give
the 9 some more thought. And he suggested that one 10 for having a band was to increase the price of each
ticket from $5 to $10. Angela had to 11 out whether the students would like to do that.
"I need all of you to help me," she 12 to our group before school the next day. "Mr. Berry gave me a list of
all the names, and suggested we ask each one their 13 about the band and the extra cost."
14 the day we asked around as Angela suggested, and wrote down people"s feelings about the band and the
cost. We were amazed how much 15 there was for the band and everyone agreed to pay the extra $5.
"I"m surprised," smiled Mr. Berry, when we gave him the 16 . "I realty thought that only a few people 17
their band and that the cost would be too high. OK. Angela, your next 18 is to find a good band and line them
up for the dance."
Angela was all smiles and 19 the news to Amy and Daniel. "You"re 20 ," smiled Daniel to Angela as he
thought how close they came to having a less than perfect dance. | ( )1. A. shapes
( )2. A. fun
( )3. A. Besides
( )4. A. new
( )5. A. mean
( )6. A. lead
( )7. A. good
( )8. A. look
( )9. A. schedule
( )10. A. possibility
( )11. A. call
( )12. A. admitted
( )13. A. knowledge
( )14. A. On
( )15. A. trust
( )16. A. results
( )17. A. welcomed
( )18. A. task
( )19. A. showed
( )20. A. amusing | B. dressed
B. work
B. Otherwise
B. live
B. need
B. serve
B. clear
B. behavior
B. situation
B. concern
B. find
B. replied
B. instruction
B. For
B. money
B. notices
B. wanted
B. business
B. wrote
B. interesting | C. flowers
C. effort
C. However
C. foreign
C. accept
C. afford
C. useful
C. mind
C. view
C. decision
C. carry
C. apologized
C. opinion
C. By
C. support
C. questions
C. defended
C. exercise
C. broke
C. exciting | D. pictures
D. progress
D. Therefore
D. marching
D. believe
D. form
D. easy
D. word
D. action
D. chance
D. point
D. announced
D. information
D. During
D. care
D. examples
D. invited
D. duty
D. read
D. amazing | | 阅读理解。 | Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own.
My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen.
While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love.
Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, "Kemmons, you are
certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it."
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother
spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again
if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year
later, I returned to school - walking on my own!
When the Great Depression (大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both
of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on
a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available
for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the
average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel (汽车旅馆) for families that would
never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even
designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother"s
words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest
hotel system in the world-Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries
with an income of $ 1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situation. But if you can find a task in life worth working for
and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you. | | 1. What Kemmons" mom often told him during his childhood was ______. | A. caring
B. moving
C. encouraging
D. interesting | | 2. According to the author, who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again? | A. Doctors.
B. Nurses.
C. Friends.
D. Mom. | | 3. What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself? | A. His terrible experience in the hotel.
B. His previous business success of various levels.
C. His mom"s support.
D. His wife"s suggestion. | | 4. Which of the following best describes Kemmons" mother? | A. Modest, helpful, and hard-working.
B. Loving, supportive and strong-willed.
C. Careful, helpful and beautiful.
D. Strict, sensitive and supportive. | | 5. Which of the following led to Kemmons" success according to the passage? | A. Self-confidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family.
B. Mom"s encouragement, clear goals, self-confidence and hard work.
C. Clear goals, mom"s encouragement, a poor family and higher education.
D. Mom"s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities. | | 阅读理解。 | Lying in the sun on a rock, the cougar (美洲豹) saw Jeb and his son. Tom before they saw it. Jeb put
his bag down quickly and pulled his jacket open with both hands, making himself look big to the cougar. It
worked. The cougar hesitated, ready to attack Jeb, but ready to forget the whole thing, too.
Jeb let go of his jacket, grasped Tom and held him across his body, making a cross. Now the cougar"s
enemy looked even bigger, and it rose up, ready to move away, but unfortunately Tom got scared and
struggled free of Jeb.
"Tom, go" shouted his father.
But Tom broke and ran and that"s the last thing you do with a cougar. The second Tom broke free, Jeb
threw himself on the cougar, just as it jumped from the rock. They hit each other in mid-air and both fell.
The cougar was on Jeb in a flash, forgetting about Tom, which was what Jeb wanted.
Cougars are not as big as most people think and a determined man stands a chance, even with just his
fists. As the cougar"s claws (爪子) got into his left shoulder, Jeb swung his fist at its eyes and hit hard. The
animal howled (吼叫) and put its head back. Jeb followed up with his other fist. Then out of the corner of
his eye. Jeb saw Tom. The boy was running back to help his father.
"Knife, Tom," shouted Jeb.
The boy ran to his father"s bag, while Jeb started shouting as well as hitting, to keep the cougar"s attention
away from Tom. Tom got the knife and ran over to Jeb. The cougar was moving its head in and out, trying
to find a way through the wall Jeb was making out of his arms. Tom swung with the knife, into the cougar"s
back. It howled horribly and ran off into the mountains.
The whole fight had taken about thirty seconds. | | 1. Why did Jeb pull his jacket open when he saw the cougar? | A. To get ready to fight
B. To frighten it away
C. To protect the boy
D. To cool down | | 2. What do we know about cougars? | A. They are afraid of noises
B. They hesitate before they hit
C. They are bigger than we think
D. They like to attack running people | | 3. How did Jeb try to hold the cougar"s attention? | A. By keeping shouting and hitting
B. By making a wall out of his arms
C. By throwing himself on the cougar
D. By swinging his fists at the cougar"s eyes | | 4. Which of the following happened first? | A. The cougar jumped from the rock
B. Tom struggled free of his father
C. Jeb asked Tom to get the knife
D. Jeb held Tom across his body | | 完形填空。 | When I was young, my parents ran a snack bar in our small town.
One evening in early April, my mother told me to fill in at the snack bar 1 a worker who had the flu. I
told her I would mess it up, 2 I had never worked at the bar before. I 3 that instead of making money,
I would end up owing it.
"You can do it," said my mother, " 4 , you won"t get much business until lunch."
"But I"ll never remember the orders, and I"m no good 5 money. Please, Mom, don"t 6 me.
"Then I"ll help you," she said.
I shrugged my shoulders. I thought my mother"s 7 was a bad one, but I 8 .
When I got to the bar the next day, I found my mother was 9 . Because the weather that day was rainy
and cold, people wanted hot snacks and drinks. 10 , I was really slow at taking the orders and making change.
The line of people grew, and everybody seemed 11 , I was so nervous that my hands shook, and I 12 a cup
into pieces. What a mess! Then my mother came to 13 me, and she also showed me how to make 14 . If
someone gave me $ 5 for something that cost $ 3.25, I handed over 15 quarters and a dollar and said, "75
cents makes four dollars, plus one dollar makes five." Things went more 16 after that.
By the end of the day, I could remember orders, 17 the bill, and make change quickly with a smile. I was
even a little 18 when the sun came out and dried up business. My mother said she was proud of me, and when
she 19 that I work at the snack bar again next year, I did not even shrug. I was too busy 20 the restaurant
I would open one day. | ( )1. A. to
( )2. A. because
( )3. A. promised
( )4. A. Therefore
( )5. A. of
( )6. A. blame
( )7. A. idea
( )8. A. guessed
( )9. A. angry
( )10. A. At least
( )11. A. surprised
( )12. A. damaged
( )13. A. scold
( )14. A. money
( )15. A. two
( )16. A. smoothly
( )17. A. turn in
( )18. A. discouraged
( )19. A. thought
( )20. A. imagining | B. for
B. though
B. noticed
B. However
B. on
B. fool
B. bar
B. obeyed
B. sad
B. At last
B. impolite
B. destroyed
B. help
B. lunch
B. three
B. fairly
B. count out
B. disturbed
B. stated
B. preparing | C. after
C. until
C. worried
C. Besides
C. about
C. frighten
C. day
C. begged
C. worry
C. At most
C. pleased
C. broke
C. beat
C. coffee
C. four
C. simply
C. take over
C. disappointed
C. announced
C. examining | D. over
D. while
D. hoped
D. Yet
D. with
D. make
D. answer
D. admitted
D. ashamed
D. At first
D. impatient
D. ruined
D. save
D. change
D. five
D. conveniently
D. add up
D. distrusted
D. suggested
D. describing |
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