Like many lovers of books, Mary and her husband, Richard Goldman, seldom walked past a bookstore without stopping to look inside. They often talked of opening their own store one day.
When Mary was in hospital with heart trouble in 1989, they decided it was time to get serious. Richard, who worked for a business company, wanted to work for himself, and Mary needed to slow down from her job.
They started by talking to bookstore owners and researching(调查) the industry. “We knew it had to be a specialty store because we couldn’t match the big chains dollar for dollar,” says Mary. One figure caught her attention: She’d read somewhere that roughly 20 percent of books sold were mysteries(推理小说), and many buyers spent more than $300 a year on books. She and Richard were themselves mystery readers.
On Halloween 1992, they opened the Mystery Lovers Bookshop and Café near their home. With three children in college, the couple could not spend all the family’s money to start a shop. To cover the whole $ 100, 000 cost, they drew some of their savings, borrowed from relatives and from a bank.
The store broke even in its first year, with only $ 120,000 in sales. But Mary was always coming up with new ways to attract customers. The shop had a coffee bar and it offered gifts to mystery lovers and served dinners for book clubs that met in the store. She also invited dozens of writers to discuss their stories.
Today Mystery Lovers makes sales of about $ 420,000 a year. After paying taxes, business costs and the six part-time sales clerks, Richard and Mary together earn about $ 34,000.
“The job you love may not go hand in hand with a million-dollar income,” says Richard. “This has always been about an enjoyable life for ourselves, not about making a lot of money.”
1. After Mary got well from her illness they began _________.
A. to study industrial management (工业管理)
B. to buy and read more mystery books
C. to do market research on book business
D. to work harder to save money for the bookstore
2. How did their bookstore do in the first year?
A. They had to borrow money to keep it going.
B. They made just enough to cover all the costs.
C. They succeeded in earning a lot of money.
D. They failed though they worked hard.
3.According to Richard, the main purpose(目的) of running the bookstore is _________.
A. to pay for children’s education
B. to get to know more writers
C. to set up more bookstores
D. to do what they like to do
A man came home from work late, tired, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
“Daddy, how much money do you make each hour?”
“If you must know, I make $20 each hour.”
“Oh,” the little boy answered, with his head down. He thought for a moment, looked up and said, “Daddy, could you lend me $10?”
The father was furious, “If you asked for the money to buy a toy or some other rubbish, then go straight to your room and think about why you are so selfish!”
The little boy went to his room with no words and shut the door. After a short while, the father calmed down, and started to think, “Maybe he really needs to buy something and he didn’t really ask for money very often.” So he went to the little boy’s room.
“Sorry！Maybe I was too hard on you just now.” said the man, “Here’s $10.”
“Oh, thank you Daddy!” he said happily. Then the boy took out some coins. When the father found that the boy already had money, he got angry again.
“Why do you want more money since you already have some?” the father shouted angrily.
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do.” the little boy replied, “Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy one hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”
1.In this passage, the underlined word “furious” in Paragraph 5 means _________.
A. very angry B. quite happy C. too excited D. a little nervous
2.At first, the father didn’t lend the money because _________.
A. he thought the boy wanted to keep the money for himself.
B. he did not have enough money at that moment
C. he thought the boy would buy something useless
D. the boy always borrowed money from him
3.The boy wanted to buy _________ with twenty dollars.
A. a new novel for himself B. a nice present for his father
C. a toy for his own birthday D. one hour of his father’s time
Landing card Welcome to the United States of America 1. First (Given) name: William 2. Date of birth (dd/mm/yy): 12/08/98 3. Flight no. AA3751 4. Number of family members traveling with you: None 5. Country of citizenship: Spain 6. Purpose of visit: To see family 7. Are you carrying any of these things: Food, animal, plants, guns or cash over 10,000? Some chocolate 8. Have you had any illnesses in the last 3 months? No 9. How long will you be staying in the USA? Two weeks 10. Is this your first visit to the USA? No 11. In which city will you spend the most time during your stay? New York 12. What is your next destination? Madrid, Spain |
1.When is William’s birthday?
A. August 8 B. December 8C. August 12D. December 12
2.How long will William stay in the USA?
A. Two weeks. B. Two months. C. One week. D. One month.
3.Where can you find the card?
A. At the school. B. In the airplane. C. At the bus stop. D. In the hospital.
I stood there listening to my father shout at top of his voice. The look on his face said that one of us did something .
“Which one of you did this?”
We all looked down at the step. There was child’s handwriting in chalk there. I had a lot of
. I hoped no one could see it. Would he guess it was me? I was so worried. When he asked me, I lied, “Not me, Dad.” The others denied（否认）it as well. Of course, we all knew that one of must have done it. But as the youngest and smallest of the three, I just couldn’t find the courage to tell the truth.
To who had written on the step, Father gave us each a piece of paper and a pencil. “I want each of you to exactly what you see on the step.”
I tried my best to write the words . I didn’t want Dad to be able to tell it was me.
He our pieces of paper and looked at them. “Since none of you will admit (承认) to have done it, then I will punish (惩罚) you and said nothing. The last thing I wanted was for Dad to me.
“I did it.” My sister said she did something that she didn’t. Father grounded her for a month.
We didn’t talk about that day for many years. Not until we were all older and I knew it was to finally tell my dad it was really me. I always felt sorry for it. That was the last time I let anyone take the blame (责备) for me.
1.A. hard B. wrong C. special D. true
2.A. surprise B. happiness C. fear D. joy
3.A. them B. me C. you D. us
4.A. find out B. talk about C. think about D. look for
5.A. write B. read C. recite D. draw
6.A. clearly B. slowly C. differently D. carefully
7.A. opened B. colored C. showed D. collected
8.A. only B. all C. both D. one
9.A. beat B. teach C. punish D. understand
10.A. lucky B. silly C. easy D. safe
—_______?
—He’s friendly and helpful.
A. What’s he like? B. How’s he?
C. What’s he? D. What does he like?
—Would you go to the museum with me this Sunday?
—Sorry, _______. My aunt is coming to visit the family. We plan to have a welcome party then.
A. I don’t B. I can’t C.I needn’t D. I mustn’t
