Jerry was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?” Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, ‘Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.” I reflected on what Jerry said. Later, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, he forgot the password, nervous. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments（碎片） of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.” “Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked. Jerry continued, “The doctors and nurses were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. I knew I needed to take action.”
“What did you do?” I asked. “Well, there was a big, strong nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic (过敏的) to anything. “Yes,” I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, “Bullets!” Over their laughter, I told them. “I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
1.The author left Jerry’s restaurant because he___________.
A. wanted to start business on his own
B. was afraid of another robbery later
C. was not equal to the job any longer
D. didn’t get along well with others
2.Why was Jerry shot?
A. Because he left the back door open.
B. Because he opened the safe too slowly.
C. Because he pretended to forget the password.
D. Because he didn’t open the safe in time.
3.What was Jerry really afraid in the emergency room?
A. The doctors and nurses gave him up.
B. He decided to take action to live again.
C. He saw the expressions of the doctors and nurses.
D. He might not be saved by doctors and nurses.
4.From the passage we can learn that Jerry was_________.
A. No longer positive to his life after the operation
B. optimistic even when things were at their worst
C. Jerry influenced all his colleges in many ways
D. Badly injured and stayed in hospital for six months
5.Which of the following is conveyed in this article?
A. Where there is life, there is hope.
B. Everything comes to him who waits.
C. Humor is the best medicine that creates miracle.
D. Attitude determines everything.
You probably hear it all the time — people telling you to “learn English”. But does this mean children in English-speaking countries don’t need to bother learning a new language? Not at all. In fact, an even larger number of young people will soon be taught foreign languages, thanks to the mental advantages of bilingualism.
Psychologists once thought that growing up bilingual might lead to verbal delays－a late or absent development of talking. But US magazine Scientific American has revealed that this is not true, and reported that children who speak more than one language “show greater mental flexibility, a superior grasp of abstract concepts and a better working memory.” As the New York Times put it, “being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter.”
In Europe, learning foreign languages is increasingly popular. A European report shows that from 2005-2010, the percentage of European students learning a foreign language rose from 67.5 percent to 79.2 percent. Most European kids start learning another language at age 6. In Belgium, it starts at 3. New reforms being introduced in the UK will mean all children could be taught a foreign language, such as Mandarin or Greek, from the age of 7. The most popular foreign language for European kids was English, followed by German and French.
In comparison, Americans don’t give a fig for learning foreign languages. Compared to 50 percent of European adults who are bilingual, only 9 percent of adults in the US are fluent in more than one language, according to a 2011 report. American students are often not exposed to a second language until high school.
However, recent statistics show demand is growing in the US for people to become more bilingual. According to a USA Today chart released in July, 21 percent of US children speak another language at home. A number of institutions in the country are also pushing foreign languages in schools. Three school districts in Delaware will launch Chinese and Spanish programs next year. More people are learning Chinese, French and Spanish.
1.Psychologist used to believe that children who grow up bilingual ________.
A. are more flexible mentally
B. are slow in the development of talking
C. have a poorer working memory
D. are smarter in understanding abstract concept
2.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. Americans are more interested in learning another language than Europeans
B. British kids began to learn foreign languages at the earliest age
C. 21% of US children study a foreign language in the school
D. not all schools in America are teaching foreign languages
3.What does the underlined phrase”give a fig for” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A. Attach importance to
B. Have talent for
C. Invest money in
D. Have demand for
4.Which are the most popular foreign languages in the US?
A. Mandarin and Greek
B. English, German and French
C. Chinese, French and Spanish
D. Chinese, German and Greek
5.What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Chinese is becoming more popular in western countries.
B. The benefits and advantages of growing up bilingual.
C. Western worlds are paying more attention to learning foreign languages.
D. The differences between bilingual education in Europe and USA.
It was once unheard-of to be a businessman in China. Nowadays, though, it’s quite common to become your own boss. Let’s say you have an idea. Maybe you want to open an English school or sell Japanese comics. First, you need a business plan. It sets out what you’ll sell and how much everything will cost. Most businesses that fail didn’t have this. If you need to borrow money at the start, banks will ask for a detailed plan.
The best starting place for a business plan is the 4Ps: product, place, price and promotion. All these must be strong to be successful.
Product
Your product must have something unique. What makes it special compared to other similar products? If you want to start a noodle shop that has nothing new, don’t expect people to show much interest. You can research your product. For food, let people try it for free. For toys, let a few children play with them to see if they like them.
Place
There’s no point having a product that people want to buy if your shop is in an empty mall. Think about which type of person is going to buy what you sell. Where do they usually go shopping? When looking at possible places, spend the day there. See how many people pass by. Also, are there other shops nearby selling similar products? If so, how can you be better than them?
Price
Work out how much it costs to make or provide your product. As a general rule, your price will be double the cost. After all, you’re also paying for rent, staff and you need to eat too!
Promotion
How can you attract people to your shop? Advertising in newspapers and on TV is expensive. Perhaps you can get free advertising by getting a newspaper to write about your business.
1.What’s the best title for the passage?
A. How to start a business.
B. Starting a business soon.
C. Starting your own business.
D. Preparations for starting a business.
2.According to the author, the reason why most businesses fail is due to lack of ________.
A. a business plan B. a shop C. money D. successful businessmen
3.If you want to start a noodle shop, you should ________.
A. expect people to show much interest
B. research your noodles
C. let people try it at a low price
D. let children have a try
4.What does “If so” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. There are shops selling the goods like yours.
B. Many people pass by.
C. You should think about which type of person is going to buy what you sell.
D. You should spend the day on possible places.
5.You are selling toys to children. It costs 5 yuan to make each one. How much should you charge the children for each toy?
A. 15 yuan.B. 5 yuan.C. 10 yuan.D. 50 yuan.
It was unusually quiet in the emergency room on December 25. I didn’t think there would be any , sighing about having to work on Christmas. Just then five bodies at my desk, a pale woman and four children.
“Are you all ?” I asked. “Yes,” she said weakly and lowered her head.
But when it came to of their problems, things got a little strange. They all claimed to have headaches, but the headaches weren’t by the normal body language of holding the head or trying to keep it still.
Something was wrong. Our hospital policy, , was not to turn away any patient. I explained it might be a little while a doctor saw her. She responded immediately, even a bit “Take your time,” and then added, “It’s warm in here.”
Then, I checked their registration form out of curiosity. No address—they were .The waiting room was warm. I went back to the nurses’ station and mentioned we had a homeless in the waiting room. The nurses, complaining of on Christmas, turned to sympathy for a family just trying to get on Christmas. The team went into action, much as we do when there’s a emergency. But this was a Christmas emergency.
We were all a free meal on Christmas Day, so we took back that meal and prepared a big dinner for our .We needed presents. We from different departments candies, fruits and other things that could be presents. As seriously as we met the needs of the patients, our team worked to meet the needs of a family who just wanted to be warm on Christmas.
, as the family walked to the door to leave, the mother came back, gave me a hug and whispered, “Thanks for being our angels today.”
1.A. customers B. patients C. workers D. doctors
2.A. showed up B. took in C. came out D. looked on
3.A. tired B. hungry C. sick D. warm
4.A .descriptions B. comments C. instructions D. results
5.A. accompaniedB. adjusted C. acknowledgedD. affected
6.A. thereforeB. otherwise C. howeverD. moreover
7.A. after B. since C. before D. when
8.A. shyly B. happily C. calmly D. politely
9.A. lonely B. greedy C. clever D. homeless
10.A. family B. holiday C. woman D. Christmas
11.A. operating B. interrupting C. managing D. working
12.A. present B. warm C. relief D. approval
13.A. beneficial B. friendly C. medical D. different
14.A. rewarded B. offered C. allowed D. ordered
15.A. neighbors B. relations C. brothers D. guests
16.A. borrowed B. received C. collected D. bought
17.A. expensive B. useful C. convenient D. available
18.A. healthy B. physical C. tragic D. mental
19.A. SoonB. Later C. Next D. Gradually
20.A. to runB. run C. running D. and ran
---I am taking my driving test tomorrow!
---__________!
A. Cheers B. Good luck C. Come on D. congratulations
No matter what happens, you should keep _______. Just look on the bright side of things.
A. generous B. optimistic C. careful D. practical
