IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer, and the man behind it is Ingvar Kamprad, one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. Born in Sweden in 1926, Kamprad was a natural businessman. As a child, he enjoyed selling things and made small profits from selling matches, seeds, and pencils in his community. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him some money as a reward for his good grades. Naturally he used it to start up a business—IKEA.
IKEA’s name comes from Kamprad's initials (I.K.) and the place where he grew up (‘E’and ‘A’). Today IKEA is known for its modern, minimalist furniture, but it was not a furniture company in the beginning. Rather, IKEA sold all kinds of miscellaneous goods.
Kamprad’s wares included anything that he could sell for profits at discounted prices, including watches, pens and stockings.
IKEA first began to sell furniture through a mail-order catalogue in 1947. The furniture was all designed and made by manufacturers near Kamprad’s home. Initial sales were very encouraging, so Kamprad expanded the product line．Furniture was such a successful aspect of the business that IKEA became solely a furniture company in 1951.
In 1953 IKEA opened its first showroom in Almhult, Sweden. IKEA is known today for its spacious stores with furniture in attractive settings, but in the early1950s, people ordered from catalogues. Thus response to the first showroom was overwhelming: people loved being able to see and try the furniture before buying it. This led to increased sales and the company continued to thrive. By 1955, IKEA was designing all its own furniture.
In 1956 Kamprad saw a man disassembling(拆卸) a table to make it easier to transport. Kamprad was inspired. The man had given him a great idea: flat packaging. Flat packaging would mean lower shipping costs for IKEA and lower prices for customers. IKEA tried it and sales soared. The problem was that people had to assemble furniture themselves, but over time, even this grew into an advantage for IKEA. Nowadays, IKEA is often seen as having connotations(内涵) of self-sufficiency. This image has done wonders for the company, leading to better sales and continued expansion.
Today there are over 200 stores in 32 countries. Amazingly, Ingvar Kamprad has managed to keep IKEA a privately-held company. In 2004 he was named the world’s richest man. He currently lives in Switzerland and is retired from the day-to-day operations of IKEA. IKEA itself, though, just keeps on growing.
1.The author states in Paragraph 6 that flat packaging___________.
A. needs large space to assembly furniture
B. is a business concept inspired by Kamprad
C. helps reduce transportation costs
D. makes the company self-sufficient
2.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Ingvar Kamprad is the richest man in the world.
B. IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer.
C. The advantage of IKEA’s furniture is dissembling.
D. Ingvar Kamprad established IKEA and led it to great success.
3.What is the author’s attitude towards IKEA’s future according to the last paragraph?
A. Indifferent B. Optimistic
C. Doubtful D. Pessimistic
4.The passage is developed primarily in terms of ___________.
A. order of events
B. analysis of a process
C. examples that illustrate(阐释) a problem
D. comparison and contrast
The Palm Islands are the largest artificial islands in the world and are under construction in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. They are being developed as tourist, leisure, and residential resorts, and will increase the coastline of the country by 120 kilometres.
After four years of planning and careful consideration of the environmental issues, construction started in 2001. Dutch engineers with experience of reclaiming land from the sea were employed in the building of the first two islands. The site for all three islands is an area of the sea where the water is not very deep. Sand is taken from the seabed and sprayed into the construction site. Although the shallow water facilitates this process, the islands are still very exposed to the currents and tidal movements of the sea. Rocks are used to hold the sand in place resulting in a large crescent (月状的) structure. This acts as a breakwater and protects the islands from the sea.
The first two islands are in the shape of date palm trees and consist of a trunk and 17 frond, or leaves coming off the trunk. The first island, named Palm Jumeirah, has three five-star hotels in the trunk, and luxury homes in the leaves. It is astonishing that when these homes went on sale in 2004, they were all sold within three days.
The second palm, Jebel Ali, was started in 2002 and is designed to be an entertainment centre. Six marinas (小游艇船坞) are planned, with a water theme park, and homes built on stilts (桩柱) in the water.
The Palm Deira planned to be the largest of the three islands, with a length of 14 km and a width of 8.5 km, an area larger than the city of Paris. It will consist of residential properties, marinas, shopping malls, sports facilities, and clubs. These will be open to both residents and tourists.
More artificial islands, the World Islands, are now being constructed near the Palm Jumeirah. They consist of 300 private islands grouped into the shape of the continents of the world and will be used for estates, private homes, community islands, and resorts.
Unquestionably, these artificial islands are one of the wonders of the modern world. They will also maintain Dubai’s status as one of the leading tourist destinations in the region.
1.According to the passage, all the following are right EXCEPT___________.
A. Some Dutch engineers are experienced in reclaiming land from the sea.
B. The islands are being built in the shallow water of the sea.
C. All the luxury homes on Palm Jumeirah were sold.
D. The World Islands are bigger than the Palm Jumeriah.
2.The underlined word “facilitates” in the second paragraph probably means___________.
A. holds back B. makes easier
C. slows down D. leads to
3.What is the passage written for?
A. To introduce the wonderful artificial islands.
B. To show how to build artificial islands.
C. To offer a travel service for tourists.
D. To prove the Palm Islands are the largest artificial islands in the world.
If you are a modern art lover, you should be sure to drop by the Saatchi Gallery during your visit to London. The original gallery was by Charles Saatchi, a British art collector for founding the Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency with his brother. It moved from its old in St. John’s Wood to its new home in County Hall near the Thames in the spring of 2003.
Anyone who has heard in the past of the often shocking but always inspiring works on at the Saatchi Gallery will not be when visiting the gallery’s new location. Along with the of new British artists, the gallery still the works of Damien Hirst, the Chapman brothers, and Tracy Emin in its permanent .
Of the artworks, one can see in the Saatchi Gallery, Hirst’s works are probably the most . Hirst’s work first made headlines in the early 1990s when he art from dead animals.
Along with Hirst, the Chapman brothers, Dinos and Jake, also a certain amount of their fame to the Saatchi Gallery. It was through Saatchi these two brothers came to public attention. At the gallery, visitors can see the brothers’ vision of Hell, made from 30, 000 plastic toy soldiers.
Another artist featured at the gallery who has grabbed with her art is Tracy Emin. In 1998, Emin gave to argument when she sold her messy, unmade bed to Saatchi as a work of art My Bed at ￡150, 000.
Are any of these works really art? That is a question you will have to answer for when you visit the Saatchi Gallery. Charles Saatchi himself says, “I don’t have any ground rules for art. Sometimes you look and don’t feel very with it—but that doesn’t tell you very much. It doesn’t reveal much about the quality of the work.”
1.A. repaired B. opened C. built D. rented
2.A. keen B. suitable C. eager D. famous
3.A. location B. history C. city D. society
4.A. concerts B. reports C. rumors D. advice
5.A. store B. board C. display D. sale
6.A. addicted B. interested C. disappointed D. worried
7.A. business B. story C. exhibits D. tradition
8.A. produces B. publishes C. revises D. includes
9.A. collection B. station C. memory D. basement
10.A. ready-made B. well-known C. well-prepared D. easy-going
11.A. copied B. created C. invented D. discovered
12.A. devote B. suggest C. bring D. owe
13.A. when B. why C. that D. while
14.A. headlines B. position C. advantages D. occupations
15.A. way B. rise C. anxiety D. hope
16.A. adapted B. written C. referred D. titled
17.A. yourself B. it C. them D. one
18.A. praising B. judging C. appreciating D. studying
19.A. surprised B. confused C. comfortable D. acceptable
20.A. necessarily B. exactly C. completely D. likely
Out of the train_______, well-dressed and waving to the crowd.
A. a tall man stepped B. was stepping a tall man
C. did a tall man step D. stepped a tall man
— Do you know how Chinese acupuncture reduces pain?
— Well, well, _______. I’ve never read about that.
A. I can’t tell you B. you really have me there
C. there is some doubt D. what a shame
In many cities of China, if an ambulance is_______ in a traffic jam, police will respond to the emergency.
A. held up B. held back
C. held down D. held out
