陳波

A

A jobless man applied for the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The Human Resource manager __1__ him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.

“You are employed，” he said. “Give me your? e-mail? address? and? I'll? send? you? the

__2__ form to fill in， as well as the __3__ when you may start.”

The man replied， “But I don't have a（n） __4__， neither an e-mail. ”

“I'm sorry，” said the HR manager， “if you don't have an e-mail， that __5__ you do not exist. And anyone who doesn't exist cannot have the __6__.”

The man left with no __7__ at all. He didn't know what to do with only $10 in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and __8__ a 10 kg tomato crate （箱）.

He sold the tomatoes in a door to door round. In less than two hours， he succeeded in doubling his __9__. He repeated the __10__ three times， and returned home with $60.

The man realized that he could __11__ in this way， and started to go every day earlier， and return late. Thus， his money doubled or tripled every day.

Shortly， he bought a cart， then a truck， and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years __12__， the man is one of the biggest food retailers （零售商） in the US.

He started to plan his family's __13__， and decided to have a life insurance.

He called an insurance broker， and chose a protection plan.

When the conversation was __14__ the broker asked him for his e-mail.

The man replied， “I don't have an e-mail.”

The broker answered __15__， “You don't have an e-mail， and __16__ have succeeded in building an empire. Can you __17__ what you could have been if you had an e-mail？” The man thought for a while and __18__， “I'd be a（n） __19__ at Microsoft！”

The __20__ of the story is that the Internet is not the solution to your life. Work hard， and you may be a millionaire.

1. A. introduced B. examined C. employed? ? ? D. interviewed

2. A. application B. ability C. sales? ? ? ? ? D. structure

3. A. condition? ? B. situation C. date? ? ? ? ? D. experience

4. A. box? ? ? B. computer C. occupation? ? D. habit

5. A. means? ? ? B. proved C. explained? ? ? D. suggests

6. A. practice? ? ? B. answer C. duty? ? ? ? ? D. job

7. A. surprise B. hope C. sense D. doubt

8. A. buy? ? B. taste C. fetch D. remove

9. A. courage B. confidence C. capital? ? ? ? D. debt

10. A. invention? B. idea C. operation? ? ? D. value

11. A. increase? ? B. prevent C. survive? ? ? D. promote

12. A. ago? ? B. earlier C. later? D. before

13. A. wealth B. safety C. income D. future

14. A. started? ? ? ? B. interrupted C. disappeared? ? D. concluded

15. A. anxiously? ? B. curiously C. eagerly? ? ? ? D. embarrassedly

16. A. yet B. then C. after D. when

17. A. provide B. describe C. imagine? ? ? ? D. recognize

18. A. begged B. shouted C. cried? ? ? ? ? D. replied

19. A. office boy ? ? B. HR manager C. retailer? ? ? ? D. businessman

20. A. moral? ? ? ? ? B. content C. ending? ? ? ? D. index

B

Colonel Harland Sanders （1890—1980） was an American businessman， and founder of the KFC. When he __1__ at the age of 65， he had little to __2__ for himself， except an old car， a $105 monthly pension check， and a recipe for chicken.

Knowing he couldn't live on his pension， he took his __3__ in hand and set out to make his __4__. His first plan was to sell his recipe to restaurant owners， who would in turn give him five cents per chicken they __5__. The first restaurant he called on __6__ him down. So did the second， the third.

In fact， the first 1008 sales __7__ Colonel made ended in failure. Still， he continued to call on owners， sleeping in his car to save money. The No. 1009 call gave him his first “__8__”.

After two years of making daily sales he had signed up a total of five restaurants.

__9__， the Colonel pressed on， knowing that he had a great chicken recipe and that someday the __10__ would catch on.

Of course， you know how the __11__ ended. The idea DID catch on. By 1963 the Colonel had 600 __12__ across the US selling his secret recipe of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Even? though? the? sale? made? him? a? multi-millionaire， he __13__ to represent and promote KFC until his __14__ in 90. Sanders' story teaches an important lesson： It's never too late to decide never to give up.

Earlier in his life Sanders was __15__ in other business ventures—but they weren't

__16__. At the age of 65， however， Sanders decided his chicken idea was the right idea， and he refused to give up， even in spite of repeated __17__. He knew that if he kept on knocking on doors， __18__ someone would say “yes”. Remember： It's never too __19__ to become persistent. Keep on asking. Keep on __20__. Keep on knocking.

1. A. died B. failed C. retired D. abandoned

2. A. show B. sell C. explain D. change

3. A. car B. recipe C. chicken D. check

4. A. decision B. life C. fortune D. mark

5. A. ordered B. bought C. raised? ? ? ? D. sold

6. A. threw B. set? ? C. cut? ? D. turned

7. A. purchases B. ads C. products? ? ? D. calls

8. A. hello B. bye? C. yes? ? D. no

9. A. Even? ? ? ? ? ? B. Still C. Luckily? ? ? ? D. Unfortunately

10. A. idea? B. plan C. project D. dream

11. A. course? ? ? B. story C. biography? ? D. service

12. A. owners? ? ? B. restaurants C. cooks? ? ? D. managers

13. A. continued? ? ? ? B. stopped C. got? ? ? ? ? ? D. decided

14. A. birthday? ? ? ? B. achievement C. progress? ? ? ? D. death

15. A. stuck B. found C. involved D. caught

16. A. interesting? ? ? B. forgetful C. successful? ? D. special

17. A. suggestion? ? ? B. invitation C. rejection? ? D. competition

18. A. eventually? ? ? B. similarly C. fortunately? D. naturally

19. A. late? ? ? ? ? ? B. early C. bad? ? ? ? ? D. important

20. A. looking? ? ? ? ? B. fighting C. seeking? ? ? D. dreaming