（BBC）Thefatherofthepersonalcom-优题课

When Jack Ma founded the Alibaba Group in 1999, he had 500,000 yuan in his hand and the support of 17 friends. Now eight years later, Alibaba has become China’s largest online commerce company, earning a profit of 1.36 billion yuan in 2006.
But when asked what makes him proud, Ma surprised many people by putting his employees way ahead of his legendary e-commerce websites.
“I feel most proud of my team, and the least of the websites,” Ma said. “The secret of my success is relying on team work and having a sense of mission（使命）”
Ma made the remarks on the eve of Alibaba Group’s shares becoming available for trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last Tuesday. On the first day of trading, the shares more than doubled in value.
Eight years ago, when Ma created Alibaba, he envisioned（预想）that the Internet would change people’s lives. But the former English teacher knew little about computer science. “So I decided to hire someone who knows technology and respected his decisions,” he said.
Ma said he trusts his employees fully as long as they are diligent and have a sense of purpose.
“When people apply to work for Alibaba, I talk with them for two hours to lower their expectations. I tell the applicants not to expect a pay raise or promotion, but to prepare to work long hours and to be criticized by the boss, “ Ma said.
But Ma is not a rigid（严厉的）boss. He is like a friend in the eyes of most his employees. Unlike traditional companies where most of the people do just what their boss asks, he treats them as partners and encourages them to present their own ideas.
“I have confidence in the online commercial service in China and encourage my more than 4,000 staff to remain united to make Alibaba the biggest ecommerce supplier for China, Asia and even the world,” said Ma.
He promotes company values of honesty, passion and teamwork. Those who don’t accept these principals will find it hard to work there, no matter how talented they are.
“I have seen many who are more clever and hardworking than my team and me,” Ma said. But “we have a loyal team which has stayed on the same course, no wavering（摇摆）.” And Ma pursuing his dream is the magnet（磁铁）that draws talents in.
57. What did Jack Ma do before he founded Alibaba?
A. He was a waiter. B. He was a technician.
C. He was a teacher. D. He was a manager of a small company.
58. What is Jack Ma’s characteristic in terms of his management?
A. Trusting his employees fully.
B. Putting his employees ahead of himself before performing and trade.
C. Promoting company values of honesty, passion and team work.
D. Pursuing his dream is the magnet that draws talents in.
59. What does Ma take the most pride in?
A. His employees. B. His website.
C. Alibaba Group’s Shares. D. His efficient management.
60. According to the text, which remarks following is NOT reasonable?
A. Jack Ma believes an employee’s talent is less important than the acceptance of the company’ principals.
B. Alibaba is an online commerce company started eight years ago.
C. Alibaba has become the biggest e-commerce company in China.
D. Alibaba’s shares rocketed after they made their first public appearance on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week.

First it was jogging. Then aerobics（有氧运动）. Not too long ago, Americans discovered race walking.
Now Americans are into a new fitness craze. They’re taking up bicycling. Over hills and down mountainsides and across quiet country roads, Americans are busily rolling along.
The number of adults who ride for fitness is around 17 million, an increase of 70 percent over four years ago. Twice as many women as men are coming to the sport. Americans are falling in love with biking because it has speed, the benefits of jogging and beautiful scenery.
Bicycling is a very appropriate sport, which is important to people who injured their knees while jogging or whose joints are aching from aerobics. And biking is a real awakening for people who have been into race walking in the past. Race walking is as dull as watching paint dry.
The most popular kind of bicycle for people who are new to the sport is the mountain bike, which has a fixed frame with wide tires and upright handles. Mountain bikes also have many gears（齿轮） to make it easier to climb hills. About 5 million Americans ride mountain bikes, compared with 200,000 who rode them only five years ago.
Costs range from about ＄130 for a bottom-of-the-line bicycle to more than ＄2,700 for an expensive bicycle.
Mountain biking has attracted some people who race down the sides of mountains like a bat out of hell. But most riders ride slowly and they rarely venture far from home.
The biking craze has brought an unexpected profit（盈利） to clothing and bicycle accessory（附属品）makers. Last year, bikers paid ＄630 million for biking clothes and accessories.
Bicycling seems likely to continue its fantastic growth.
53. Race walking is about as dull as watching paint dry because _______
A. race walking is a slow-moving sport
B. the number of adults who ride for fitness has grown 70 percent in four years.
C. it has speed, the benefits of jogging and beautiful scenery.
D. Americans are taking up bicycling.
54. The bicycling craze has been a profit for _______.
A. people who want to ride like a bat out of hell
B. bicycle accessory makers
C. race walkers
D. twice as many women as men
55. What does the underlined word “bottom-of-the-line” mean?
A. poor B. modern C. old D. cheapest
56. The main idea of the article is _______
A. riding a bicycle is one of the most dangerous sports in America
B. Americans are rolling along
C. bicycling is the latest fitness craze to hit America
D. most people in America want to own a hand-made bicycle that can cost more than 2,700

"Tear’em apart!" "Kill the fool!" "Murder the referee（裁判）!"
They are common remarks one may hear at various sporting events. At the time they are made, they may seem innocent（无害的）enough. But let's not kid ourselves. They have been known to influence behavior in such a way as to lead to real bloodshed（流血）.Books have been written about the way words affect us. It has shown that words having certain meanings may cause us to react in ways quite foreign to what we consider to be our usual humanistic behavior. I see the term "opponent" as one of those words. Perhaps the time has come to delete it from sports terms.
The dictionary meaning of the term "opponent" is "enemy":“ one who opposes your interests." Thus, when a player meets an opponent, he or she may tend to treat that opponent as an enemy. At such times, winning may control one's mind, and every action, no matter how bad, may be considered correct . I recall an incident in a handball game when a referee refused a player's request for a time out for a glove change because he didn't consider them wet enough. The player rubbed his gloves across his wet T-shirt and then shouted, "Are they wet enough now?"
In the heat of battle, players have been observed to throw themselves across the court without considering the consequences that such a move might have on anyone in their way. I have also witnessed a player reacting to his opponent's intentional and illegal blocking by hitting him with the ball as hard as he could during the course of play. Off the court, they are good friends. Does that make any sense? It certainly gives proof of a court attitude which is different from normal behavior.
Therefore, I believe it is time we promoted the game to the level where it is by setting an example. Replacing the term “opponent” with “ associate” could be an ideal way to start.
The dictionary meaning of the term “associate” is “friend”；“companion.” Think it over！You may soon see and possibly feel the difference in your reaction to the term "associate' rather than "opponent."
49. Which of the following statements best expresses the author's view?
A. Bad behavior in sports will always have serious consequences.
B. The words people use can influence their behavior.
C. Unpleasant words in sports are often used by foreign athletes.
D. Unfair judgments by referees will lead to violence on the sports field.
50. Rough words are spoken during games because the players________.
A. are too eager to win B. are usually bad-tempered
C. can't afford to be polite in competitions D. treat their friends as competitors
51. What did the handball player do when he was not allowed a time out to change his gloves?
A. He refused to continue the game.
B. He angrily hit the referee with a ball.
C. He claimed that the referee was unfair.
D. He wet his gloves by rubbing them across his T-shirt.
52. The author hopes to have the current situation in sports improved by_______.
A. changing the attitude of players on the sports field
B. raising the referee's sense of responsibility
C. calling on players to use clean language on the court
D. regulating the relationship between players and referees

The Internet is a way of life for US college students, with research showing them to be one of the most connected groups.
A recent study by Harris Interactive and 360 Youth found that 93 percent of American college students visit the Internet, and this market is expected to grow from 15.2 million in 2003 to 16.4 million in2007.
That is slow but could be the result of the already high number of college Internet users.
About 88 percent of American college students own a computer, and more than half have broadband connections. Furthermore, 76 percent own cell phones and 36 percent use their mobile devices to visit the Internet.
Study findings are that 42 percent go online mainly to communicate socially, and 72 percent of college students check emails at least once a day, with 66 percent using at least two email addresses.
The most popular online social activity is forwarding messages to friends or family, with 37 per cent of college students saying they do so.
The study also looked beyond the Internet surfing habits and into the buying habits of this group, and found them responsible for more than US＄210 billion in sales last year alone.
College students have learned how to spend their money, with 93 per cent saying low prices were important when shopping.
The study also showed that 65 percent make loan payments, 41 percent of freshmen have a credit card; and 79 percent of seniors have a credit card.
A significant number of charges on those credit cards are likely to be for entertainment and leisure expenses.
45. College students in the US, as this passage shows, _______
A. don’t have to learn their lessons in their classroom
B. spend too much time visiting the Internet
C. lead an exciting life by visiting the Internet
D. waste much time visiting the Internet
46. From the fourth paragraph we can find that in the US_______.
A. most college students are from rich families
B. college students can have a computer from their college
C. cell phones will take the place of computers in college
D. mobile phones make Internet life easy for college students
47. To communicate with friends, nearly half of the college students use_______
A. letters B. e-mails C. telephones D. telegraph
48. By using the Internet, college students in the US can do the following except _______.
A. reading newspapers B. chatting with friends
C. buying goodsD. going swimming

第二部分：阅读理解（共两节；满分45分）
阅读下列短文，选出最佳选项。
A small piece of fish each day may keep the heart doctor away. That’s the finding of a study of Dutchmen in which deaths from heart disease were more than 50 percent lower among those who consumed at least an ounce of salt water fish per day compared to those who never ate fish.
The Dutch research is one of three human studies that give strong scientific support to the long-held belief that eating fish can provide health benefits, particularly to the heart. Heart disease is the number-one killer in the United States, with more than 550,000 deaths occurring from heart attacks each year. But previous research has shown that the level of heart disease is lower in cultures that consume more fish than Americans do. There are fewer heart disease deaths, for example, among the Eskimos of Greenland, who consume about 14 ounces of fish a day, and among the Japanese, whose daily fish consumption average more than 3 ounces.
For 20 years, the Dutch study followed 852 middle-aged men, 20 percent of whom ate no fish. At the start of the study, average fish consumption was about two-thirds of an ounce each day, with more men eating lean fish than fatty fish.
During the next two decades, 78 of the men died from heart disease. The fewest deaths were among the group who regularly ate fish, even at levels far lower than those of the Japanese or Eskimos. This relationship was true regardless of other factors such as age, high blood pressure, or blood cholesterol（胆固醇） levels.
41. The passage is mainly about_______
A. the high incidence of heart disease in some countries
B. the changes in people’s diet
C. the daily fish consumption of people in different culture.
D. The effect of fish eating on people’s health
42. We can infer from the passage that there are fewer heart disease deaths _______.
A. in the countries with good production of fish
B. in the countries of the yellow-skin race
C. in the countries with high consumption of fish
D. in highly-developed countries
43. The underlined part “This relationship” may refer to the connection between_______and the level of heart disease.
A. the amount of fish eaten B. regular fish-eating
C. the kind of fish eaten D. people of different areas
44. In which section of a newspaper can we read this passage?
A. Ads. B. Movies. C. Briefs. D. Health and diet.