第一节 完形填空
People joke that no one in Los Angeles reads; everyone watches TV, rents DVDs, or goes to the movies. The most popular reading material is comic books, movie magazines, and TV guides. City 21 has only 10 percent of the traffic that car washes have.
But how do you explain the following? An annual book festival in west Los Angeles is “22 ”，year after year. People wait half an hour for a parking space to become 23 ．
This outdoor festival, 24 by a newspaper, occurs every April for one weekend. This year’s attendance was about 145,000. There were about 90 talks given by authors, with an 25 question period following each talk. Book lovers were also able to collect some of the signatures of their favourite authors. A food store sold all kinds of popular foods. 26 a＄7 parking fee, the festival was free. Even so, some people 27 the food store prices by 28 taking in their own sandwiches and drinks．
The idea for the festival occurred years ago, but nobody knew if it would succeed. 29 book festivals were already popular in other US cities, would Los Angeles people welcome one?“Los Angeles people are very 30 ，”said one of the festival founders．
1. A. cinemas B. libraries C. supermarkets D. parkings
2. A. broken out B. carried out C. sold out D. run out
3. A. possible B. available C. acceptable D. useful
4. A. bought B. discovered C. taken D. sponsored
5. A. expert B. accurate C. audience D. optimistic
6. A. Except for B. Consisting of C. Rather than D. Along with
7. A. avoided B. increased C. asked D. bargained
8. A. openly B. secretly C. slowly D. naturally
9. A. As if B. When C. Even that D. Although
10. A. confident B. unexpected C. friendly D. unpredictable
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Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, was born in Kingfish, Oklahoma on March 29, 1918. He was raised in Missouri where he worked in his father’s store while attending school. This was his first retailing (零售业) experience and he really enjoyed it. After graduation, he began his own career as a retail merchant.
He soon opened his first Wal-Mart store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart specialized in name brands at low prices and Sam Walton was surprised at the success. Soon a chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America.
Walton's management style was popular with employees and he founded some of the basic concepts of management that are still in use today.
After taking the company public in 1970, Walton introduced his “profit sharing plan”. The profit sharing plan was a plan for Wal-Mart employees to improve their income dependent on the profits of the store. Sam Walton believed that “individuals don't win, teams do”. Employees at Wal-Mart stores were offered stock options (认股权) and store discounts. These benefits are commonplace today, but Walton was among the first to implement (实现) them. Walton believed that a happy employee meant happy customers and more sales. He also believed that by giving employees a part of the company and making their success dependent on the company’s success, they would care about the company.
By the 1980s, Wal-Mart had sales of over one billion dollars and over three hundred stores across North America. Wal-Mart’s unique decentralized (分散的) distribution system, also Walton’s idea, created the edge needed to further encourage growth in the 1980s during growing complaints that the “superstore” was stopping smaller and traditional stores from developing. By 1991, Wal-Mart was the largest US retailer with 1,700 stores. Walton remained active in managing the company, as president and CEO until 1988 and chairman until his death. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom shortly before his death.
Sam Walton first made a hit in retailing when __________.
A．he worked in his father’s store B．he created Walton's management style C．a chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America D．he specialized in name brands at low prices
A．To make sure all the employees had their own shares. B．To encourage the employees to work hard and make joint efforts. C．To select excellent employees for his stores. D．To make more profit for himself.
A．With Walton’s management style, employees treated the stores as their own. B．Walton wasn’t one of the merchants who first implemented stock options. C．The smaller and traditional stores were well affected by Walton’s stores. D．In his old age, Walton gave all the management to his men.
A．Danger. B．Disadvantage. C．Advantage. D．System.
Debbie Macomber decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. She rented a typewriter, put it on the ____ table and began typing each morning after the kids went to school. ____ the kids came home, she moved it and made them dinner. When they were ____ she got it back and typed some more.
Debbie followed this ____ for two years. She had become a struggling writer and she loved every minute of it. One night, ____, her husband, Wayne, said, “Honey, I’m sorry, but you’re not ____ any income. We can’t do this anymore. We can’t survive on just what I make.” That night, her heart was ____. Debbie knew, with all of the ____ of keeping up a house, working 40 hours a week would ____ her no time to write.
Seeing her ____, her husband asked, “What’s wrong?” “I really think I can make it as a ____.” “All right, honey, go for it,” Wayne ____ for a long time and then said.
So Debbie returned to her ____ and her typewriter on the kitchen table, writing for another two years. Wayne worked harder and their kids went without vacations and wore hand-me-downs. But the sacrifice finally ____.
Debbie sold her first book after five years of ____. Then another. And another. Until today, Debbie has ____ more than 100 books, many of ____ have become New York Times best-sellers. Over 60 million copies of her books are in print.
And Wayne? His selfless ____ of his wife paid off. He got to retire at 50 and now spends his free time building a private airplane in the basement of their 7,000 square-foot mansion. ____, Debbie’s kids also got a gift more important than several summer camps. As adults, they ____ what Debbie gave them was far more important — persistence and encouragement to pursue their own dreams.
A．coffee B．bedside C．kitchen D．dressing
A．Unless B．When C．Though D．Wherever
A．asleep B．awake C．free D．convenient
A．standard B．suggestion C．tradition D．routine
A．therefore B．however C．somehow D．anyway
A．making up B．cutting down C．finding out D．bringing in
A．broken B．warm C．touched D．cold
A．abilities B．balances C．duties D．problems
A．stop B．leave C．ensure D．permit
A．achievements B．behavior C．efforts D．sadness
A．typist B．housewife C．writer D．designer
A．doubted B．compared C．delayed D．hesitated
A．office B．dream C．state D．home
A．paid off B．broke up C．came back D．cleared up
A．challenging B．struggling C．thinking D．arguing
A．collected B．published C．prepared D．translated
A．them B．that C．it D．which
A．support B．respect C．trust D．protection
A．Surprisingly B．Gratefully C．Gradually D．Similarly
A．admit B．realize C．wonder D．prove
A year ago, August, Dave Fuss lost his job driving a truck for a small company in west Michigan. His wife, Gerrie, was still working in the local school cafeteria, but it was for Dave to find work, and the price of everything was rising. The Fusses were at the risk of joining the millions of Americans who have their homes in recent years. Then Dave and Gerrie received a timely —$7,000, a legacy(遗产) from their neighbors Ish and Arlene Hatch, who died in an accident. “It really made a difference when we were meeting difficulty.” says Dave.
But the Fusses weren’t the only folks in Alto and the neighboring town of Lowell to unexpected legacy from the Hatches. Dozens of other families were by what the Hatches had done. In some cases, it was a few thousand dollars; in , it was more than $100,000.
It nearly everyone that the Hatches had so much money, more than $3 million—they were an elderly couple who lived in an old house on what was left of the family farm.
Children of the Great Depression, Ish and Arlene were known for their habit of . They preferred comparison shopping and would go from store to store, checking prices before making a new purchase.
Through the years, the Hatches paid for local children to attend summer camps when their parents couldn’t it. “Ish and Arlene never asked if you anything,” says their friend Sandy Van Weelden, “They could see things they could do to make you happier, and they would do them.”
Even more extraordinary was that the Hatches their farmland. It was the Hatches’ wish that their legacy—a legacy of kindness as much as one of dollars and cents—should the whole community and last for generations to come.
Neighbors helping neighbors—that was Ish and Arlene Hatch’s story.
A．happy B．hard C．easy D．nice
A．lost B．bought C．left D．wanted
A．gift B．money C．encouragement D．package
A．accept B．defeat C．win D．receive
A．amazed B．excited C．upset D．touched
A．the other B．another C．other D．others
A．surprised B．frightened C．pleased D．encouraged
A．kind B．generous C．living D．saving
A．afford B．buy C．offer D．keep
A．suffered B．enjoyed C．needed D．did
A．put away B．put up C．gave up D．gave away
A．enrich B．bless C．brighten D．expand