A TAXI driver taught me a million dollar lesson in custome
r satisfaction and expectation. Inspiring speakers charge thousands of dollars to give his kind of training to corporate directors and staff. It cost me only a ＄12 taxi ride.
I had flown into Dallas just for the purpose of calling on a client. Time was important and my plan included a quick turn – around trip from and back to the airport. A clean taxi pulled up.
The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door. As be got in the driver’s seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to me for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy.
Well! I looked around for a 
“Candid Camera!” Wouldn’t you? I could not believe the service I was receiving! I took the opportunity to say, “Obviously you take great pride in you work. You must have a story to tell.”
“You bet,” he replied, “I used to be in Corporate America. But I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough. I decided to find my right position in life, somewhere I could feel proud of being the best I could be.
I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day’s work and done it well. I evaluated my personal property and, I became a taxi driver!
One thing I know for sure, to be good in my business I jus have to meet the expectations of my passengers. But, to be GREAT in my business, I have to EXEED the customer’s expectations! I like the sound of being ‘great’ better than just being ‘average’. ”
Did I tip him big time? You bet!
The taxi driver taught me a great life lesson: Go an extra mile when providing any service to others. And there is no good or bad job you can make any job good.What lesson did the author learn from the taxi driver?
| A．How to make the best use of time. |
| B．How to do better in the service business. |
| C．How to turn an interest into your career. |
| D．How to become a motivational speaker. |
Why did the author look around for a “Candid Camera”?
| A．Because he was afraid he would be photographed in the cab. |
| B．Because he was worried what the driver could be up to. |
| C．Because he was amazed by the way the driver was treating him. |
| D．Because he wasn’t interested in the tapes offered by the driver |
It can be inferred from the story that .
| A．the taxi driver couldn’t accept just being average |
| B．the author was anxious to get back to meet a client |
| C．when the author waited for a taxi at the airport, he was not in a rush |
| D．the taxi driver loved to play his favorite music during rides |
According to the story, the taxi driver .
| A．was dissatisfied wit his present job |
B．was once often reward ed for being a model worker |
| C．enjoyed offering his customers more than they expected |
| D．was forced to become a taxi driver to support his family |
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The third theme of geography is movement. As people travel around the world, exchanging goods, ideas and interests, the global community is transformed. Take surfing, for example, the sport originated in Hawaii centuries ago. Today, the cry “surf up!” can be heard along coastlines everywhere.
Europeans were the first Westerners to observe the sport. In 1779, Captain Cook, a British explorer, and his crew sailed around the Sandwich Islands ( Now Hawaii ). Near the rocky coast of the Big Island, they witnessed a man riding a wave while standing on a board.
Cook was stricken by what he saw. Hawaiians would pray for good waves and hold ceremonies when building surfboards. Their boards were built according to rank: Chiefs used long boards (16 to 18 feet long ), while commoners used shorter ones (6 to 8 feet long ).
After the arrival of Europeans, Hawaiian surf culture declined. Many Hawaiians died of European-borne diseases. Also, Christian missionaries (传教士) spread the belief that surfing was “ignorant (愚昧的)fun”.
These conditions changed after Hawaii became a United States territory in 1900( It became a state in 1959.) Travelers to the islands brought back stories of wave riding. Tales of the thrilling sport spread across the U.S., then to the rest of the world.
Today, surfing is the king of board sports. According to wannasurf.com, the world has nearly 8,000 “surf spots” in 136 countries on 6 continents. The Association of Surfing professionals (ASP) holds an annual world tour in which top riders compete for millions of fans on the waves.
top-5 countries with surf spots
country NO. of Sports
United States 1375
Australia 1160
South Africa 575
France 352
New Zealand 338
60. According to the passage , surfing originated in________.
A. Britain B. Europe C. America D. France
61. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. Captain Cook was interested in surfing.
B. There are no surf spots in Asia.
C. In Hawaii, everyone was equal in sports.
D. Surfing is the third theme of geography.
62. The underlined word in the fourth paragraph probably means________.
A. excited Europeans B. gradually lost its strength
C. died out D. became more and more popular
63 What would be the best title for the text?
A. The spread of surf culture. B. The history of surf culture.
C. The rebirth of surf culture. D. The advantages of surf culture.
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第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分，满分40分）
请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项.
The three most valuable brand(商标)names on earth : Marlboro, Coca-cola and Budweiser, in that order.
It’s interesting that of the three most valuable brand names on earth, NONE of them are good for you.
Cigarettes kill 370,000 people a year in the U.S., not counting passive smoke. That’s over 1,000 people per day, equaling to five giant jets crashing daily. The estimates are that passive cigarette smoke kills over 15,000 people per year. That’s more than illegal drugs.
Coke is a solid company, but let’s face it, carbonated(含二氧化碳的) soft drinks of any brand are not healthy for you. There was a fellow parked in my driveway years ago. We were talking and he was drinking a cola. For some reason I had moved the cola and placed it on the hood (发动机罩) of his car.
“Don’t put that drink on my car!” he shouted. “Don’t you know the acid(酸) in that drink will eat the paint off my car?” he said. He quickly took the drink and finished drinking it.
The third most valuable brand in the world is a beer.
It’s interesting what we value the most. You can’t control what the world values. You can only control what you value.
What do you value? Is it really valuable?
One method of determining what you really value is to try to do without it. If you can’t do it without it, then that’s what you value.
Are you trying to get to the mountaintop with a cigarette in your mouth, a soda in one hand, and a beer in the other because those are the things that you can’t do without?
Stop and think about your real treasures.“For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also ...”
56. According to the passage, Budweiser refers to____ .
A. a kind of cigarette B. a kind of soft drink
C. a kind of paint D. a kind of beer
57. How many people are killed by passive cigarette smoke per day?
A. about 1,000 B. about 15,000 C. about 40 D. about 370,000
58. Why did the fellow take the cola and finish drinking it immediately?
A. Because cola was good for his health.
B. Because cola would damage the paint of his car.
C. Because he was very thirsty then.
D. Because he wanted to apologize to me.
59. What is the purpose of the text?
A. To give advice on how to determine what you value most.
B. To encourage people to give up smoking and drinking.
C. To warn people not to believe advertisements.
D. To tell people to have a clear mind about what is really valuable.
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The Kingdome in Seattle was destroyed on March 26, 2000. It was taken down to make room for a new stadium. The blast(爆破) from the falling building caused the earth to shake as if an earthquake had happened.
Scientists placed more than 200 earthquake recorders in the earth to measure the movement. They found which parts of the city shook the most. This information helped them know which parts of the city would be damaged in a real earthquake at an early time.
A real earthquake happened on February 28, 2001 in Seattle. The Nisqually earthquake was 6.8 on the Richter scale(里氏6.8级). It damaged the same parts of Seattle that scientists had predicted(预测) from the pulling down of the Kingdome. It was a plate quake. It started deep in the earth, 37 miles below the surface on the Juan de Fuca Plate. Sometimes, huge plates under the earth cause earthquakes when the plates move against each other suddenly.
Scientists have learned that deep earthquakes have very few aftershocks(余震). The Nisqually earthquake had only 4 ones. Another earthquake in California that was close to the surface had over 120 aftershocks. Scientists do not know why the deep earthquakes have fewer aftershocks.
Scientists plan to blast in the ground near Seattle with the purpose of testing the plate. The shockwaves from the blast will jump off the plate and give them an idea of where the plate is and how it is moving. This will give them more information in case another real earthquake hits the area.
72． According to the passage, ______ have the most aftershocks.
A．shockwave earthquakes B．shallow earthquakes
C．deep earthquakes D．earthquakes more than 6.8 Richter scale
73．What do scientists hope to learn from the blast above the Juan de Fuca Plate?
A．They hope to learn where the plate is and how it is moving.
B．They want to destroy the Kingdome.
C．They want to know which places are likely to have the most damage.
D．They hope to find out how many plates there are in the ground there.
74．Why were the scientists interested in the pulling down of the Seattle Kingdome?
A．They wanted to see which areas near the Kingdome would shake the hardest.
B．They wanted to predict what might happen in a real earthquake.
C．They wanted to measure the movement of the Earth with earthquake recorders.
D．All of the above.
75．What will happen after a deep earthquake according to the scientists?
A．There will be many aftershocks.
B．There will be very few aftershocks.
C．The Richter scale of the quakes will be a 6.8 or more.
D．There will be little damage.
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There is no doubt that adults, and even highly educated adults, vary greatly in the speed and efficiency of their reading. Some proceed very lowly throughout; others dash along too quickly and then have to regress. Poor readers in particular may lack the ability to vary their manner of reading according to the type of reading matter and to their intentions in reading it. A good reader can move at great speed through the text of a novel or similar light reading matter. He may be able to skim a page, picking up a word or two here and there, and gain a general idea of what the text is about without really reading it. In reading more difficult material, with the intention of taking in the whole of it, he will proceed more slowly, but even then he will vary his pace, concentrating on the key words and passages, perhaps re-reading them several times and pass more quickly over the remainder. A less efficient reader tends to maintain the same speed whatever the material he reads. Consequently, even light reading matter gives him little pleasure because he reads so slowly. But this pace may be too fast for really difficult material which requires special concentration at difficult points.
A type of reading which necessitates(需要) careful attention to detail is proofreading, in which the reader, in order to detect misprints in a sample print, has to notice not so much the meaning of what he reads as the exact shape and order of letters and words in the text. This is extremely difficult for most people, since they are accustomed to overlooking such details. In fact, considerable practice is required to practise this task efficiently and it can be done only by reading very slowly, and by paying comparatively little attention to the general meaning of the text.
68．This article is mainly concerned with ________.
A．the ability to read fast
B．difference in the speed and efficiency of reading
C．different reading skills
D．the reading speed of highly educated adults
69．According to the article, there is a difference in reading speed ________.
A．among adult readers
B．among young educated people
C．among readers who have different experiences
D．between the poorly educated and the highly educated
70．The underlined word "regress" can be best replaced by "________".
A．regret B．stop C．move slowly D．go back
71．The author believes a good reader should ________.
A．always read at great speed
B．read carefully and catch every detail
C．always review the text he has read
D．change his speed according to the type of text
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If US software(软件) companies don’t pay more attention to quality, they could kiss their business good-bye. Both India and Brazil are developing a world-class software industry. Their weapon is quality and one of their jobs is to attract the top US quality specialists whose voices are not listened to in their country.
Already, of the world’s 12 software houses that have earned the highest position in the world, seven are in India. That’s largely because they have used new methods American software specialists refused to use. For example, for years, quality specialists, W. Edwards Deming and J.M. Juran had tried to persuade US software companies to change their attitudes to quality. But their quality call mainly fell on deaf ears in the US--but not in Japan. By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was taking its market share with better, cheaper products. They used Deming’s and Juran’s ideas to bring down the cost of good quality to as little as 5% of total production costs. In US factories, the cost of quality then was 10 times as high: 50%. In software, it still is.
Watts S. Humphrey spent 27 years at IBM heading up software production and then quality assurance(保证). But his advice was seldom paid attention to. He retired from IBM in 1986. In 1987, he worked out a system for assessing(评估) and improving software quality. It has proved its value time and again. For example, in 1990 the cost of quality at Raytheon Electronics Systems was almost 60 % of total software production costs. It fell to 15% in 1996 and has since further dropped to below 10 %.
Like Deming and Juran, Humphrey seems to be winning more praises overseas than at home. The Indian government and several companies have just founded the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute at the Software Technology Park in Chennai, India. Let’s hope that US lead in software will not be eaten up by its quality problems.
64. Which country has the most first-class software companies in the world?
A. Germany. B. The USA. C. Brazil. D. India.
65. Which of the following statements about Humphrey is true?
A. He is now still an IBM employer.
B. He has worked for IBM for 37 years.
C. The US pays much attention to his quality advice.
D. India honors him highly.
66. By what means did Japan take its large market share by the 1970s and the 1980s?
A. Its products were cheaper in price and better in quality.
B. Its advertising was most successful.
C. The US hardware industry was falling behind.
D. Japan hired a lot of Indian software specialists.
67. What is the writer worrying about?
A. Many US software specialists are working for Japan.
B. The quality problem has become a worldwide problem.
C. The US will lose its lead in software in the world.
D. India and Japan are joining hands to compete with the US.