It was the summer of 1965. DeLuca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked DeLuca about his plans for the future. “I’m going to college, but I need a way to pay for it,” DeLuca recalls, saying “Buck said, ‘You should open a sandwich shop.’”
That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, Buck wrote a check for $1000. DeLuca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn’t cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1000.
But business didn’t go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn’t know how badly, because we didn’t have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.
DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They’d meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, ‘We are so successful, we are opening a second store.” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.
But the partners’ learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn’t necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” DeLuca says.
And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” DeLuca adds.
DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain. They decided to open a second store probably because they __________.
| A．had enough money to do it. |
| B．had succeeded in their business |
| C．wished to meet the increasing demand of customers |
| D．wanted to make people believe that they were successful |
What contribute most to their success according to the author?
| A．Learning by trial and error. |
| B．Making friends with suppliers. |
| C．Finding a good partner. |
| D．Opening chain stores. |
It's generally believed that people act the way they do because of their personalities and attitudes. They recycle their garbage because they care about the environment. They pay $5 for a caramel brulee latte because they like expensive coffee drinks.
It's undeniable that behavior comes from our inner dispositions（性情）, but in many instances we also draw inferences about who we are, as suggested by the social psychologist Daryl Bern, by observing our own behavior. We can be strangers to ourselves. If we knew our own minds, why should we need to guess what our preferences are from our behavior? If our minds were an open book, we would know exactly how much we care about the environment or like lattes. Actually, we often need to look to our behavior to figure out who we are.
Moreover, we don't just use our behavior to learn about our particular types of character --- we infer characters that weren't there before. Our behavior is often shaped by little pressures around us, which we fail to recognize. Maybe we recycle because our wives and neighbors would disapprove if we didn't. Maybe we buy lattes in order to impress the people around us. We should not mistakenly believe that we always behave as a result of some inner disposition.
Whatever pressures there can be or inferences one can make, people become what they do, though it may not be in compliance（符合）with their true desires. Therefore, we should all bear in mind Kurt Vonnegut's advice: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."
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According to the passage, personalities and attitudes are commonly believed to.
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| 2． |
Which of the following would Daryl Bern most probably agree with?
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| 3． |
What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in the passage?
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| 4． |
What does the author mainly discusses in the passage?
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One moment it was quiet and calm in the forest, the next, the air was charged with tension. The elephant had heard the distant alarm calls of animals and her mood suddenly changed. I urged the elephant deeper into the forest. We sounded like a forest fire --- cracking, snapping, trailblazing. But through all the noise came a sharp warning cry. The elephant stopped and we heard it again --- the tell-tale call of a spotted deer.
I looked quickly around the shadows of the forest. Rays of sunlight shone through tree branches, beneath which the patchwork（交错）of green plants and shadows-within-shadows would make tiger stripes（条纹）look more attractive. Apart from an occasional noise from the elephant’s stomach, the forest was silent.
Gradually, the tension slipped from our bodies. The elephant seized a nearby branch and put it into its mouth. I reached forward and gently moved my hand over the elephant’s neck; there was a soft part, free of wrinkles and hairs, behind her ear.
This was my fourth time to sense the aura of the forest in Corbett, although I saw no tigers in the end. Located at the foot of the Himalayan mountains, Corbett is home to about 135 Bengal tigers, but the forest seemed to be guarding their whereabouts（出没处）, a silent reminder of their secrecy and rarity. Still, I was happy enough touching the elephant behind the ear. If I had so desperately wanted to see a tiger, I could have gone to a zoo. After all, spotting tigers merely confirms their beauty; tracking them can make you aware of something more.Which of the following was a clear signal of alarm?
| A．The elephant stopped. |
| B．A spotted deer called. |
| C．The elephant seized a branch. |
| D．The forest was silent for a while. |
The author begins his account of the tour in the forest mainly by _______.
| A．describing various sounds |
| B．comparing different animals |
| C．listing different activities |
| D．introducing various plants |
What does the underlined part “to sense the aura” most probably mean?
| A．To see the diversity. |
| B．To enjoy the scenery. |
| C．To feel the atmosphere. |
| D．To experience the freedom. |
How does the author feel after several visits to Corbett?
| A．Seeing a Bengal tiger is quite thrilling. |
| B．It is very time-consuming to travel in Corbett. |
| C．It is really worthwhile to study the animals in Corbett. |
| D．The process of finding Bengal tigers is most appealing. |
The idea of being able to walk on water has long interested humans greatly. Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever accomplishing such a thing without artificial aid --- we simply weigh too much, and all our mass pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink.
However, several types of animals can walk on water. One of the most interesting is the common basilisk Basilicus basilicus, a lizard（蜥蜴）native to Central and South America. It can run across water for a distance of several meters, avoiding getting wet by rapidly hitting the water's surface with its feet. The lizard will take as many as 20 steps per second to keep moving forward. For humans to do this, we'll need huge feet that we could bring up to our ears in order to create adequate "hitting."
But fortunately there is an alternative: cornflour. By adding enough of this common thickening agent to water (and it does take a lot), you can create a "non-Newtonian" liquid that doesn't behave like normal water. Now if the surface of the water is hit hard enough, particles（粒子）in the water group together for a moment to make the surface hard. Move quickly enough and put enough force into each step, and you really can walk across the surface of an adequately thick liquid of cornflour.
Fun though all this may sound, it's still rather messy and better read about in theory than carried out in practice. If you must do it, then keep the water wings handy in case you start to sink --- and take a shower afterward!
| 1． |
Walking on water hasn't become a reality mainly because humans.
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| 2． |
What do we know about Basilicus basilicas from the passage?
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| 3． |
What is the function of the cornflour according to the passage?
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| 4． |
What is the author's attitude toward the idea of human's walking on water?
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There have always been a lot of commonly believed but false ideas about being fat and doing exercise. Some people believe that they can’t help putting on weight as they get older, while others hold that if they stop exercising, their muscles will turn into fat. Here are some more myths:
I’ll never lose weight --- I come from a fat family
Wrong! While we can’t change the body type we are born with, we can’t blame our genes for making us fat. There’s plenty of evidence that fatness runs in families, and the main reason is that they share the same habits of eating too much and exercise too little.
I am fat because I burn calories slowly
Wrong! Fatness is not caused by a slow metabolism（新陈代谢）. If fact, although fat people consume more energy that slim people, they also fail to realize how much they eat! Keeping a diary can help you work out your daily food intake more accurately.
Exercise is boring
Wrong! Anything will become boring if you do it repetitively. The key is to develop a balanced and varied program that’s fun as well as progressive. If you enjoy a Sunday walk, take a different route. If you do Yoga, try a tai chi class. If you like swimming, set yourself a distance or time challenge.
No pain, no gain
Wrong! Exercise is not meant to hurt. Indeed, pain is your body telling you something’s wrong, and continuing to exercise could lead to serious injury. You may experience mild discomfort as you begin to exercise regularly, but this your body adapting to the positive changes in your lifestyle and the aches should disappear relatively quickly. If you don’t, rest and seek medical advice.What does the author think about being fat?
| A．It is the family genes that make people fat. |
| B．People are fat because they consume too little energy. |
| C．A diary of exercise can prevent people from becoming fat. |
| D．It is the consequence of people’s unbalanced lifestyle. |
According to the author, how can we make exercise more interesting?
| A．By taking varied exercise. |
| B．By choosing simple exercise. |
| C．By doing regular exercise. |
| D．By sticking to outdoor exercise. |
What is the author’s opinion about “No pain, no gain” in exercising?
| A．Keeping fit is essentially a painful experience. |
| B．Exercise should be stopped if continuous pain is felt. |
| C．Pain in exercise is a precondition for reaching your goal. |
| D．Getting used to pain leads to positive changes in your body. |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To declare the importance of keeping fit. |
| B．To clarify some misconceptions about fatness and exercise. |
| C．To confirm what has long been believed about keeping fit. |
| D．To explain some medical facts about being fat and doing exercise. |
I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled（贴标签）everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.
War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming. "Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!" Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.
The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled（爬）under her covers, sobbing.
Obviously, that was not something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart.
Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn't notice Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me, "Thanks."
Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.
| 1． |
What made Kate so angry one evening?（）
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| 2． |
The author tidied up the room most probably because（）.
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| 3． |
How is Paragraph 1 mainly developed?（）
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| 4． |
What might be the best title for the story?（）
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