When I was nine years old, I loved to go fishing with my dad. But the only thing that wasn’t very fun about it was that he could catch many fish while I couldn’t catch anything. I usually got pretty upset and kept asking him why. He always answered, “Son, if you want to catch a fish, you have to think like a fish”, I remember being even more upset then because, “I’m not a fish!” I didn’t know how to think like a fish. Besides, I reasoned, how could what I think influence what a fish does?
As I got a little older I began to understand what my dad really meant. So, I read some books on fish. And I even joined the local fishing club and started attending the monthly meetings. I learned that a fish is a cold-blooded animal and therefore is very sensitive to water temperature. That is why fish prefer shallow water to deep water because the former is warmer. Besides, water is usually warmer in direct sunlight than in the shade. Yet, fish don’t have any eyelids(眼皮) and the sun hurts their eyes… The more I understood fish, the more I became effective at finding and catching them.
When I grew up and entered the business world, I remember hearing my first boss say, “We all need to think like salespeople.” But it didn’t completely make sense. My dad never once said, “If you want to catch a fish you need to think like a fisherman.” What he said was, “You need to think like a fish.” Years later, with great efforts to promote long-term services to people much older and richer than me, I gradually learned what we all need is to think more like customers. It is not an easy job. I will show you how in the following chapters.Why was the author upset in fishing trips when he was nine?
A.He could not catch a fish. |
B.His father was not patient with him. |
C.His father did not teach him fishing. |
D.He could not influence a fish as his father did. |
What did the author’s father really mean?
A.To read about fish. |
B.To learn fishing by oneself. |
C.To understand what fish think. |
D.To study fishing in many ways. |
According to the author, fish are most likely to be found _________.
A.in deep water on sunny days |
B.in deep water on cloudy days |
C.in shallow water under sunligh |
D.in shallow water under waterside trees. |
After entering the business world, the author found _________.
A.it easy to think like a customer |
B.his father’s fishing advice inspiring |
C.his first boss’s sales ideas reasonable |
D.it difficult to sell services to poor people |
Only three local students won Chinese Blog(博客)Competition. And 15 of the 18 awards went to students from China.
170 students’ task: to get a fully-designed blog up and running, complete with many posting based on a theme of choice—all written in Chinese.
Themes ranged from local opinions-such as the usage of Singlish, education and whether Singapore can be a cultural centre-to food blogs.
The entries were judged on Language proficiency(熟练程度)and the quality of writing, as well as the design and level of exchanging ideas with readers.
Academics from the National University of Singapore and the SIM University IT experts, and a journalist from Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore made up the judges.
In the end, only three Singaporean students made it to the award list—the rest of the awards were swept up by students from China.
“No surprise.” said Mr. Chow Yaw Long, 37, teachers in charge from Ianova Junior College, which organized the event. “Although the topics were local subjects, the foreign students were generally better in terms of the content of the posts and their grasp of the Chinese language.”
One of the three local students winning the first prize in the Best Language Award was blogger Christina Gao,19, from the Saint Andrew’s Junior College, who spared no effort in researching for and writing her blog. Each entry took her between five and seven days to produce, complete with pictures and even podcasts(播客).Her advice for bloggers is: Be responsible. “Some bloggers out there only seek to blame the authorities and other bloggers.” Said Miss Gao. “I think they lack responsibilities and there is no value to their posts.”The competition was organized by _______
A.the National University of Singapore |
B.Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao |
C.Ianova Junior College |
D.the Saint Andrew’s Junior College |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Chinese students won most of the awards. |
B.Not all the themes were about local subjects |
C.The blogs could be written in Chinese or Singlish. |
D.The judges were from university in Singapore and China. |
What Miss Gao said suggests that _____________
A.she likes to blame the authorities |
B.she has a sense of responsibility |
C.she thinks highly of the others’ blogs |
D.she loves to read v![]() |
I hated dinner parties. But I decided to give them another shot because I'm in London. And my friend Mallery invited me. And because dinner parties in London are very different from those back in New York. There, “I’m having a dinner party” means: "I'm booking a table for 12 at a restaurant you can't afford and we'll be sharing the checque evenly, no matter what you eat." Worse, in Manhattan there is always someone who leaves before the bill arrives. They'll throw down cash, half of what they owe, and then people like me, who don’t drink, end up paying even more. But if I try to use the same trick, the hostess will shout: "Where are you going?" And it's not like I can say I have somewhere to go: everyone know I have nowhere to go.
But in London, dinner parties are in people's homes. Not only that, the guests are an interesting mix. The last time I went to one, the guests were from France, India. Denmark and Nigeria; it was like a gathering at the United Nations in New York. The mix is less striking. It's like a gathering at Bloomingdale's, a well-known department store.
For New Yorkers, talking about other parts of the world means Brooklyn and Queens in New York. But at Mallery's, when I said that I had been to Myanmar recently, people knew where it was. In New York people would think it was a usual new club.What does the word "shot" in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A.Choice. | B.Try | C.Style. | D.Goal |
What does the writer dislike most about dinner parties in New York?
A There is a strange mix of people. B. The restaurants are expensive.
C. The bill is not fairly shared. D. People have to pay cashWhat does the author think of the parties in London?
A.A bit unusual | B.Full of tricks. |
C.Less costly. | D.More interesting. |
What is the author's opinion of some New Yorkers from her experience?
A.Easy-going. | B.Self-centred. | C.![]() |
D.Conservative. |
What is eBay? The simple answer is that it is a global trading platform where nearly anyone can
trade practically anything. People can sell and buy all kinds of products and goods, including cars, movies and DVDs, sporting goods, travel tickets, musical instruments, clothes and shoes- the list goes on and on.
The idea came from Peter Omidyar, who was born in Paris and moved to Washington when he was still a child. At high school, he became very interested in computer programming and after graduating from Tuft University in 1988, he worked for the next few years as a computer engineer. In his free time he started eBay as a kind of hobby, at first offering the service free by word of mouth. By 1996 there was so much traffic on the website that he had to upgrade(升级) and he began charging a fee to members. Joined by a friend, Peter Skill and in 1998 by his capable CEO, Meg Whitman, he has never looked back. Even in the great.com crashes of the late 1990s, eBay has gone from strength to strength. It is now one of the ten most visited online shopping websites on the Internet.
eBay sells connections, not goods, putting buyer and seller into contact with each other. All you have to do is take an e-photo, write a description, fill out a sales form and you are in business: the world is your market place .Of course for each item (商品)sold eBay gets a percentage and that is great deal of money. Every day there are more than sixteen million items listed on eBay and eighty percent of the items are sol
d.
We learn from the text that eBay provides people with_______.
A.a way of buying and selling goods |
B.a website for them to upgrade |
C.a place to exhibit their own photos |
D.a chance to buy things at low prices |
Why did Peter create eBay after graduating from university?
A.For fun. | B.To make money. |
C.For gathering the engineers. | D.To fulfill a task of his company. |
From “he has never looked back”in Paragraph 2, we learn that Peter______.
A.did not feel lonely | B.was always hopeful |
C.did not think about the past | D.became more and more successful |
How does eBay make money from its website?
A.By bringing sellers together. | B.By charging for each sale. |
C.By listing items online. | D.By making e-photos. |
Though war is something people hate, Director Feng Xiaoning often exposes his audience to it.
“If we don’t impress the audience, who are without the painful experience of war, with the cruel injury to life and human nature war causes, how can we bring them a love of peace and objection to war?” asked the director with a glance in his eyes.
After Red River Valley and Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River, both of which star Chinese model and actress Ning Jing, Feng drew a satisfactory full stop to his war trilogy (三部曲) last month with Purple Sunset.
The film tells a story which took place in 1945, at the very moment when World War II was drawing to an end. A Chinese peasant and a Soviet woman soldier flee into a forest, where they seize a Japanese girl. They follow the girl in the hope that she will take them out of the forest, but instead they arrive in a Japanese base. Humanity (人道主义) prevents them from killing the young, innocent (无辜的) victim of Japanese militarism. This humanity, the longing for peace and eagerness to survive, make the three unite.
“If people are touched by justice, tolerance and unselfishness, I think I have achieved my goal,” Feng said. Feng admits that there are violent and bloody scenes in the film, such as tanks fighting and Japanese burning Chinese people alive, to show the cruelty of the war. But that’s never his personal preference, he says.
“Everyone who has watched my films can tell how much I hate war,” he said. “I wrote all the things for my war films by myself. Whenever I finished one, I felt as though I had suffered great pain.”
Feng regards every one of his productions as an opportunity to learn about human nature and humanity. In spite of violent scenes which frighten and sicken the audience, a balance is sought with beautiful scenery. Just like the snowy mountains in Red River Valley and the grand plateau (高原) in Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River, a beautiful vast grassland appears in this film. “I used to study art, and I appreciate beautiful things,” Feng said. “I believe that films should offer the audience a chance to enjoy beauty.”
Director Feng Xiaoning shot war film because _____.
A.he was deeply interested in such a topic |
B.he wanted to give the audience the painful experience of war |
C.he hoped to arouse people’s love of peace and objection to war |
D.he dreamed of becoming a world-famous director |
All of the following belong to Feng’s war trilogy except _____.
A.Red River Valley | B.Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River |
C.Purple Sunset | D.In the Mood for Love |
A Chinese peasant and a Soviet woman solider seized a Japanese girl so that _____.
A.they could find the Japanese base easily |
B.she could take them out of the forest |
C.they could kill her for revenge |
D.it would cause the Japanese militarism to give in |
Scenes of Japanese burning Chinese people alive i
n the film are to ______.
A.show that war is cruel |
B.attract people’s interest |
C.show Feng’s personal preference in dealing with details |
D.make the film moving and interesting |
A used book or nearly-new kitchen gadget (配件) may not be at the top of every Christmas wish list, but hard economic times coupled with a new green awareness are changing attitudes about gift-giving in France.
French holiday shoppers are choosing larger numbers for “green” gifting this Christmas, studies show. About 30 percent of French consumers will give second-hand items as gifts to stretch out their tight budgets but also to do their little bit for recycling, according to a study by international consulting firm Deloitte.
The survey of Christmas consumer behaviors in 18 European countries found the French were more than twice as likely as other Europeans to give second-hand items. Websites promoting re-gifting and green gifting are popular in France, with many reporting a rise in business.
“Concerns about the ecology and the economy have come together and we are now seeing people who accept the types of gifts that were not appreciated just a short time ago,” said Sebastien Ravut, who runs a website promoting eco-friendly consumerism. His site lists shops in France that offer fair trade products, bio-friendly goods and recycled items. Over the Christmas holidays, the number of visits to the site has doubled from last year, reaching 60,000 a month.
A study by online survey firm Vivodi for PriceMinister showed eight out of 10 people would be happy to receive a used item as a gift and that younger consumers were more open to the idea.
But Gilles Goldenberg, author of the Deloitte study, said that environmental concerns are not why customers buy used goods. “The number one concern is getting the lowest possible price,” said Goldenberg. “Eco-friendly products are drawing a lot of interest, but not if that means paying more.”
Theatre tickets and other low-carbon gifts are fashionable, and eco-friendly websites are also encouraging gift givers to offer time and services instead of stuff. “The order of the day is to spend less time shopping and more time connecting” over the holidays, said Florence de Monclin from the Nicolas Helot foundation for Nature and Humanity.
We can judge from the Deloitte study that _________.
A.over a quarter of the French give second-hand Christmas gifts |
B.the French are less willing to buy eco-friendly gifts than other Europeans |
C.80% of French people are happy to receive second-hand gifts |
D.less than 10% of European consumers are likely to give second-hand gifts |
According to Goldenberg, the main reason for customers to buy used goods is that _______.
A.they want to be eco-friendly | B.they want to ![]() |
C.it is encouraged by websites | D.it is a new fashion in Europe |
All the following might be a promoted gift EXCEPT ________.
A.a theatre ticket |
B.a second-hand book |
C.a nearly-new digital toaster |
D.a box of heavily packaged chocolate |
Which of th
e following statements is TRUE?
A.Old people are not open minded enough to accept second-hand gifts. |
B.People wish to receive second-hand gifts because of the economic downturn. |
C.Ravut’s website received a sharp decrease in visits during the Christmas holidays. |
D.In de Monclin’s opinion, people should spend more time with friends and family during holidays |