One of the greatest stories of rags to riches success is that of Andrew Carnegie,who started life in Poverty but became the richest man in the world.
Carnegie was born in Scotland in 1837,the son of a weaver.In 1848,the.family moved to the United States and at 13 Carnegie began work in a cotton mill,earning $1.5 per week.About three years later,he found a better job as a telegraph messenger boy.At work,his superiors were impressed by his abilities and willingness to work hard.In 1853, he gained an office job at the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.This was his first big break.He continued to impress and rose rapidly through the company,gaining more and more responsibility.At the same time,Carnegie loved reading very much and made use of every opportunity to visit the library.He rend widely on all subjects,particularly literature.
Carnegie now began to save a little money and,with the help of his employer,began to make some successful investments（投资).He invested in the iron industry and eventually set up in business himself,owning several iron and steel plants.This was where he made his fortune.By the 1890s,the Carnegie Steel Company was the biggest and most successful business in the world.
Carnegie had always believed that the pursuit（追求）of wealth was never an end in itself.In his view,successful, wealthy people should give away their wealth for the benefit of everyone in society.True to his word,in 1901,at the age of 66,he retired from business and devoted the rest of his life to charity work.
Carnegie's lack of formal education and his poor family background clearly didn't influence his success.His rapid rise from poverty to wealth was due to his willingness to work hard,his intelligence and good business sense, and his talent for making things happen.He died in 1919 at the age of 83.
1. What can be learnt from the text?| A．Carnegie was highly thought of by his employers. |
| B．Carnegie made his investments independently. |
| C．Carnegie believed that money was everything. |
| D．Carnegie could have been more successful if he had been formally educated. |
| A．Becoming more and more intelligent. | B．Being put to higher positions. |
| C．Having a better sense of confidence. | D．Reading more and more books. |
| A．His employer helped him. | B．He was much paid when working. |
| C．He set up his own business. | D．He saved money year by year. |
| A．Andrew Carnegie: A Wealthy Man |
| B．Steel & Iron: The Most Profitable Business |
| C．From Rags to Riches: The Story of Andrew Carnegie |
| D．Intelligence and Good Business Sense: Two Factors in Becoming Rich |
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【推荐1】In 2007, Jamie Whitmore was considered one of the most successful athletes in America. She was a six-time USA champion for XTERRA racing, a two-time European tour champion, and held a world title.
Everything changed during a triathlon that seemed like so many others she had conquered. As a professional athlete, Jamie Whitmore was used to suffering, but she never imagined the pain in her leg could be a deadly cancer.
After a friend recommended she go to the University of California, San Francisco, Whitmore took his advice and was quickly admitted. What doctors found during surgery shocked them all: Whitmore had spindle cell sarcoma, a soft tissue tumor that can start in the bone, and the tumor was wrapped around her sciatic nerve and touching several vital organs. They couldn’t cut it out for fear of bursting the tumor.
When she heard the diagnosis for the first time, Whitmore said time stood still. “I couldn’t breathe. They were talking about treatment and I just started crying and saying ‘I don’t want to die. ’” Finally, the doctors enlisted the help of several specialists to remove the tumor. Whitmore developed sepsis(败血症) from the surgery and endured a grueling two-month recovery. When she began to feel sick again, Whitmore was certain her cancer was back. Instead, doctors gave her unexpected news: She was pregnant—with twins. “That was a whole other freak-out,” Whitmore recalls.
Jamie Whitmore isn’t used to slowing down. She has never met a challenge she couldn’t overcome, whether it was an XTERRA mountain bike race—or cancer. Today, Whitmore is a mother of two sons and cancer-free. She’s competing again, and has won a gold medal in the Paralympics, nine world titles, and has set two world records. She travels as a motivational speaker when she’s not spending time with her sons. Whitmore has some words of advice for others with limitations: “Never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. Some doctors told me I would never ride anything more than a stationary bike. And yet I rode my mountain bike 104 miles climbing from 9, 000 feet to 14, 000 feet. People with two good legs have fallen short of that task!You just can’t give up. ”
1. When learning about her cancer, what did Jamie feel?| A．Sad and scared. | B．Ashamed and regretful. |
| C．Annoyed and frightened. | D．Astonished and inspired. |
| A．Because Jamie was against the plan. |
| B．Because Jamie was pregnant with twins. |
| C．Because it was developing too quickly. |
| D．Because it was near several important organs. |
| A．something demanding | B．something rewarding |
| C．something unusual | D．something meaningful |
| A．To build up her character. |
| B．To inspire those with limitations. |
| C．To spend more time with her children. |
| D．To earn more money in her spare time. |
【推荐2】What do you think of cats? Some people think very lovely. But not all people love cats. Compared with dogs, cats seem to be very lazy and unfriendly. Besides, cats are not known for acts of selflessness (无私). But maybe we’re wrong about them. Don’t believe it? Then meet Pippa, a very unusual cat.
The black-and-white cat was left in a box outside a shop and taken by the British RSPCA to the Jansa family in Whitstable, Kent. They really loved her character (性格) and decided to adopt (收养) it，but they never guessed she’d become a lifesaver.
Eight-year-old Mia Jansa had diabetes and had become good at testing her blood during the day, as well as having something to eat or drink to bring her blood sugar levels back. But the danger was at night. Mia could easily experience hypoglycemic (低血糖症的) situations when she was asleep, which could cause even death.
Soon after she was adopted, Pippa went into Mia’s bedroom in the middle of the night and woke her up. When the child tested her blood sugar levels, she found they were dangerously low. Ever since, Pippa always visits Mia at night. If she can’t get her to wake up, she raises the alarm.
“Pippa does this of her own accord,” says Mia’s mother Laura. “We don’t make a request for caring because we don’t want to encourage wrong alarms. She gets plenty of hugs. It gives me peace of mind and I know someone else is keeping an eye on Mia.”
Now the family is so happy that they’ve chosen to adopt it in the first place.
1. Why did the family decide to adopt the cat?| A．Because they considered it as a lifesaver. |
| B．Because her character interested them. |
| C．Because they really loved her looks. |
| D．Because Mia Jansa needed help. |
| A．She was bad at testing her blood. |
| B．She might suffer death in the daytime. |
| C．She might be in danger while asleep at night. |
| D．She couldn’t let her blood sugar levels return to normal. |
| A．To see if her blood sugar levels are normal. |
| B．To make her laugh when she’s lonely. |
| C．To make sure that she is safe. |
| D．To play with the alarm. |
| A．Pippa does that according to her own habits. |
| B．Pippa does that without being asked. |
| C．Pippa does that for her own good. |
| D．Pippa does that without a purpose. |
【推荐3】There once was a master who went to India. in those times, we didn’t have the communications or airplanes or many kinds of transportation that we do now. So the master went to India on foot. he had never been to India before; perhaps he came from Persia. And when he got there, he saw a lot of fruit. In India they have plenty of fruit to sell, but much of it is expensive because they can’t grow much due to the water situation. So he saw one basket, a big basket of some very red, long fruit. And it was the cheapest in the shop, not expensive at all.
So he went up and asked, ‘How much per kilo?’ And the shopkeeper said, ‘Two rupees.’ Two rupees in India is nothing; it’s like dirt. So he bought a whole kilogram of the fruit and started eating it. But after he ate some of it: Oh, my God! His eyes watered, his mouth watered and burned, his eyes were burning, his head was burning and his face became red. As he coughed and gasped for breath, he jumped up and down, saying, ‘Ah!Ah!Ah!’
But he still continued to eat the fruit! Some people who were looking at him shook their heads and said, ‘You’re crazy, man. Those are chilies! You can’t eat so many; they’re not good for you! People use them as a condiment, but only a little bit to put into food for taste. You can’t just eat them by the handful like that; they’re not fruit!’ So the stupid master said, ‘No, I can’t stop! I paid money for them, and now I’ll eat them. It’s my money!’
And you think that master was stupid, right? Similarly, we sometimes do a lot of things like that. We invest money, time or effort in a relationship, business or job. And even though it’s been a long time, bitter expereince tells us it won’t work, and we know there’s no more hope that things will change in the future - this we definitely know by intuition - we still continue just because we’ve invested money, time, effort and love into it. If so, we’re kaput(故障)in the brain. Just like the man who ate the chilies and suffered so much but couldn’t stop because he didn’t want to waste the money he’d paid. ________________________. That’s better than continuing to lose.
1. After the master went to India, ________.| A．he bought much fruit | B．he thought the fruit there was just like dirt |
| C．he bought some chilies | D．he ate a lot of fruit |
| A．fruit | B．salt | C．vegetable | D．fish |
| A．No pains, no gains. |
| B．We can’t waste anything. |
| C．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| D．So even if you’ve lost something, let it go and move on. |
| A．silly | B．thoughtful | C．truthful | D．frightening |
【推荐1】I’m a recovering addict. I was addicted to YouTube.
My addiction started several years ago. My first experience was on the recommendation of a friend to check out Susan Boyle’s amazing singing on Britain’s Got Talent. I didn’t think much about it and got on with my life.
But soon I found myself spending a lot of time staring at the screen and discovered onscreen offerings were truly endless. From one YouTuber I learned how to plant my own vegetable garden. Someone else gave wise sayings from philosophers. Down the rabbit hole I went, for hours and hours, watching other people living their lives and giving me advice on how to live mine.
As the months rolled by, checking in every day with people who were talking to me personally (or so it seemed) became an addiction. I subscribed to (订阅) many channels and waited anxiously for new weekly offerings. I found all this calming and therapeutic.
At some point, though, I got annoyed by these artistic and seemingly perfect lives. Who are filming them? Do they happen to live in a meadow (草地)? The questions started to disturb me while forcing comparisons with my own somewhat more ordinary existence.
Regardless of my growing anxiety, I continued to click on the YouTube icon on my phone whenever I had a spare five minutes. I compared my life constantly with the images onscreen. I started to hate the endless rules presented for good health, financial stability and mental contentment. In a moment of clarity (清晰), I realized that I had a full and happy life myself, which suited me perfectly although it wouldn’t win awards for perfection onscreen. I put my phone away and started paying attention to my own life, instead of watching other people live theirs. I still like checking in once in a while for some entertainment and inspiration, but I’ve limited my exposure. I am content in the knowledge that my addiction to life onscreen has been replaced by life itself.
1. What led the author to use YouTube for the first time?| A．Her search for gardening tips. | B．Her friend’s recommendation. |
| C．Her curiosity about the platform. | D．Her admiration for a famous singer. |
| A．Informative and relaxing. | B．Dull and discouraging. |
| C．Creative and puzzling. | D．Addictive and useless. |
| A．She gradually lost purpose in life. | B．She tried to copy others’ lifestyle. |
| C．She sought for the peace of country life. | D．She kept making comparisons with others. |
| A．Stop surfing online. | B．Upload videos about her life. |
| C．Appreciate real-life experiences more. | D．Spend more time on her social life. |
【推荐2】My name is Michelle Rogers. For most of my life I had been fighting with my body weight. I was either gaining weight or trying to lose it. I wasn’t happy with myself, and I certainly wasn’t able to fully enjoy life. Not only did I feel bad physically, but I felt terrible emotionally. I also knew I wasn’t able to be the best I could be, and with failure after failure in losing weight, I just felt so hopeless to make it.
One day in 2008, I was looking through ads online and saw a treadmill (跑步机) for $100. This time I decided to start small and keep it doable. The first week I started walking 15 minutes on the treadmill at a fixed time every day. The next week I did 16 minutes. Each week I added a minute. Gradually, I increased speed as well as time. Once I got to 30 minutes, the weight started dropping off.
I didn’t lose weight at first, but I didn’t give up like I did in the past. I realized I started feeling better. My legs were getting stronger. I didn’t feel painful like I used to when I got up from my desk. All the efforts I’d been putting into fitness made me want to start eating healthier, too. I began with small changes as well. After these years I started listening to my body. It was refusing food and habits that were bad for me.
Today, the extra weight is gone. I still exercise every morning. I look and feel the best I have never done. Every area of my life has improved and benefited from this change in me. Not only do I have my youthful energy, looks and health back, but also I have more confidence than I have ever had.
1. How did Michelle feel about losing weight before 2008?| A．Confident. | B．Hopeless. | C．Addicted. | D．Annoyed. |
| A．15 weeks. | B．20 weeks. | C．25 weeks. | D．30 weeks. |
| A．Doing exercise regularly. | B．Eating healthier. |
| C．Refusing bad food and habits. | D．Gaining extra weight. |
| A．Time is everything. |
| B．Interest is the best teacher. |
| C．Start with small things. |
| D．Nothing is more important than confidence. |
Both of my parents worked full-time when I was a little girl, so my grandmother would stay at our house during the day. We would watch game shows in the living room. Our favorite was The Price is Right. We would call out our answers along with the players.
When I got older and started going to school, we couldn't watch our game shows regularly. That was okay with me, though, because the one thing I liked better than watching game shows with my grandmother was helping bake. Watching her in the kitchen was amazing: she never seemed to need the recipes but everything she made tasted delicious.
At first I would just sit in the kitchen and watch, even though I didn’t understand what she was doing. As I got older, she let me help with the easy parts, such as measuring the sugar. The day she let me separate the eggs. I felt like I had found complete pleasure.
At last. my parents decided that I could take care of myself, and my grandmother stopped coming over every day. The love of baking, however, stayed with me. I started baking by myself, and even if the cookies ended up being burnt sometimes, more often they turned out pretty well. I tried out new recipes, and whenever I got to a thorny part. I would call my grandmother for advice. Sometimes I would call her just to talk, too. I felt like I could talk to her about anything.
My grandmother passed away ten years ago, but I still think of her every day, Last week, I found a recipe book she made for me. It included her recipes for brownies, cookies, and my favorite, lemon pie stout anything. As I looked through the pages, I thought I could hear her voice. She was the one who taught me not just about baking, but about life.
1. What's the main purpose of the author’s writing the text? (no more than 8 words)2. How did the author think of helping her grandmother bake? (no more than 10 words)
3. Why did the author’s grandmother never need the recipes when baking? (no more than 10 words)
4. What does the underlined word “thorny” mean? (1 word)
5. What has the author learned from her grandmother about life? (no more than 25 words)
【推荐1】David Rees runs a truly distinctive business. He charges customers $15 to sharpen their pencils to perfections, using a variety of tools.
I know what you're thinking—is this a joke? The 39-year-old gets asked that question a lot. To clarify everything, he even created a special section on his website telling everyone he's actually providing a real service.
You can supply your own pencil or you can have Rees sharpen one of his own favorite 2B pencils. After that, he mails it to you in a display tube with the shavings in a separate bag, and an authentic certificate which just happens to mention the pencil is so sharp as to be a dangerous object.
To achieve the desired result, the master sharpener uses all kinds of tools, including general sandpapers, pocket knives and even a special $450 sharpening machine. “It depends on what the customer wants to use his/her pencil for,” he says. “That determines the most appropriate pencil-sharpening technique. Some customers buy pencils as inspirational symbols while others buy them because of their special memories of classic 2B pencils.”
$15 to have a pencil sharpened is a bit expensive though, right? You're not the only one who feels that way, and David's unique business has really angered lots of people, who talk of inequality in America, saying it is so insane for the wealthy to pay $15 to sharpen a pencil. But others will say, “This is just our urge to put an end to the welfare state because new ideas arise along with the business.”
David admits his trade is sort of unusual. But there are those who actually value his service, as proven by the over 500 orders he has gotten.
1. How could David make money by sharpening pencils?| A．He invented new tools for the job. | B．He promoted his skill on his website. |
| C．He saved lots of time for other people. | D．He provided quality service to his customers. |
| A．knows all kinds of pencil users | B．provides personalized services |
| C．values ideas behind the pencils | D．always write with pencils |
| A．Deliberate | B．Rewarding | C．Unreasonable | D．Irresponsible |
| A．Indifferent | B．Disapproving | C．Objective | D．Supportive |
【推荐2】“Cleverness is n gift while kindness is n choice. Gifts are easy-they're given after all. Choices can be hard.”
—Jeff Bezos
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I’d been married for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that l wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’t, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. MacKenzie told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I’d been a garage inventor. I’d always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job.” That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately (最后), I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision not to try at all.
After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I′m proud of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.
1. What inspired the author to build an online bookstore?| A．The support of his wife. |
| B．Millions of exciting titles. |
| C．His dream of being an inventor. |
| D．The greatly increasing usage of the Internet. |
| A．He would be very excited if he tried it out. |
| B．The decision not to try would frighten him. |
| C．He would be always having a doubt if he didn′t try. |
| D．He would always be disturbed by the idea of not trying. |
| A．hard work |
| B．passion |
| C．bravery |
| D．encouragement |
| A．We Are What We Choose |
| B．The Starting of Amazon |
| C．Following My Passion |
| D．Cleverness and Kindness |
【推荐3】At 14, Fraser Doherty was busy making jam after his grandparents taught him a family recipe. He started selling jars of his jam door to door near his parents’ home in Edinburgh. As interest grew, his hobby stated to turn into a business. He now makes 40,000 jars of jam a month and is well on his way to making his first million.
Doherty, who has been chosen to represent Britain in the Global Students Entrepreneurs Awards in Chicago next month, said there are several advantages to having started young: “As a young person you have a different view of the world. You have a naivety and an optimism and are willing to give things a shot. The downside for me isn’t particularly scary. I don’t have a mortgage or kids to worry about so I didn’t have a huge amount to lose if my idea had not worked.”
Duncan Cheatle, founder of The Supper Club, a forum for established entrepreneurs in London, agreed that becoming an entrepreneur at a young age has a lot to recommend it.
“For young people there is no concept of thinking outside the box because there isn’t a box. There is capacity in young people to see things in a different way that older people lose. And often not being an expert in something can be helpful because if you don’t understand why something works in a certain way, you will decide to do it differently.”
Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, the home business website, said that young people were much more confident about using technology as a base for their business than the older generation. “Whole sectors that didn’t exist ten years ago are coming up now because young entrepreneurs are challenging all previous rules and saying technology means that we can do things like this. They have an open capacity to think of new ideas and as a result they are starting very interesting businesses.”
1. According to Doherty, is the competitive edge of young people starting business compared with the older generation?| A．ignorance of the reality | B．naïve pursuit of a hobby |
| C．readiness to try things out | D．parents shouldering the financial burden |
| A．are reluctant to obey the existing rules |
| B．are not bound by established ways of doing things |
| C．have superior ideas to those of the older generation |
| D．will not fall into traps that old people set up for them |
| A．Abandoning all previous rules is a must to establish new sectors. |
| B．As people grow older, they are less able to take a fresh approach. |
| C．Those lacking confidence are less able to start creative businesses. |
| D．The use of technology contributes to the creation of new businesses. |
| A．inform readers of success stories of young entrepreneurs |
| B．introduce opinions on the advantages of being young entrepreneurs |
| C．convince young people to follow the trend and start their own businesses |
| D．provide specific guidance on how to become successful young entrepreneurs |
