1 . 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.
1. 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 |
A.To read about fish |
B.To learn fishing by oneself |
C.To understand what fish think |
D.To study fishing in many ways |
A.in deep water on sunny days |
B.in deep water on cloudy days |
C.in shallow water under sunlight |
D.in shallow water under waterside trees |
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 |
A.a fishing guide |
B.a popular sales book |
C.a novel on childhood |
D.a millionaire’s biography |
2 . Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station (加油站) about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register (收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off , but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery (电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership — a shop selling cars — was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
“Thank you” — two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.
1. The author planned to stop at Oklahoma City ________.A.to visit a friend |
B.to see his parents |
C.to pay at the cash register |
D.to have more gas for his car |
A.turned off | B.moved off | C.put up | D.set up |
A.He had it pulled back to the gas station. |
B.The couple sent him a business card. |
C.The couple offered to help him. |
D.He called his friend for help. |
A.something went wrong with the lights |
B.the meeting lasted a whole day |
C.he forgot to turn off the lights |
D.he drove too long a distance |
A.how to write a thank-you letter |
B.how to deal with car problems |
C.the kind-heartedness of older people |
D.the importance of expressing thanks |
So it was with really great______that I stood in church one recent Sunday, video camera in hand, and ______my 68-year-old father sweating in his shirt ______rising to play the piano in his very first recital.
My father had longed to play music since childhood, but his family was poor and couldn’t _________lessons. He could have gone on regretting it, _______too many of us do. But though he was rooted in his past, he wasn’t ________there. When he retired three years ago, he _____ his church music director to take him as a student.
For a moment after my father sat down at the keyboard, he ______stared down at his fingers. Has he forgotten the ______? I worried, remembering those split seconds______ago when my mind would go blank and my fingers would _______. But then came the beautiful melody(旋律),from the _____fingers that once baited(装饵于) my fishing lines. And I______he had been doing what music teachers always stress:___ _____the music and pretend the others aren’t there.
“I’m ________of him for starting something new at his age,” I said to my son Jeff.
“Yeah, and doing it so______,” Jeff added.
With his first recital, my father taught me more about courage and determination than all the words he used those 30-plus years ago.1.
A.reflected | B.explained | C.meant | D.proved |
A.would | B.could | C.might | D.should |
A.nothing | B.everything | C.anything | D.something |
A.goal | B.stage | C.journey | D.chance |
A.trouble | B.satisfaction | C.strength | D.disappointment |
A.kept | B.sent | C.watched | D.felt |
A.through | B.from | C.against | D.before |
A.miss | B.afford | C.select | D.understand |
A.as | B.once | C.if | D.while |
A.educated | B.protected | C.stuck | D.spoilt |
A.allowed | B.invited | C.inspired | D.persuaded |
A.roughly | B.simply | C.merrily | D.curiously |
A.words | B.videos | C.notes | D.lessons |
A.decades | B.weeks | C.hours | D.moments |
A.play | B.freeze | C.click | D.adjust |
A.same | B.warm | C.different | D.dirty |
A.predicted | B.realized | C.imagined | D.insisted |
A.pass over | B.turn up | C.bring in | D.concentrate on |
A.ashamed | B.aware | C.tired | D.proud |
A.casually | B.anxiously | C.nicely | D.frequently |
“Have a nice day. Next!” This version of the expression is spoken by a salesgirl at the supermarket who is rushing me and my groceries out the door. The words come out in the same tone(腔调)with a fixed procedure. They are spoken at me, not to me.Obviously, the concern for my day and everyone else’s is the management’s attempt to increase business.
The expression is one of those behaviors that help people get along with each other. Sometimes it indicates the end of a meeting. As soon as you hear it, you know the meeting is at an end. Sometimes the expression saves us when we don’t know what to say. “Oh, you just had a tooth out? I’m terribly sorry, but have a nice day.”
The expression can be pleasant. If a stranger says “Have a nice day” to you, you may find it heart-warming because someone you don’t know has tried to be nice to you.
Although the use of the expression is an insincere, meaningless social custom at times, there is nothing wrong with the sentence except that it is a little uninteresting. The salesgirl, the waitress, the teacher, and all the countless others who speak it without thinking may not really care about my day. But in a strange and comfortable way, it’s nice to know they care enough to pretend they care when they really don’t care all that much. While the expression may not often be sincere, it is always spoken. The point is that people say it all the time when they like.
1. How does the author understand Maxie’s words?
A.Maxie shows her anxiety to the author. |
B.Maxie really wishes the author a good day. |
C.Maxie encourages the author to stay happy. |
D.Maxie really worries about the author’s security. |
A.The salesgirl is rude. |
B.The salesgirl is bored. |
C.The salesgirl cares about me. |
D.The salesgirl says the words as a routine. |
A.try to be polite to you | B.express respect to you |
C.give his blessing to you | D.share his pleasure with you |
A.sincerely | B.as thanks |
C.as a habit | D.encouragingly |
A.Have a Nice Day — a Social Custom |
B.Have a Nice Day — a Pleasant Gesture |
C.Have a Nice Day — a Heart-warming Greeting |
D.Have a Nice Day — a Polite Ending of a Conversation |