1 . Known as the birthplace of hip-hop, the South Bronx in New York City is a global center for music and art. However, it also suffers from poverty and pollution. Heavy trucks deliver unwanted construction waste to sorting stations, which then transfer waste to distant landfills.
Just graduating from college and working for an environmental group, Omar started to think about redirecting waste to those in need. He wondered, “Instead of destroying things like old doors, why not make this business a ‘cooperative’, which means people who work in the business own it and share the profits?”
Omar decided to start his business. He handed out flyers (小传单) along the truck-jammed, waste-filled streets to find individuals with similar ideas and interests to join him. Eventually, Omar found four workers and secured a warehouse. They reached out to relevant people, offering to remove items from construction sites for free. Soon, their warehouse was filled with donated materials, including 80 new toilets, unwanted doors, theater seats, and even a giant popcorn machine.
A few years ago, Omar started his first cooperative devoted to reusing construction waste. The cooperative began selling construction supplies at reasonable prices to neighborhood builders and home owners. With support from city officials, Omar began developing a new training program to equip local residents with the necessary skills for environmentally impact jobs.
Omar said, “Think about a wooden door that you’ve just bought. In order to produce that, someone had to cut down trees. In order to ship it across the country, someone had to pump oil out of the ground. You can avoid all that if you buy a good used door. And at the same time, you can reduce pollution, save money, and create jobs in communities like the South Bronx.”
Omar even had the image of a future with a whole network of green cooperative businesses in the area, which would work together to reuse different kinds of construction materials. “If you have a use for something,” Omar said, “it’s no longer waste.”
1. What do we know about the South Bronx in paragraph 1?| A．It is free from poverty. |
| B．It pays little attention to art. |
| C．It suffers from a lack of landfills. |
| D．It faces the problem of waste pollution. |
| A．To seek for minds alike. |
| B．To search for new materials. |
| C．To build a warehouse for waste. |
| D．To find repairmen for old doors. |
| A．Modest and cautious. | B．Wealthy and intelligent. |
| C．Humorous and generous. | D．Creative and hardworking. |
| A．Omar — A Successful Builder |
| B．Waste — A Way to Get Business |
| C．Old Doors — Useful Recyclable Resources |
| D．The South Bronx — The Best-known Construction Site |
2 . Most students of UR will spend at least one evening at Tin Roof, the only bar located a block away from campus before they graduate. Kaleb Chitaphong, who spent numerous nights there as an undergraduate, bought the place.
Chitaphong didn’t intend to own a bar after graduation, instead hoping to follow his Political Science education through to a Ph.D., and probably find a career in academia. But when his frequented place was facing closure last year during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (疫情), Chitaphong decided he couldn’t let that happen. “I grew up in this area, so when finding out the business was closing, I contacted the owner. Initially, I had no plans to buy it. But when we got talking more, things worked out and I was able to gain ownership,” he said.
Chitaphong has experience in the restaurant industry from his family. But even with background knowledge, he still had a crash course in owning a bar the hard way-learning the laws, earning his alcohol license, understanding requirements-all during the pandemic. Chitaphong reopened the restaurant this past February, starting small.
Although loved by students, Chitaphong’s hope for Tin Roof is to attract local residents as well. “It’s important for me to have a place where everybody can come and have a good time,” he said. While Chitaphong wants to have a bar that isn’t exclusive to just UR students, he also wants to remain close to campus life. “I want it to be a UR bar, in whatever way that means,” he expressed. “I’ve talked to sports teams of UR to get some jerseys (球衣) hung up.”
As COVID-19 limitation continues to ease up, Chitaphong has plans to host more events. In addition to Disco Tuesdays, he recently added Karaoke Fridays. He’s also planning cooperation with UR’s Standup Comedy to try out Stand-Up Wednesdays.
Despite his big plans, Tin Roof isn’t Chitaphong’s end game. He may open up another business. But right now he’s focusing on this space to make it the best time for as many people as possible.
1. What was the root cause of Chitaphong taking over the bar?| A．His intention of running a business. |
| B．His emotional attachment to the bar. |
| C．His positive attitude to the pandemic. |
| D．His friendship with the boss of the bar. |
| A．His family background. |
| B．His academic performance. |
| C．The characteristics of his restaurant. |
| D．Hard preparations of starting his bar. |
| A．Familiar. | B．Near. |
| C．Specific. | D．Harmful. |
| A．Tin Roof: The Home of UR Students |
| B．Chitaphong: A Business -minded Graduate |
| C．UR Graduate Brings New Life to Tin Roof |
| D．How Does a Bar Regain Its Appeal to the Public? |
3 . Have you ever heard the phrase “inch wide, mile deep” with respect to picking an area of focus for your education, work, website, business, etc?
You don’t have to use the “inch wide, mile deep” approach if it bothers you to do so.
I don’t use this approach for my work because I don’t like the consequences of sticking to one niche (合适的位置) for so long.
You could say that my niche is personal growth.But that isn’t really a niche at all because anything fits into that huge space：productivity, relationship, work, health, lifestyle, values, social skills, and more.
I prefer the “mile wide, mile deep” approach.It works well, too.There are some consequences to accept, but you may actually like those consequences.
| A．Insist on the same narrow topic. |
| B．Many people have mixed feelings about it. |
| C．The idea here is that you should narrow your focus. |
| D．I’d be bored within a few years no matter what I picked. |
| E．But this article is about why you may not want to do that. |
| F．It’s important to focus on the long-term relationship with others. |
| G．Name any topic you can think of and I can link it to personal growth. |
