A jobless man applied for the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.

“You are employed,” he said. “Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you the application to fill in, as well as date when you may start.”

The man replied, “But I don’t have a computer, neither an e-mail.”

“I’m sorry,” said the HR manager. “If you don’t have an e-mail, that means you do not exist. And he who doesn’t exist cannot have the job. ”

The man left with no hope at all. He didn’t know what to do, with only ten dollars in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy 10kg tomatoes. He then sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he succeeded to double his capital. He repeated the operation three times, and returned home happily with 60 dollars.

The man realized that he could survive in this way, and started to go every day earlier, and returned late. Thus, his money doubled or tripled every day. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later, the man is one of the biggest food retailers(零售商) in the US.

He started to plan his family’s future and decided to have a life insurance. He called an insurance broker(保險業(yè)經(jīng)紀人) and chose a protection plan.

When the conversation was concluded the broker asked him his e-mail. The man replied, “I don’t have an e-mail.”

The broker answered curiously, “You don’t have an e-mail, and yet have succeeded to build an empire(帝國). Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?” The man thought for a while and replied, “Yes, I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”

1.Why can’t the man have the job at Microsoft?

A．Because he was lazy.                     B．Because he didn’t pass the test.

C．Because he didn’t have an e-mail.          D．Because he didn’t have a computer.

2.The underlined word “triple” can be replaced by ______.

A．become large      B．become 3 times     C．increase quickly    D．decrease quickly

3.The man can be described as _______.

A．helpful and grateful                     B．positive and generous

C．smart and hardworking                   D．stubborn and unselfish

4.Which proverb can best describe the story?

A．Misfortune may be an actual blessing.        B．Where there is a will, there is a way.

C．Accidents will happen.                    D．No pains , no gains.

 

—I haven’t heard from Henry for a long time.

 —What do you suppose____ to him?

   A. was happening  B. to happen       C. had happened        D. has happened

 

I’d been proud that I’d never lost my cellphone until my husband Jack got a call one evening.

We went to visit a friend in hospital last year. When Jack’s  36  rang, it was my mother calling from my  37 . She asked if I had  38  my mobile. I checked my purse. It was  39 !

I used Jack’s phone to call my number. Then a boy, whom I’ll call Rhys,  40  it. “I found your phone!” he said, excitedly. “I have been trying to find you, but  41  it was getting late, I decided to leave.” He gave me the address of a  42  near his home.

Later that evening, I went to  43  him there. I didn’t dare to go  44 , worrying this was some cheater. So Jack came along. After  45  10km, we got to the coffee shop which Rhys  46 .

My  47  were gone. Rhys was just a young boy. “How did you  48  my mum?” I asked. He  49  that when he found my mobile by the roadside, he started calling people in my list of contacts. But all they  50  was my mobile phone number—which didn’t    51  . He’d called many names, starting with the letter A. Finally he got Adam, one of my friends, who  52  my house.

I was  53  to get my phone back with all the contacts, messages and photos I could have lost for ever. I was so  54  to Rhys and offered him some money, but he  55 .

As we drove back, we praised Rhys for his honesty.

1.                A．electric car      B．mobile phone    C．radio D．doorbell

 

2.                A．hospital        B．company        C．school    D．home

 

3.                A．found          B．changed        C．lost  D．bought

 

4.                A．gone           B．new           C．busy D．broken

 

5.                A．accepted       B．returned        C．got  D．answered

 

6.                A．before         B．because        C．after D．if

 

7.                A．coffee shop     B．post office       C．hotel D．supermarket

 

8.                A．follow          B．meet           C．catch D．punish

 

9.                A．slowly          B．back           C．alone D．finally

 

10.               A．driving         B．running        C．walking    D．riding

 

11.               A．talked about     B．looked for      C．heard of   D．knew about

 

12.               A．difficulties      B．fears           C．diseases   D．hopes

 

13.               A．remember      B．know          C．tell   D．understand

 

14.               A．realized        B．repeated       C．explained  D．believed

 

15.               A．had           B．noticed         C．expected  D．finished

 

16.               A．happen        B．matter         C．help  D．fit

 

17.               A．called          B．visited         C．shared    D．sold

 

18.               A．sorry          B．glad           C．sad   D．proud

 

19.               A．useful          B．strange         C．grateful   D．polite

 

20.               A．missed         B．appeared       C．agreed    D．refused

 

【

對話填空（共10小題，每小題1分，滿分10分）

W: Good evening, sir. I was told that you were robbed.

M: I certainly was.

W: When did that happen?

M: About two hours ago.

W: Why didn’t you r______ it then?

M: I couldn’t. I was tied to a chair and my mouth wasf______ with something.

W: Please tell me exactly what happened.

M: I was sitting in this room watching TV when someone )k         at the door.

Without thinking, I opened it.

W: That wasn’t very wise, sir.

M: I know. I was e_____ my wife, you see, and I t______ it was her.

W: You should never open a door without going to see who it is.

M: Yes, I regret that now.

W: What happened?

M: Two men pushed inside and then t______ me with a knife.

W: Did you take a good look at them?

M: I’m afraid not, They were both w       stockings over their faces.

W: What did they take?

M: My wallet with $200 in it, my watch, and some of my wife’s j______ from my bedroom.

W: They don’t seem to have done much damage to the flat.

M: No. They had just begun to search when the dogs next d______ began to bark. They ran off. It was some time b         my wife returned and set me free. I phoned the police at once.

W: My men began searching the area as soon as we received your call. I can’t promise you that we’ll recover your property, but we’ll certainly do our best.

As you are probably aware, the latest job markets news isn’t good: Unemployment is still more than 9 percent, and new job growth has fallen close to zero. That’s bad for the economy, of course. And it may be especially discouraging if you happen to be looking for a job or hoping to change careers right now. But it actually shouldn’t matter to you nearly as much as you think.
That’s because job growth numbers don’t matter to job hunters as much as job turnover(人員更替) data. After all, existing jobs open up every day due to promotions, resignations, terminations(解雇), and retirements. (Yes, people are retiring even in this economy.) In both good times and bad, turnover creates more openings than economic growth does. Even in June of 2007, when the economy was still moving ahead, job growth was only 132,000, while turnover was 4.7 million!
And as it turns out, even today — with job growth near zero — over 4 million job hunters are being hired every month.
I don’t mean to imply that overall job growth doesn’t have an impact on one’s ability to land a job. It’s true that if total employment were higher, it would mean more jobs for all of us to choose from (and compete for). And it’s true that there are currently more people applying for each available job opening, regardless of whether it’s a new one or not.
But what often distinguishes those who land jobs from those who don’t is their ability to stay motivated. They’re willing to do the hard work of identifying their valuable skills; be creative about where and how to look; learn how to present themselves to potential employers; and keep going, even after repeated rejections. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that 2.7 million people who wanted and were available for work hadn’t looked within the last four weeks and were no longer even classified as unemployed.
So don’t let the headlines fool you into giving up. Four million people get hired every month in the U.S. You can be one of them.
【小題1】The author tends to believe that high unemployment rate ______.

A．discourages many people from landing jobs

B．prevents many people from changing careers

C．should not stop people from looking for a job

D．does not mean the U.S. economy is worsening

【小題2】Where do most job openings come from?

A．Job growth.	B．Job turnover.
C．Improved economy.	D．Business expansion.

【小題3】What does the author say about overall job growth?

A．It doesn’t have much effect on individual job seekers.

B．It increases people’s confidence in the economy.

C．It gives a ray of hope to the unemployed.

D．It doesn’t mean greater job security for the employed.

【小題4】What is the key to landing a job according to the author?

A．Education.

B．Intelligence.

C．Persistence.

D．Experience.

【小題5】What do we learn from the passage about the unemployment figures in the US?

A．They clearly indicate how healthy the economy is.

B．They provide the public with the latest information.

C．They warn of the structural problems in the economy.

D．They don’t include those who have stopped looking for a job.