In business, there’s a speed difference: It’s the difference between how important a firm’s leaders say speed is to their competitive(竞争的) strategy(策略) and how fast the company actually moves.The difference is important regardless of industry and company size. Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.
In our study of 343 businesses, the companies that chose to go, go, go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track.What's more, the firms that “slowed down to speed up” improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-year period.
How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than competitors yet performing better? They thought differently about what “slower” and “faster” mean.Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value)．Simply increasing the speed of production, for example, may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference.But that often leads to reduced value over time, in the form of lower-quality products and services.
In our study, higher-performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary. They became more open to ideas and discussion.They encouraged new ways of thinking.And they allowed time to look back and learn.By contrast (相比而言), performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time, paid too much attention to improving efficiency, stuck to tested methods, didn't develop team spirit among their employees, and had little time thinking
about changes.
Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership.Teams that regularly take time to get things right, rather than plough ahead full bore, are more successful in meeting their business goals.That kind of strategy must come from the top.What does the underlined part “gain an edge” in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．Increase the speed. | B．Reach the limit. |
| C．Get an advantage. | D．Set a goal. |
The underlined part “the laws of business physics” in Paragraph 3 means ________.
| A．spending more time and performing worse |
| B．spending more time and performing better |
| C．spending less time and performing worse |
| D．spending less time and performing better |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．How fast a firm moves depends on how big it is. |
| B．How competitive a firm is depends on what it produces. |
| C．Firms guided by strategic speed take time to make necessary changes. |
| D．Firms guided by operational speed take time to develop necessary team spirit. |
Which could be the best title for the text?
| A．Improve quality? Serve better. | B．Deliver value? Plough ahead. |
| C．Reduce time? Move faster. | D．Need speed? Slow down. |
Going green seems to be a fad(时尚)for a lot of people these days.Whether that is good or bad，we can’t really say，but for the two of us，going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.
On April 22,2011，we decided to go green every single day for an entire year.This meant doing 365 different green things，and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond the easy things.Rather than recycle and reduce our energy，we had to think of 365 different green things to do and this was no easy task.
With the idea of going green every single day for a year，Our Green Year started.My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all the green things that could be done to help the environment.We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.
Over the course of Our Green Year，we completely changed our lifestyles.We now shop at organic(有机的) stores.We consume less meat，choosing green food.We have greatly reduced our buying we don’t need.We have given away half of what we owned through websites.Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice，with no chemical cleaners.We make our own butter，enjoying the smell of homemade fresh bread.In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.
Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year.We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others.We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planet. (2013·辽宁，B)What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Going Green |
| B．Protecting the Planet |
| C．Keeping OpenMinded |
| D．Celebrating Our Green Year |
It was difficult for the couple to live a green life for the whole year because________.
| A．they were expected to follow the green fad |
| B．they didn’t know how to educate other people |
| C．they were unwilling to reduce their energy |
| D．they needed to perform unusual green tasks |
What did the couple do over the course of Our Green Year?
| A．They tried to get out of their ungreen habits. |
| B．They ignored others’ ungreen behavior. |
| C．They chose better chemical cleaners. |
| D．They sold their homemade food. |
What can we infer from the last paragraph?
| A．The government will give support to the green project. |
| B．The couple may continue their project in the future. |
| C．Some people disagree with the couple’s green ideas. |
| D．Our Green Year is becoming a national campaign. |
How many times have you got upset because someone wasn’t doing his job，because your child isn’t behaving？How many times have you been irritated (恼怒的) when you’ve planned something carefully and things didn’t go as you’d hoped?
This kind of anger and irritation happens to all of us—it’s part of the human experiences.
One thing that irritates me is when people talk during a movie，or cut me off in traffic.Actually，I have a lot of these little annoyances—don’t we all？And it isn’t always easy to find peace when you’ve become upset or irritated.
Let me tell you a little secret to finding peace of mind：see_the_glass_as_already_broken.
See，the cause of our stress，anger and irritation is that things don’t go the way we like，the way we expect them to.Think of how many times this has been true for you.And so the solution is simple：expect things to go wrong，expect things to be different than we hoped or planned，expect the unexpected to happen.And accept it.
One quick example：on our recent trip to Japan，I told my kids to expect things to go wrong—they always do on a trip.I told them，“See it as part of the adventure.”
And this worked like a charm.When we inevitably (不可避免地) took the wrong train on a foreignlanguage subway system，or when it rained on the day we went to Disney Sea，or when we took three trains and walked 10 blocks only to find the National Children’s Castle closed on Mondays...they said，“It’s part of the adventure！” And it was all OK—we didn’t get too bothered.
So when the nice glass you bought inevitably falls and breaks some day，you might get upset.But things will be different，if you see the glass as already broken，from the day you get it.You know it’ll break some day，so from the beginning，see it as already broken.Be a timetraveler，or someone with timetraveling vision，and see the future of this glass，from this moment until it inevitably breaks.And when it breaks，you won’t be upset or sad—because it was already broken，from the day you got it.And you’ll realize that every moment you have with it is precious.The author would probably agree that________.
| A．we should control our anger and irritation |
| B．we must get well prepared for the future |
| C．optimism can help us overcome our anger and irritation |
| D．anger and irritation is a natural part of our life |
The purpose of the author is to________.
| A．tell us his own experience in life |
| B．advise us how to find peace of mind |
| C．tell us a happy trip he took with his children |
| D．ask us to see things from both sides |
By the underlined part (in Para.4)，the author tells us to________.
| A．get ready for the worst result of things |
| B．enjoy the process of things |
| C．expect little from life |
| D．find the relationship between cause and effect |
We can learn from the passage that the author________.
| A．often gets angry in his life |
| B．can adjust his state of mind accordingly |
| C．always expects others to act in his way |
| D．always suffers from his anger and irritation |
French novelist Jules Verne (1828～1905) is often called the father of science fictions.Although he was not a great traveller himself，his characters journeyed to the moon (in From Earth to Moon)，Under the sea (in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea)，into a volcano (in A Journey to the Centre of the Earth)，around the world (in Around the World in Eighty Days) and to many other places.
Jules Verne was born in the French city of Nantes in 1828.When he was a boy he ran away from home to work on a ship.However，his father soon found him and brought him home.After that he decided that any future travel he did would be in books.In 1847，his father sent Jules to Paris to study to be a lawyer.Even though he was busy writing，Verne passed his exams in 1849 with high marks.
When Jules told his father he did not want to be a lawyer，his father was very angry.He stopped sending his son any money，so Jules had to earn a living by his writing.Over the next few years he wrote many stories and plays which brought him only a little money.Then，in 1856，he met Honorine de Viane，a rich，young widow with two children.The couple married the next year and their only child Michel was born in 1862.
After his marriage，Verne worked as a businessman in Paris.However，he was not very successful at his job and spent most of his time writing books and doing research for the next one.In 1863，he published his novel Five Weeks in a Balloon and in the following year he published A Journey to the Centre of the Earth which brought him fame.His books became so popular and earned him so much money that he was able to leave his job and work full time on his writing.
In his lifetime，Jules Verne wrote more than 50 books and he became a rich man.Many of this imaginative novels have been turned into films.Jules Verne became rich because of his________.
| A．father | B．marriage |
| C．business | D．writing |
When Jules Verne was brought home by his father，he decided that________.
| A．he would go on more travels in the future |
| B．he would do as his father required |
| C．he would be devoted to writing about future travels |
| D．he would stop writing about future travels |
Which book can be considered as a turning point in Jules Verne’s life?
| A．Five Weeks in a Balloon. |
| B．A Journey to the Centre of the Earth. |
| C．From Earth to Moon. |
| D．Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Jules Verne was appreciated by film makers. |
| B．Jules Verne was not clever enough to learn law. |
| C．Jules Verne’s stories and plays won him big fame in the 1850s. |
| D．Jules Verne’s wife helped him a lot in his writing career. |
The car，running along the welllit road now sank in darkness.I broke the ____ on purpose，____ that the driver was too tired to drive.“When do you go back home in the evening？”“9 o’clock after this ____.” “Then when do you come out in the morning？” I ____ another question.“9 o’clock，too—just as if I worked at an office.” His __ surprised me，because every time I ride a taxi，what I ___ from the driver are only complaints that they have to work from morning till night，it’s hard to earn money and they’re often ___ by the police，or that their leaders are seated lazily，___ the fruits.But this driver told me，“I find it ____ to be a section chief as I was before.I like driving just for ____.It’s fortunate that I hardly drive ____ a passenger.So I earn two or three thousand yuan a month with ease.Yes，I never ____ an empty taxi.If it goes southward，I go northward.If it goes along a ____，I turn into a narrow street.”
His words showed his ____ with his life and the pride he ____ in his job.Such feelings are so rare among people nowadays as oxygen in high ____.As an ancient saying goes，“Neither joy in material ____ nor grieve(悲痛) over personal setbacks.” How many people nowadays can show high ideals by ____ living and go far with a calm mind？I couldn’t help feeling ____ when finding such a state of mind in a stranger on a cold ___.
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| A．angry | B．content |
| C．dangerous | D．curious |
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Credit cards let people buy things now and pay for them over months or even years.But some people get deep into debt：Some banks have terms and charges that can make it harder for people to pay off that debt.In the United States，there are calls for stronger government supervision of the credit card industry.They_offer_economic_power_at_a_price.In 2004，Americans had about $800 billion in credit card debt.Now they own about $968 billion.
Critics say banks made it too easy to get credit cards.But that may be changing.The crisis in the housing and credit they call markets is beginning to affect the credit card industry.More payments are late.Charges for late payments are a growing source of profit for banks.But late payments can also signal bad debts.
The central bank，the Federal Reserve，says twothirds of American banks have recently reported tighter lending requirements.Many people report having their credit limits reduced without warning.
Some lawmakers are concerned that cardholders do not have enough protections from what abusive policies.These include actions like raising interest rates because of an unrelated event.Also，banks may raise the chances of a late payment by changing monthly payment dates for credit cards.
According to a survey,82% of Americans think credit cards provide a valuable service.But a majority,58%，say they do not trust credit card companies.And three out of four think the government should regulate the industry more closely.Three out of four people feel there is always some condition that makes a card less appealing than the company made in scared.And a little more than half say they have had a card that was not as good as they expected.But close to 80% say no one really reads the terms and conditions when they sign up for a credit card.What does the underlined sentence in the first paragraph probably mean?
| A．We can enjoy more convenience using credit cards. |
| B．Credit cards can improve our buying power. |
| C．We can buy things at lower prices using credit cards. |
| D．Credit cards bring more card debt as well as convenience. |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the text?
| A．Banks are making it harder for people to get credit cards. |
| B．Some people’s credit limits have been reduced. |
| C．It is more difficult to borrow money from some banks. |
| D．Banks are receiving more charges from late payments. |
What can we know from the text?
| A．Banks actually prefer to see more late payment. |
| B．People should be more careful when applying for a credit card. |
| C．The US government provides better protection for cardholders. |
| D．The majority of Americans don’t think much of credit cards. |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Credit cards are still very well received in America. |
| B．Credit cards don’t live up to some people’s expectations. |
| C．Many people don’t believe in credit card companies. |
| D．The results of a survey about credit cards in Americans. |
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