If you want to attend the hottest events of 2014, don’t waste your time looking through dozens of hotel options(选择) or vacation packages. Instead, look to cruise ships（乘船游览） that can ferry you to and from the most expected holiday, sporting, and cultural events of the year.
Heres a look at the some of the most popular:
Australian Open in Melbourne (January 1326, 2014)
Tennis fans worldwide are eager for the tickets to matches at any one of the four annual Grand Slam events: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. In January 2014, luxury(豪华的) cruise line Silversea will offer fans a three-night pre-cruise package to the 109th Australian Open in Melbourne. Silversea passengers will attend third round singles matches at Rod Laver Arena on January 17 and 18 before taking the 382-passenger Silver Shadow for a special 15-night Melbourne to Bali voyage.
Carnival in Rio de Janeiro (February 28March 4, 2014)
Rio de Janeiros Carnival is one of the most popular celebrations of its kind in the world, drawing two million visitors each and every day of the festivities that include parades, street fairs, and costume balls. Holland Americas Maasdam will spend three days in Rio during Carnival as part of its 26-day Amazon & Carnival Explorer journey.
2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil (June 12July 13, 2014)
If youre a soccer fan that came up empty in the search for a hotel room for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Rio de Janeiro, theres still hope. Book MSC Cruises 18-night Miami to Rio voyage aboard Divina. The ship departs Miami on May 24 and arrives in Rio just in time for the World Cup.
New Years Eve in Hong Kong (December 31, 2014)
Hong Kong is a magical destination and New Years Eve festivities and fireworks pull out all the stops to make a holiday trip to that city even more attractive. Crystal Cruises all-inclusive luxury ship, Symphony, will spend two nights in Hong Kong-- and celebrate New Years Eve Chinese-styleduring its 15-night holiday voyage that leaves Bangkok on December 21. This roundtrip voyage also calls on Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in Vietnam.According to the passage, which of the following ships will take the longest time of voyage?
| A．Silver Shadow. | B．Maasadam. | C．Divina. | D．Symphony. |
The events that will take place in Rio de Janeiro in 2014 are ___________.
| A．Carnival and FIFA World Cup |
| B．New Years Eve fireworks and Carnival |
| C．the Australian Open and Grand Slam events |
| D．New Year's Eve fireworks and FIFA |
Where does this passage probably come from?
| A．In a sports magazine. | B．In a textbook. |
| C．In a science report. | D．In a travel brochure. |
The main purpose of the passage is to ___________.
| A．give information about the hottest events of 2014 |
| B．introduce cruise ships to some big events of 2014 |
| C．describe the most popular tourist destinations in 2014 |
| D．persuade readers to take cruise ships for 2014 holiday |
New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It’s now a “global village” where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly increased by foreign language skills.
Deeply involved with this new technology is a kind of modern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts.
Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being “out of sight and out of mind.” He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company’s plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to manage back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more common.
Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.
English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn’t generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.
The employee posted abroad who speaks the country’s language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign customers over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm. With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, businesspeople ________.
| A．are eager to work overseas |
| B．have to get familiar with modern technology |
| C．are gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations |
| D．are attaching more importance to their overseas business |
In this passage, “out of sight and out of mind” (Line 3, Para. 3) probably means ________.
| A．leaving all care and worry behind |
| B．being unable to think properly for lack of insight |
| C．being totally out of touch with business at home |
| D．missing opportunities for promotion when abroad |
According to the passage, what is an important consideration of international corporations in employing people today?
| A．Ability to speak the customer’s language. |
| B．Connections with businesses overseas. |
| C．Technical know-how. |
| D．Business experience. |
The advantage of employees having foreign language skills is that they can ________.
| A．fast-forward their proposals to headquarters |
| B．better control the whole negotiation process |
| C．easily make friends with businesspeople abroad |
| D．easily find new approaches to meet market needs |
Pacing and Pausing
Sara tried to befriend her old friend Steve's new wife, but Betty never seemed to have anything to say. While Sara felt Betty didn't hold up her end of the conversation, Betty complained to Steve that Sara never gave her a chance to talk. The problem had to do with expectations about pacing and pausing.
Conversation is a turn-taking game. When our habits are similar, there's no problem. But if our habits are different, you may start to talk before I'm finished or fail to take your turn when I'm finished. That's what was happening with Betty and Sara.
It may not be coincidental that Betty, who expected relatively longer pauses between turns, is British, and Sara, who expected relatively shorter pauses, is American. Betty often felt interrupted by Sara. But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland. And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel.
The general phenomenon, then, is that the small conversation techniques, like pacing and pausing, lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities. These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping (思维定式). And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences. For example, a woman from the southwestern part of the US went to live in an eastern city to take up a job in personnel. When the Personnel Department got together for meetings, she kept searching for the right time to break in --- and never found it. Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident, in Washington she was viewed as shy and retiring. When she was evaluated at the end of the year, she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up.
That's why slight differences in conversational style --- tiny little things like microseconds of pause --- can have a great effect on one's life. The result in this case was a judgment of psychological problems --- even in the mind of the woman herself, who really wondered what was wrong with her and registered for assertiveness training.What did Sara think of Betty when talking with her?
| A．Betty was talkative. | B．Betty was an interrupter. |
| C．Betty did not take her turn. | D．Betty paid no attention to Sara. |
57. According to the passage, who are likely to expect the shortest pauses between turns?
| A．Americans. | B．Israelis. | C．The British. | D．The Finns. |
58. We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．communication breakdown results from short pauses and fast pacing |
| B．women are unfavorably stereotyped in eastern cities of the US |
| C．one's inability to speak up is culturally determined sometimes |
| D．one should receive training to build up one's confidence |
Why Doesn't Anybody Copy Apple?
Apple’s products are the envy of the world. They have been amazingly successful and are widely imitated, if not copied. The minute Apple launches a product, everyone knows how to compete．This idea that the basis of competition is set by Apple and then the race is on to climb the path of improvement is unquestionable. When Apple releases a product that defines a category or dramatically changes the structure of an industry, it becomes obvious what needs to be built. But what I wonder is why everyone wants to copy Apple's products but nobody wants to copy being Apple?
I can think of two reasons. Firstly, Apple is not worth copying because it's not successful; secondly, Apple's success cannot be copied because it is a magical process.
There is a great deal of evidence for the first assumption. The idea of Apple being successful is not something reflected in its stock price. Being valued lower than the average company in the S&P（标准普尔）500 indicates that to whatever degree Apple was successful in the past, and it's not seen by the vast majority of observers as successful in the future. Why should one bother copying Apple if it results in being punished with a low valuation? If one works really hard at innovation（革新）and then that innovation becomes commoditized（商品化）very quickly, why should one bother?
When innovation practitioners are asked what makes Apple successful, the answers regarding the cause of this success border on the mythical. The fabulous part of this assumption is the " chief-sorcerer" theory of success which places one magician, like Steve Jobs, in charge of casting all the right spells．
What about Apple's own opinion of what makes it tick? Tim Cook refers to a great team and integration（一体）of hardware, software and services as unique Apple advantages. It's a better explanation. Integration is something that can take a long time, but it is possible with great effort. A few companies are starting to make moves in that direction, but efforts are half-hearted. There is no "move the Earth" feeling to become an integrated company from Samsung, Google or Microsoft.
My own suspicion is that Apple is more aware of what makes it special than it lets out. However, as Tim points out, it's not a formula. It's complex, it's subtle, but it's not magic. It's a process that requires a degree of faith and courage.When a new product of Apple comes out, often it _________.
| A．ruins an industry dramatically |
| B．puts itself in an unbeatable position |
| C．starts a revolution of an industry |
| D．is soon overtaken by imitated products |
According to the passage, other companies don't "copy being Apple" because_________.
| A．Apple is not a successful company |
| B．they have no access to relevant resources |
| C．it's hard to find a magician like Steve Jobs |
| D．being Apple takes more than time and efforts |
We can infer from Para. 5 that _________.
| A．other companies are dedicated to integration |
| B．Apple itself is fully aware of its unique advantages |
| C．Apple will hold the leading position in this industry |
| D．other companies don't have an extraordinary team as Apple does |
What does the author think of Tim Cook's statement?
| A．Neutral. | B．Disappointing. | C．Indifferent. | D．Acceptable. |
WASHINGTON—Laura Straub is a very worried woman. Her job is to find families for French teenagers who expect to live with American families in the summer.
It’s not easy, even desperate.
“We have many children left to place: 40 out of 75,” said Straub, who works for a Paris-based foreign exchange programme called LEC. When exchange programmes started 50 years ago, family life was more accommodating. For one thing, more mothers stayed home.
But now, increasing numbers of women work outside the home. Exchange-student programmes have struggled in recent years to sign up host families for the 30,000 teenagers who annually come from abroad to spend their academic year in the United States, as well as the thousands more who participate in summer programmes.
School systems in many parts of the US, unhappy about accepting non-taxpaying students, have also strictly limited the number of exchange students they accept. At the same time, the idea of hosting foreign students is becoming less exotic.
In searching for host families, who usually receive no pay, exchange programmes are increasingly broadening their appeals to include everyone who has the ability to do it.
“We are open to many different types of families,” said Vickie Weiner, eastern regional director for ASSE, a 25- year-old programme that sends about 30,000 teenagers on academic year exchange programmes worldwide.
“For elderly people, exchange students keep us young; they really do!” said Jean Foster, who is hosting 16-year-old Nina Porst from Denmark.Vickie Weiner is the person who ________.
| A．works for a programme called LEC |
| B．works for a programme called ASSE |
| C．is 25 years old |
| D．hosts foreign students |
From the passage we can learn that at the beginning of the exchange programmes_______.
| A．all the families could host foreign students |
| B．only young couples could host foreign students |
| C．only those who were retired could host foreign students |
| D．those who were not too old could host foreign students |
Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
| A．US Struggles to Find Host Families |
| B．Idea of Hosting Students Is Different |
| C．Foreign-exchange Program Is Going On |
| D．Exchange Students Keep Old People Young |
All around the world, shoppers flock to Wal-Mart to buy everything. In Texas, they come for another reason: to see the wind turbine（涡轮机）, which supplies 5% of the store’s electricity. It along with other facilities, such as exterior walls coated with heat-reflective paint, makes this Wal-Mart a green giant.
The laws of economics suggest that Wal-Mart, with 5, 200 stores worldwide, influences everything including the price of all kinds of goods. It throws its weight behind environmental responsibility, and the impact could be amazing. “One little change in product packaging could save 1, 500 trees,” says Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott．“If everybody saves 1, 500 trees or 50 barrels of oil, at the end of the day you have made a huge difference.”
Scott wants Wal-Mart to do its part too. He has promised to cut the existing greenhouse-gas emissions（排放）over the next few years and promised to construct new stores that are more efficient. He wants Wal-Mart’s fleet of more than 7, 000 trucks to get twice as many miles per gallon by 2015. Factories that show Wal-Mart they’re cutting air pollution will get preferential treatment in the supply chain. Wal-Mart says it’s working with consumer-product manufacturers to reduce their packaging and will reward them if they do so.
Some people may doubt it is a bid to attract attention from Wal-Mart’s controversial labor and health-insurance practices. But it’s not just window dressing, because Wal-Mart sees profits in going green. Scott says, “This is a business philosophy, not a social philosophy. We don’t go where we don’t think there’s a great interest in change.”
Like Bill Gates, who started his charitable foundation, Scott happens to be promoting Wal-Mart’s image at a time when his company’s reputation is declining. He acknowledges that he launched the plan partly to shield （保护）Wal-Mart from bad press about its contribution to global warming. “By doing what we’re doing today, we avoid the headline risks that are going to come for people who did not do anything,” he says. “At some point businesses will be held responsible for the action they take.” Meanwhile, should Wal-Mart succeed at shrinking its environmental footprint and lowering prices for green products, both the planet and the company will profit. We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．Lee Scott is Wal-Mart’s CEO |
| B．there are 5, 200 stores in the world |
| C．Wal-Mart has a great influence on the world market |
| D．Wal-Mart has more than 7, 000 trucks all over the world |
What does the underlined sentence “This is a business philosophy, not a social philosophy.” mean in the fourth paragraph?
| A．Wal-Mart predicts huge profits in its green activity. |
| B．Wal-Mart’s green activity is just window dressing. |
| C．Wal-Mart aims to solve its health-insurance practices. |
| D．Wal-Mart doesn’t have any social responsibility at all. |
What will Wal-Mart probably do in the future?
| A．Reduce air pollution in its present stores. |
| B．Give favorable treatment to its consumers. |
| C．Ask the factories to reduce their packaging. |
| D．Demand the fleet of trucks to use more fuel than before. |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Provide the background of the green plan. |
| B．Stress the purpose of Wal-Mart’s green plan. |
| C．Present the risk that Wal-Mart is facing nowadays. |
| D．Analyze the similarity between Bill Gates and Scott. |
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