While you may think that being smart and talented would logically make someone successful in running a business, unfortunately, this is often not the case.
This problem starts back in school when the stressful “group projects” are first assigned .The smartest don’t want to risk their grade in the class by dividing the work equally and hoping that an average student does his part well. They just take over and do the whole project themselves.
And thus begins the smart-people work cycle. The smartest people do just about everything better than most everyone else until it comes to running a business. They are not better; they are screwed(束缚). A smart person who can’t stand someone else doing a job badly does everything himself. Then, he is stuck with the one-man band “job-business” and ends up not being able to grow. However, it is quite interesting and strange that some slackers(偷懒的人) are better suited to be a business leader than the “smart” people. They figured out early on to surround themselves with smart people who would do the work that they themselves don’t want to do.
Smart and talented people often have a gift for the unusual, complicated or different. They don’t like to follow the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid), which is required to make a business succeed. Maybe you think the global presence of McDonald’s complex, but in fact, in the company, every single task is broken down into easy-to-follow steps and everything has been standardized. These successful companies have just a few smart enough people to run the majority of the tasks in a way that can’t be screwed up by their average employees. So, being smart or talented isn’t going to help you unless you can use your talent to figure out a way to simplify those tasks that will make a business successful.
Another issue with the smart people starting businesses is that they often have the most to lose. The smarter you are, the more choices you have available to you. You will be able to make a lot of money in various fields and have room in your career to become promoted. This means that when you start a business, you have a lot more to risk than those who are not equally smart. This is often referred to as the “golden handcuffs” dilemma.
So, don’t be surprised when the person “MOST Likely to Succeed” from high school ends up as an employee and it is one average student that finds success in his or her own business.
1.In group work, smart students often take over the whole project because they believe ______.
A. the work is not divided equally
B. they can perform better than others
C. the group projects are too stressful
D. average students are unwilling to take part
2.McDonald’s is used as an example to prove that ______.
A. a business calls for smart people’s talent
B. average employees can perform complex tasks
C. smart people are important for a successful business
D. simplified tasks are required for the success of a business
3.The underlined expression in Paragraph 5 refers to the situation where smart people ______.
A. have fewer choices in a company
B. risk more when starting business
C. are unwilling to put money to a business
D. can have a good income in many different fields
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Potentials for Success
B. Bases for Business
C. The Ordinary Achieve Bigger Success?
D. Talent Means Successful Business?
I am 26. I’m clear that I’m never going to catch up with Mother Teresa. But I want to do something to help people every single day like her.
Everybody thinks we just serve food and soda. The safety training is serious and stressful. Caring for 49 people in a business class in 90 minutes is not easy. I had a roommate who was a waitress; she just left a candle and a table cloth burning, and I used a fire extinguisher (灭火器) to put out the fire. If something goes bad at her job, she calls the police. But if something happens up in the air, it’s up to us.
I’m single and have no kids. I’ve flown every Christmas since 1995. If I fly, someone else can be with their kids. Christmas in an airport can be depressing, but it’s the little things that make a difference.
We’re not robots. It’s hard to put on a smile and just pretend everything is great when it isn’t. I’ve seen co-workers lose a family member the day before a trip and just pull themselves together (take control of their feelings and behave in a calm way). At the end of a 14-hour flight, it’s like, “It was really nice to help you, but I’m ready for you to get off the plane.” Those last 15 minutes can be the longest 15 minutes of your life. You can’t wait to turn off the flight attendant’s voice and get something to eat without anyone saying “Excuse me.”
Sometimes I go all day and never hear a “please” or a “thank you.” When you say thank you, it’s huge. It makes us feel like you actually see us as fellow humans. We’re up there together at a height of 30,000 feet, enjoying the miracle (奇迹) of the modern flight.
1.What’s the author’s attitude towards Mother Teresa?
A. Grateful. B. Fearful.
C. Doubtful. D. Admiring.
2. How did the author like her roommate’s job?
A. It was the same as hers.
B. It was more interesting than hers.
C. It was easier than hers.
D. It was more serious than hers.
3.Why does the author fly every Christmas?
A. Because she has nowhere to go.
B. Because she’s trying to be a helpful co-worker.
C. Because she owes her co-workers some favors.
D. Because she’d like to earn more money.
4.What does the author imply by saying the underlined sentence “We’re not robots”?
A. Flight attendants are not stronger than robots.
B. Flight attendants also experience emotions.
C. Flight attendants get tired while robots don’t.
D. Flight attendants need to rest now and then.
The United States government wants to know what the public thinks about its finding on the safety of cloned animals.
The Food and Drug Administration says meat and milk from clones of adult animals are safe to eat. They called them “as safe to eat as the food we eat every day.” And when those clones reproduce sexually(有性繁殖), the agency says, their offspring(后代)are safe to eat as well.
The United States this year could become the first country to allow the sale of foods from cloned animals. First，however，the public will have ninety days to comment on three proposed documents. On December 28th the F.D.A. released a long report, called a draft risk assessment, along with two policy documents. The agency says it must receive comments by April 2nd. The F.D.A. seemed ready to act several years ago，but an advisory committee called for more research.
For now，the government will continue to ask producers to honor a request that they do not sell foods from cloned animals.
Clones are still rare. They cost a lot and are difficult to produce. The F.D.A. says most food from cloning is expected to come not from clones themselves, but from their sexually reproduced offspring. It says clones are expected to be used mostly as breeding animals to spread good qualities.
Public opinion studies show most Americans do not like the idea of food from cloned animals. But this research also shows the public know little about cloning. Cloning differs from genetic engineering. A cell taken from a socalled donor animal is grown into an embryo(胚胎)in the laboratory. Next, the embryo is placed into the uterus(子宫)of a female animal. If the process is successful, the pregnancy reaches its full term and a genetic copy of the donor animal is born.
1. From the passage, we know ________.
A. the US government is very cautious about the safety of cloned foods
B. foods from cloned animals are popular in America
C. cloned animals will be easy to produce
D. most foods from cloning are expected to come from clones themselves
2.Who believes that foods from cloning are safe to eat?
A. Most Americans. B. An advisory committee.
C. Critics. D. The F.D.A. .
3. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _______.
A. cloning has much in common with genetic engineering
B. not every cell taken from a donor animal can grow into a genetic copy
C. the donor animal should be a female one
D. cloned animals grow faster than normal ones
4. Whether the sale of cloned foods is allowed in the US depends on ________.
A. cloning technology
B. the advisory committee’s research
C. public comments
D. the documents of the F.D.A.
根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Avoid Internet Addiction
__1._ Many people suffer from addition to the Internet and have a hard time paying attention to the important things around them. How can we prevent ourselves from going online too much?
Admit you have an addition. __2.__ Realize more and more people in the world are becoming addicted. You are not the only one with this problem. Do not be embarrassed; find others with the same problem and help each other beat it.
Limit your computer time. Make sure not to turn it on too many times a week. Before using your computer, decide on a time limit such as 30 minutes. Set the clock and make sure that you get off the computer when the time is up._ 3.__ Try using the computer at the library. You won’t be as attracted to look at certain websites and they do have a limit on how long you can stay online. _4.__. So you won’t be as attracted to be on the Internet as at home.
__5._ Go for a run with a friend or get exercise some other way. Keep up with the local events in your neighborhood. There may be talks, films, concerts and sports events etc. Find some, as long as it is not on the Internet, and get involved.
A. You will be happier if you use the Internet less.
B. There is no use avoiding the truth.
C. Also, it is a good place to get some good books and magazines to read.
D. Get a hobby or an interest.
E. Internet addition affects a lot of people.
F. Get your family to remind you if you’ve been on a long time.
G. Try to reduce the amount of time by 5 minutes each time.
A group of graduates, successful in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor．Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life．
Before offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and a variety of cups — porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking and cheap, some extremely expensive — telling them to help themselves to the coffee．
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones．While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress．The fact is that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee．In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink．What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously(有意识地） went for the best cups．．．And then you began eyeing each other's cups．
Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups．They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not change the quality of life we live．Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us．"God makes the coffee, not the cups．Enjoy your coffee!"The happiest people don't have the best of everything．They just make the best of everything．"
Live simply．Love generously．Care deeply．Speak kindly．Leave the rest to God．
1.What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A．the nice-looking cup .
B．the ordinary-looking cup .
C．the coffee of good quality .
D．the coffee of poor quality.
2.Why did the professor offer his students coffee with varieties of cups?
A．To give his students many more choices．
B．To teach his students how to enjoy coffee．
C To tell his students the right attitude to life
D．To show the students his collection of cups．
3.According to the professor, the happiest people are the ones who _____．
A．get the best type of coffee cups
B．care about social status and wealth
C．have a wide range of coffee cups
D．make the best of what they have
Shree Bose is one of the most impressive kids graduating from Fort Worth Country Day High School this year. Bose has a large circle of friends, and there’s one who you may have heard of: President Obama. He has twice publicly recognized her achievements in cancer research and spoken with her in the Oval Office.
If that isn’t enough, Bose recently gave a TED Talk about her work with the cancer drug Cisplatin, which also won her first prize at the Google Science Fair and recognition as one of Glamour magazine’s Young Amazing Women of the Year.
After watching her grandfather struggle with liver cancer, Bose was determined to help out in any way she could. As a high school student though, her
scientific choices were limited. She reached out to various hospitals and research centers, but doctors turned down her requests because they felt she was too inexperienced medically.
Only the North Texas Science Health Center respected her determination and chose to guide her. The results were amazing.
Bose chose to study a protein (蛋白质) and its reaction with the cancer drug Cisplatin. She noticed that when she prevented this protein from growing, Cisplatin was allowed to begin destroying cancer cells once again.
“My project not only contributes to the understanding of the relationship between the protein and Cisplatin, but also suggests a newer, more effective treatment for patients who resist Cisplatin,” Bose said.
Bose’s achievements aren’t limited to the lab, though. She was also captain of her swim team and editor-in-chief of her school paper.
Bose is currently getting practical experience at the National Institute of Health and she’ll be attending Harvard in the fall. She plans to study molecular biology and go to medical school. Eventually, she would like to be a doctor.
1.President Obama has spoken with Bose because she ______.
A. gave a TED Talk recently
B. is captain of her swim team
C. has a large circle of friends
D. contributed to the cancer research
2.According to Bose’s research, ______ helps make Cisplatin work better.
A. stopping the protein from growing
B. destroying cancer cells timely
C. using the drug more frequently
D. making the protein react with the drug
3.From the passage, we know that _____.
A. Bose’s research was supported from the start
B. Bose plans to become a doctor in the future
C. Bose will study in the National Institute of Health
D. Bose’s grandfather asked her to do cancer research
4.The passage is mainly about _____.
A. a research on cancer drugs
B. a new effective cancer treatment
C. a doctor who has a promising future
D. a girl who did research on cancer treatment
