Question

Peter Huszcz once taught in an agricultural (农业的)college. In the 1990s, he moved to Canada. Peter started out washing dishes in a restaurant in downtown Ottawa. When the manager asked him to help out rolling meatballs in the kitchen, he soon 1earned how to do the job very well. But it was boring and Peter suggested that the manager should buy a meatball-making machine. When the manager told him there was no such thing as a meatball maker, Peter was quick to notice that something was missing in the market. Putting his engineering knowledge to good use, he quickly came up with a simple method—the Magic Meatball Maker.

He was sure there was a market for his machine. but it took him ten years of hard work to find it. He had to take risks, but he believed in his idea, and he managed to persuade other people to believe in him too. A local manufacturer (制造商) offered to produce the first 1,000 units in return for a share in the profits (收益), local shops offered to keep his meatball makers and a friend’s daughter helped him out with his first sales.

But his lucky break came when he managed to persuade a TV shopping channel to help sell the Magic Meatball Maker. The channel broadcast a program about how the invention worked in the studio kitchen. Within minutes, they had sold more than 4,000 units.

This was just the start. Peter had been right. He had said his meatball maker would bring him great wealth, and it has: more than two million dollars so far and it’s till selling to thousands of American housewives all across the USA.

1.Working in the restaurant, Peter_______ .

A. was chosen to be the manager    B. found a chance to make money

C. broke a meatball-making machine    D. was poor at making meatballs by hand

2.Which of the following helped Peter’s business take off?

A. A local shop.    B. A friend’s daughter

C. A local manufacturer    D. A TV shopping channel

3.What’s the right order to describe Peter’s life?

A. Teacher→dish washer→inventor→businessman

B. Dish washer→teacher→inventor→businessman

C. Businessman→dish washer→inventor→teacher

D. Inventor→businessman→dish washer→teacher

4.What can we learn from the story?

A. Better late than never

B. A friend in need is a friend indeed

C. Where there is a will, there is a way.

D. In time of danger, one’s mind works fast.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.A

4.C

【解析】本文是记叙文。文章主要向我们介绍了肉丸机的发明者——PeterHuszcz。他在餐馆洗盘子时偶然发现肉丸机的市场缺失，他利用他的工程知识很快就制造出了肉丸机，但机器的销路却让他花费了十年时间，最终，他成功说服了电视购物频道的帮助出售魔术肉丸机，销路打开，他相信肉丸机会给他带来巨大的财富。

1.细节理解题。由第一段中的When the manager told him ... something was missing in the market可知，Peter看到了赚钱的机会，故选B项。

2.细节理解题。由第三段内容可知，Peter成功说服一家电视购物频道为其推销肉丸机，随后便开始大卖，故选D项。

3.细节理解题。由第一段中的Peter Huszcz once taught in an agricultural college可知，他曾当过老师；由In the 1990s ... Peter started out washing dishes in a restaurant可知，他之后做过洗碗工；由Putting his engineering knowledge ... the Magic Meatball Maker可知，随后他成了一位发明家；由第二、三、四段内容可知，他为了推销肉丸机付出了很大的辛苦，所以他还是一名商人。故选A。

4.推理判断题。由第二段中的He was sure there was a market for his machine ... to believe in himtoo和最后一段内容可知，Peter Huszcz坚信自己的肉丸机会受欢迎，为了推销其产品，他付出了艰辛的努力并最终取得成功，故选C项。