Interview with Allan Gray

　　(1)I was working for a multinational company in the early 1980s, and my brother asked me if I was interested in going into partnership with him to set up a language school. I'd always wanted to work for myself, and I was a bit fed up with working for someone else, so I said yes.

　　Primarily, I wanted the freedom to make my own decisions, I wanted room to be creative, and also I wanted to be able to get the credit and keep the profits if we were successful. I was also happy to carry the can and take the blame if things went wrong. These things are not possible if you work as an employee in a large organization.

　　(2) I had to borrow money to help start the business, but we were lucky because we also had some outside capital to put into the business. These days it can be really hard to persuade banks to lend money to people who want to start a company, so we were fortunate. It was fairly easy to set up the business, because we had a very clear idea of what we wanted to do. The problem was, all our preconceptions ( 預(yù)想 ) about what it would be like to run a business were wrong.

　　We made lots of mistakes, and we almost went bankrupt (破產(chǎn)的 ) at the beginning. At one point, we only had two students in the school.

　　(3) Far too long! We lost money for the first four years and, as I was saying, we nearly went out of business. It took quite a long time to start making profit. The best thing we did, though, was that we hired some really good people to work for us. In fact, some of those people are still working for us,24 years later. Now we're doing well, but it was very risky at first.

　　(4) One is financial constraint ( 約束) , It can be very tough. Think all small businesses have cash flow problems -- it often takes a long time to get paid by your customers. The second big problem is marketing. It takes a lot of funds to market your business, and you have to get your name known and build a reputation. But the biggest challenge is managing the people. All businesses are about people, and you have to learn how to deal with all kinds of people – and I think we've been extremely good at getting the best of our staff.

　　23. Paragraph 1 __________

　　24. Paragraph 2 __________

　　25. Paragraph 3 __________

　　26. Paragraph 4 __________

　　A. Strategies in expanding a small business

　　B. Right people to run a business

　　C. Time-consuming experience of being successful

　　D. Challenges of running a business

　　E. Difficulties in starting the business

　　F. Reasons for working for oneself

　　27. If you made a bad decision as a boss, you had __________.

　　28. The difficult thing to start a business is to persuade banks __________.

　　29. If you hire the right people, you'll probably be able __________.

　　30. Besides financial and marketing challenges, you must know how __________.

　　A. to lose your house

　　B. to manage your employees

　　C. to keep independent

　　D. to lend you money

　　E. to take the responsibility for it

　　F. to make profit

　　2014年真題

　　The Storyteller

　　(1) Steven Spielberg has always had one goal: to tell as many great stories to as many people as will listen. And that's what he has always been about. The son of a computer scientist and a pianist,Spielberg spent his early childhood in New Jersey and, later, Arizona. From the very beginning, his fertile imagination filled his young mind with images that would later inspire his filmmaking.

　　(2) Even decades later, Spielberg says he has clear memories of his earliest years, which are the origins of some of his biggest hits. He believes that E.T. is the result of the difficult years leading up to his parent's 1966 divorce, "It is really about a young boy who was in search of some stability in his life." "He was scared of just about everything," recalls his mother, Leah Adler. "When trees brushed against the house, he would head into my bed. And that's just the kind of scary stuff he would put in films like Poltergeist."

　　(3) Spielberg was 11 when he first got his hands on his dad's movie camera and began shooting short flicks about flying saucers and World War II battles. Spielberg's talent for scary storytelling enabled him to make friends. On Boy Scout camping trips, when night fell,Spielberg became the center of attention. "Steven would start telling his ghost stories," says Richard Y. Hoffman Jr., leader of Troop 294, "and everyone would suddenly get quiet so that they could all hear it."

　　(4) Spielberg moved to California with his father and went to high school there, but his grades were so bad that he barely graduated. Both UCLA and USC film schools rejected him, so he entered California State University at Long Beach because it was close to Hollywood.

　　Spielberg was determined to make movies, and he managed to get an unpaid, non-credit internship ( 實(shí)習(xí) ) in Hollywood. Soon he was given a contract, and he dropped out of college. He never looked back.

　　(5) Now, many years later, Spielberg is still telling stories with as much passion as the kid in the tent. Ask him where he gets his ideas, Spielberg shrugs. "The process for me is mostly intuitive (憑直覺的) ," he says. "There are films that I feel I need to make, for a variety of reasons, for personal reasons, for reasons that I want to have fun, that the subject matter is cool, that I think my kids will like it. And sometimes I just think that it will make a lot of money, like the sequel (續(xù)集) to Jurassic Park."

　　23. Paragraph 1 __________

　　24. Paragraph 2__________

　　25. Paragraph 3 __________

　　26. Paragraph 4 __________

　　A. Inspirations for his movies

　　B. The trouble of making movies

　　C. A funny man

　　D. Getting into the movie business

　　E. Telling stories to make friends

　　F. An aim of life

　　27. Some of Spielberg's most successful movies came from __________.

　　28. When Spielberg was a boy, he used to be scared of __________.

　　29. Spielberg is very good at__________.

　　30. Spielberg says he makes movies for __________.

　　A. almost everything

　　B. telling scary stories

　　C. a number of reasons

　　D. making children laugh

　　E. his childhood memories

　　F. a lot of money

　　2013年真題

　　Traffic Jams -- No End in Sight

　　(1) Traffic congestion (擁堵) affects people throughout the world. Traffic jams cause smog in dozens of cities across both the developed and developing world. In the U. S., commuters (通勤人員) spend an average of a full working week each year sitting in traffic jams, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. While alternative ways of getting around are available, most people still choose their cars because they are looking for convenience, comfort and privacy.

　　(2) The most promising technique for reducing city traffic is called congestion pricing, whereby cities charge a toll to enter certain parts of town at certain times of day. In theory, if the toll is high enough, some drivers will cancel their trips or go by bus or train. And in practice it seems to work: Singapore, London and Stockholm have reduced traffic and pollution in city centres thanks to congestion pricing.

　　(3)Another way to reduce rush-hour traffic is for employers to implement flextime, which lets employees travel to and from work at off-peak traffic times to avoid the rush hour. Those who have to travel during busy times can do their part by sharing cars. Employers can also allow more staff to telecommute (work from home) so as to keep more cars off the road altogether.

　　(4)Some urban planners still believe that the best way to ease traffic congestion is to build more roads, especially roads that can take drivers around or over crowded city streets. But such techniques do not really keep cars off the road; they only accommodate more of them.

　　(5)Other, more forward-thinking, planners know that more and more drivers and cars are taking to the roads every day, and they are unwilling to encourage more private automobiles when public transport is so much better both for people and the environment. For this reason, the American government has decided to spend some $7 billion on helping to increase capacity on public-transport systemsand upgrade them with moreefficient technologies.But environmentalists complain that such funding is tiny compared with the $50 billion being spent on roads and bridges.

　　23. Paragraph 1 __________

　　24. Paragraph 2__________

　　25. Paragraph 3 __________

　　26. Paragraph 4 __________

　　A. Paying to get in

　　B. Changing work practice

　　C. Not doing enough

　　D. A solution which is no solution

　　E. Closing city centres to traffic

　　F. A global problem

　　27. Most American drivers think it convenient to __________.

　　28. If charged high enough, some drivers may enter certain parts of town __________.

　　29. Building more roads is not an effective way to __________.

　　30. The U. S. government has planned to __________ updating public-transport systems.

　　A. reduce traffic jams

　　B. drive around

　　C. go by bus

　　D. spend more money

　　E. travel regularly

　　F. encourage more private cars

　　答案與解析

　　2015年真題

　　23．F。題干：第一段的主要內(nèi)容是__________。第一段沒有明顯的主題句，主要論述了自己為什么想要為自己而工作，諸如做決定的自由、創(chuàng)新的空間、獲得贊揚(yáng)以及獲得利潤(rùn)等，所以F(為自己而工作的原因)是正確答案。

　　24．E。題干：第二段的主要內(nèi)容是__________。第二段沒有明顯的主題句，主要討論了開始做生意面臨的資金問題以及所犯的錯(cuò)誤，故E(生意起步時(shí)遇到的困難)是正確答案，其中start a business是關(guān)鍵詞。

　　25．C。題干：第三段的主要內(nèi)容是__________。第三段的主題句為首句，即要花費(fèi)很長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間，后面的句子提到他們花了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間之后才開始盈利，故C(成功所需的耗費(fèi)時(shí)間的經(jīng)歷)是正確答案。

　　26．D。題干：第四段的主要內(nèi)容是__________。第四段沒有明顯的主題句，從one，the secondbig problem以及the biggest challenge等詞可知本段主要描述了做生意過(guò)程中遇到的一些問題和挑戰(zhàn)，故D(做生意面臨的挑戰(zhàn))是正確答案。

　　27．E。題干：如果作為老板你做了錯(cuò)誤的決定，那么你將不得不__________。按照出題順序與段落順序一致的原則，利用make a bad decision可以定位到第一段的倒數(shù)第二句“I was also happy to carry the can and take the blame ifthings went wrong”，意為“如果事情出錯(cuò)了，我也樂意承擔(dān)責(zé)任和過(guò)失”，所以答案為E(自己負(fù)責(zé))，其中carry the can為固定短語(yǔ)，意為“代人受過(guò)，負(fù)責(zé)任”，take the blame意為“負(fù)責(zé)任，擔(dān)不是”，與選項(xiàng)中的take responsibility for(承擔(dān)責(zé)任)為近義詞。

　　28．D。題干：生意起步的困難就是說(shuō)服銀行__________。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞start a business與persuade bank可以定位到第二段第二句，可知對(duì)那些想要開公司的人而言，說(shuō)服銀行借錢給他們是很困難的，所以該題答案為D(借給你錢)。

　　29．F。題干：如果你雇傭到了適合的人，那么你就能__________。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞right people可以定位到第三段，可知他們花了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)問才開始盈利，這其中最棒的事情就是他們雇傭到了合適的人，所以答案為F(盈利)。

　　30．B。題干：除了財(cái)務(wù)和營(yíng)銷的挑戰(zhàn)，你必須懂得如何__________。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞financial和marketing可以定位到最后一段，其中提到了三個(gè)問題，財(cái)務(wù)問題、營(yíng)銷問題以及管理員工的問題，結(jié)合語(yǔ)境可知B(管理員工)是正確答案。

　　2014年真題

　　23．F。題干：第一段的段落大意為__________。第一段的主題句為首旬，即Steven Spielberg有一個(gè)目標(biāo)，那就是給很多愿意傾聽的人講很多好的故事，所以選項(xiàng)F(人生的目標(biāo))為正確答案。

　　24．A。題干：第二段的段落大意為__________。第二段的主題句為第一句：Even decades later,Spielberg says he has clear memories of his earliest years，which are the origins of some of his biggest hits．即Spielberg認(rèn)為他對(duì)兒時(shí)有著清晰的記憶，而這些就是他一些成功作品的來(lái)源，所以選項(xiàng)A(電影的靈感)為正確答案。

　　25．E。題干：第三段的段落大意為__________。第三段無(wú)明顯的主題旬，該段主要講Spielberg很擅長(zhǎng)講恐怖的故事，讓他交到了很多朋友，所以選項(xiàng)E(講故事來(lái)交朋友)為正確答案。

　　26．D。題干：第四段的段落大意為__________。第四段無(wú)明顯的主題句，該段主要講述Spielberg被電影學(xué)校所拒，然后到離好萊塢比較近的大學(xué)上學(xué)，并努力獲得好萊塢實(shí)習(xí)的機(jī)會(huì)，獲得電影合同后就退學(xué)了，所以選項(xiàng)D(進(jìn)入電影行業(yè))為正確答案。

　　27．E。題干：Spielberg非常成功的電影都來(lái)自于__________。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞和第24題的分析，可知Spielberg認(rèn)為他對(duì)兒時(shí)有著清晰的記憶，而這些就是他一些成功作品的來(lái)源，所以選項(xiàng)E(他兒時(shí)的記憶)為正確答案。

　　28．A。題干：Spielberg是個(gè)孩子的時(shí)候，他害怕__________。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞be scared of可以定位到第二段“He was scared ofjust about everything”，意為“他害怕幾乎所有的一切”，所以選項(xiàng)A(幾乎所有的一切)為正確答案。

　　29．B。題干：Spielber9很擅長(zhǎng)__________。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞is good at和題目順序與題干順序一致的原則，可以定位第三段“Spielberg’s talent for scary storytelling enabled him to make friends”，意為“Spielberg講恐怖故事的天賦讓他交到了朋友”，所以選項(xiàng)B(講恐怖故事)為正確答案。

　　30．C。題干：Spielberg說(shuō)他制作電影是因?yàn)開_________。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞make movie可以定位到第五段“There are films that I feel I need to make，for a variety ofreasons，for personal reasons，for reasons that l want to have fun…”，意為“我覺得我需要制作電影，因?yàn)楦鞣N各樣的原因，比如因?yàn)閭�(gè)人的原因，因?yàn)槲蚁胝业綐啡さ脑�因”，所以選項(xiàng)C(很多原因)為正確答案。

　　2013年真題

　　23．F。第一段首句是主題旬，交通擁擠影響到了全世界的人，故F(全球問題)是正確答案。

　　24．A。第二段首旬是主題句，最有希望減少城市擁擠的技術(shù)被稱為擁堵收費(fèi)，即車輛在一天的特定時(shí)段進(jìn)入城里的特定區(qū)域是要收費(fèi)的。故A(付費(fèi)進(jìn)入)是正確答案。

　　25．B。第三段首句是主題句，另一種緩解交通高峰期的方法是雇主實(shí)行彈性工作時(shí)間，這可以讓員工在非高峰期往返工作，以避開上下班的高峰期，因而B(改變上下班慣例)是正確答案。

　　26．D。第四段沒有主題句，通過(guò)本段可知很多人認(rèn)為緩解交通壓力的辦法是多修路，但作者認(rèn)為這種辦法并不能真正解決問題。故D(一個(gè)不能解決問題的解決方案)是正確答案。

　　27．B。句意：大部分美國(guó)人認(rèn)為很方便。利用關(guān)鍵詞convenient可以定位，根據(jù)第一段最后一句“most people still choose their cars because they are looking for convenience，comfort and privacy”可知，很多人選擇開車是為了舒適、方便和隱私。因而答案為B。

　　28．C。題干：如果收費(fèi)足夠高，許多司機(jī)可能進(jìn)入城鎮(zhèn)的特定區(qū)域。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞charge可以定位，根據(jù)第二段“In theory，ifthe toll is high enough，some drivers、will cancel their trips or go by bus ortrain．”可知，“理論上，如果收費(fèi)足夠高，有些司機(jī)將會(huì)取消行程或者乘坐公交或火車”，所以C(坐公交)為正確答案。

　　29．A。題干：建設(shè)更多的路不是有效的方法。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞building roads等可以定位，根據(jù)第四段可知，有些城市規(guī)劃者認(rèn)為緩解交通擁擠的辦法是建更多的路，但是并不能真的讓車遠(yuǎn)離道路，而只會(huì)容納更多的車。因而修路并不是緩解擁堵的好辦法，所以A(緩解交通擁擠)為正確答案。

　　30．D。題干：美國(guó)政府計(jì)劃通過(guò)__________來(lái)升級(jí)公共交通系統(tǒng)。利用題干關(guān)鍵詞govemment和public—transport system等可以定位，根據(jù)第五段倒數(shù)第二句可知，美國(guó)政府決定花費(fèi)70億美元來(lái)提高公用交通系統(tǒng)的通行量，并使用更有效的技術(shù)對(duì)其進(jìn)行升級(jí)，所以D(花費(fèi)更多錢)為正確答案。