“What is success?” Mr Gruber asked his 6^th grade business class．It was his opening conversation for the first class of the term．

　　“Success is riding in a sweet car, watching an 80-inch TV, and living in a place with at least twelve rooms．” One student answered, earning laughs from all the students．

　　Mr Gruber smiled, but shook his head．“Tom, that is excess(过量)．That is not success．”

　　“How about being able to provide for your family?” A blonde girl named Sandy in the front suggested as an answer．

　　“Now we're getting closer,” Mr Gruber smiled, “but try thinking about what you need and what you want．”

　　“Getting everything you want．” Tom shouted out an answer again, trying for more laughs．

　　Mr Gruber sighed．“ I believe we've already talked about excess versus(与…比较)success．”

　　“Getting everything you need, but some of what you want?” James, sitting in the back wondered aloud．

　　“Quite right!” Mr Gruber clapped．“Success is getting everything you need and some of what you want．The more you get that you want, the more successful you are．You do reach a point where you are living in excess, though．”

　　“What does this have to do with business?” Tom asked．It seemed if it wasn't funny, he wasn't happy．

　　“Well, Tom, think of it this way： the point of business is to make a living to support your family．Once you have properly seen to(确保)their needs, you can then see to getting the extras that you want．”

　　“What if I don't have a family?” he continued to be difficult．

　　“Then you have to provide for yourself, a family of one．”

　　“He has goldfish to think about!” Peter, Tom's friend, shouted out．

　　“Then he needs to provide for a family of one with a fishbowl．” Mr．Gruber corrected himself．

　　Tom nodded, satisfied with that answer．

　　“So in the next nine weeks, we're going to study basic business situations, like having a checking account and understanding credit cards．”

　　Tom rubbed his hands together excitedly．“When do we get to start spending?”

　　“You already are, Tom．You're spending time with us!” Mr．Gruber laughed．“Now, let's see what you guys know about credit cards…”

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　"Mary, your bedroom．is a mess(KSL)．Come and clean it up right now, "her mum said．Mary wanted to go outside and play．"I'll clean it up later, Mum．"

　　"Oh no, you won't．I've been asking you for days, " her mum said．

　　Mary went into her bedroom．She put away all of her clothes and put all the rubbish into a plastic bag．"Mum, I'm finished, "she smiled, "I'm going outside to play now．"

　　She ran into the back garden．This was her favorite place to be．A small butterfly flew over and landed on Mary's hand．"You're a pretty little butterfly, " Mary said, "Does your mum make you keep your bedroom clean?"

　　"What if I left my rubbish all over and didn't keep the garden clean and tidy? Would you have a nice place to sit among the flowers? "said the butterfly．

　　"I'd not be happy if I came out to see rubbish here and there, "Mary said．

　　"Everybody has to do their part and keep their rooms or their flower gardens clean, "the butterfly said and then flew away．

　　Mary hurried into the house and said to her mother,"I'11 keep my room clean from now on, Mum．I've got to do my part．"And she did just that．

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　　My first performance (表演) in front of an audience was coming up soon．

　　I tried as hard as I could to remain calm, but my heart was racing．I stared down at my sweat-covered, shaking hands．

　　I looked up again at the audience, realizing that these were real people．They were not just my mum and dad, who would say, “Good job!” even if I messed up the entire piece．

　　What if I had the wrong music? What if I played the wrong notes?

　　As it turned out, I was never able to answer these questions because the spotlight (聚光灯) was waiting for me．I grasped my hands tightly together, drying off the sweat．

　　Slowly I walked to the mud-brown piano in the center of the room．It contained 88 demanding keys, which were waiting impatiently to be played．．

I swallowed the golf-ball-sized lump (隆起部分) in my throat and sat down．Slowly, I opened the music．．

Next, I rested my still shaking hands on the ivory (象牙色的) keys．

　　As my fingers played across the keys, I was becoming more unsure of my preparation for this moment．But the memory of my years of training came flooding back．I knew that I had practised this piece so many times that I could play it backwards if requested．

　　Although at one point I accidentally played two keys instead of the intended one, I continued to move my fingers automatically (自动地)．

　　My eyes burned holes into (were fixed on) the pages in front of me．

　　There was no way that I was going to lose my concentration．To keep this to myself, I leaned forward and focused carefully on the music．

　　When I came to the end of the page, a warning went off inside my head：DON’T MAKE A MISTAKE WHEN YOU TURN THE PAGE!

　　Needless to say, I obeyed myself with all my heart and mind．．

And, proud of my “page-turning” feat (技艺), I finished the rest of the piece without making a single mistake．

　　After the final note died away, a celebration went into action inside my head．．

I had finished．．

I had mastered the impossible．

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