A lot of management training each year for Circle K Corporation, a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address in our course is the retention（保护力） of quality employees-a real challenge to managers when you consider the pay scale（标准）in the service industry. During these discussions, I ask the participants（参加者）, “What has caused you to stay long enough to become a manager?” Some time back a new manager took the question and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, “It was a ＄19 baseball glove.”

Cynthia told the group that she originally took a Circle K clerk job as an interim（临时的） position while she looked for something better. On her second or third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-year-old son, Jessie. He needed a baseball glove for Little League. She explained that as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check would have to go for paying bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check. When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning, Patricia, the store manager, asked her to come to the small room in the back of the store that served as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concerned and confused.

Patricia handed her a box. “I overheard you talking to your son yesterday,” she said, “and I know that it is hard to explain things to kids. This is a baseball glove for Jessie because he may not understand how important he is, even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. You know we can’t pay good people like you as much as we would like to; but we do care, and I want you to know you are important to us.”

The thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store manager demonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer cares than how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of a Little League baseball glove.

Among many of the problems in the service industry, talked about in this passage, is         .

       A．how to ensure his employees’ high pay

       B．how to attract more customers

       C．how to look carefully after the employees

       D．how to keep the good employees from leaving

Although a new manager, Cynthia would do her job well in keeping quality employees because she         .

       A．had mastered all the courses for the manager

       B．had already formed good relationship with the employees

       C．know the way how to deal with her employees

       D．had her own personal experience

This passage shows us that to run a business well it is necessary for managers to let their employees know         .

       A．how much they can get for their job.

       B．what good positions they can get later

       C．they are very necessary to the business  

       D．they are nice as well as useful

The story told in this passage tells us that employees care about         .

       A．only how large a pay they can get

       B．love from the managing people rather than only money

       C．if their children could be properly taken care of

       D．what position they can be offered

C

Everyone’s at it, even my neighbors. I thought I might be the only person left in the world who hadn’t done an eBay deal. So, I decided to try my hand at online auction（网上拍卖）.

Buying for Beginners

Sign up on www. eBay. co. uk. Most items (e.g. tables, computers and books) ready for auction will come with a picture and a short description; others may be marked with “Buy It Now ” and have a fixed price. You can buy these right away.

If the item is being auctioned, you offer the highest price you are prepared to pay and eBay bids (出价) for you. The bid will be increased little by little until it goes beyond your highest bid, then you are emailed and asked if you would like to bid again. Auctions last up to 10 days and when they finish, you get an email telling you whether you have won the item.

How to Pay

Sellers decide how they would like to be paid and you need to check this before placing a bid as you might not want to post a check or postal orders. The easiest way is through PayPal, an online payment system that takes the money away from your credit card.

Selling Made Simple

If you plan to sell on eBay, it helps to include a picture of the item. I followed my friends’ advice and put up the items I wanted to sell for a 10-day auction, starting on a Thursday. This way buyers had two weekends to bid.

The big Things in Life

It’s easy to post a small item, but furniture is a big part of eBay and this has to be collectively sent by deliverymen. Check the ways of delivery before you bid.

64. What is the passage mainly about?

A. How to make payment online.                       B. Ways of making delivery online.

C. How to use an online-auction system.             D. Advantages of an online auction system.

65. After bidding for an item, a buyer ________.

A. has chances to make higher bids                    B. will get what he wants in ten days

C. should make payment immediately          D. may check its picture and description

66. The easiest way of making payment mentioned in the passage is ________.

A. through a local banking system                      B. by sending the money to the seller

C. through an online payment system                 D. by paying the deliveryman directly

A lot of management training each year for Circle K Corporation, a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address in our course is the retention（保护力） of quality employees----a real challenge to managers when you consider the pay scale（标准）in the service industry. During these discussions, I ask the participants（参加者）, “What has caused you to stay long enough to become a manager?” Some time back a new manager took the question and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, “It was a ＄19 baseball glove.”

Cynthia told the group that she originally took a Circle K clerk job as an interim（临时的） position while she looked for something better. On her second or third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-year-old son, Jessie. He needed a baseball glove for Little League. She explained that as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check would have to go for paying bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check. When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning, Patricia, the store manager, asked her to come to the small room in the back of the store that served as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concerned and confused.

Patricia handed her a box. “I overheard you talking to your son yesterday,” she said, “and I know that it is hard to explain things to kids. This is a baseball glove for Jessie because he may not understand how important he is, even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. You know we can’t pay good people like you as much as we would like to; but we do care, and I want you to know you are important to us.”

The thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store manager demonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer（雇主） cares than how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of a Little League baseball glove.

1．Among many of the problems in the service industry ,talked about in this passage, is         .

       A．how to ensure his employees’ high pay

       B．how to attract more customers

       C．how to look carefully after the employees

       D．how to keep the good employees from leaving

2．Although a new manager, Cynthia would do her job well in keeping quality employees because she         .

       A．had mastered all the courses for the manager

       B．had already formed good relationship with the employees

       C．know the way how to deal with her employees

       D．had her own personal experience

3．This passage shows us that to run a business well it is necessary for managers to let their employees know         .

       A．how much they can get for their job.

       B．what good positions they can get later

       C．they are very necessary to the business 

       D．they are nice as well as useful

4．The story told in this passage tells us that employees care about         .

       A．only how large a pay they can get

       B．love from the managing people rather than only money

       C．if their children could be properly taken care of

       D．what position they can be offered

       It was the summer of 1965. DeLuca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked DeLuca about his plans for the future. “I’m going to college, but I need a way to pay for it,” DeLuca recalls saying. “Buck said, ‘You should open a sandwich shop.’ ”

       That afternoon, they agreed to be partners, and they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, Buck wrote a check for $1000. DeLuca rented a storefront(店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn’t cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1000.

       But business didn’t go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn’t know how badly, because we didn’t have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.

       DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They’d meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We persuaded ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, ‘We are so successful; we are opening a second store.’ ” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.

       But the partners’ learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers(供应商). “It probably took my two and a half hours and it wasn’t necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out.” DeLuca says.

       And having a goal was also important, “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” DeLuca adds.

       DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain.

56．                   DeLuca opened the first sandwich shop in order to__________.

A. support his family                                 

B. pay for his college education

C. help his partner expand business

D. do some research

57．                   Which of the following is true of Buck?

A. He put money into the sandwich business.

B. He was a professor of business administration.

C. He was studying at University of Bridgeport.

D. He rented a storefront for DeLuca.

58．                   What can we learn about their first shop?

A. It stood at an unfavorable place.

B. It lowered the price to promote the sales.

C. It made no profits.

D. It lacked control over the quality of sandwiches.

59．                   They decided to open a second store because they_______. 

A. had enough money to do it

B. had succeeded in their business

C. wished to meet the increasing demand of customers

D. wanted to make believe that they were successful