Temporary failure is not to be feared. We must bear it in mind that the pains-taking efforts we have made will ______ in the long run.

A. pay off                  B. take off             C. break off        D. work off

 

Many years ago in a small German town, a Jewish businessman had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the businessman’s beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain.

The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and he would forgo her father’s debt. If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble-strewn path. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. The sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag. No doubt she was caught in a dilemma.

What would you have done if you were the girl? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1.The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

2.The girl should know that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.

3.The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral (横向的)and logical thinking.

Read on…

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. “Oh, how clumsy of me!” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

1.The underlined word “forgo” in paragraph 2 may mean ________.

A. pay off                              B. run out                             C. take over                                 D. give up

2.Which of the following indicates lateral thinking?

A. The girl refused to take a pebble and fled at once.

B. The girl exposed the cheat and found another way.

C. The girl picked one pebbles and made it disappear.

D. The girl picked a black pebble and accepted the result.

3.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A. The girl dropped the pebble onto the path on purpose

B. The girl dropped the pebble onto the path by accident

C. The girl didn’t know there were two black pebbles in the bag                 

D. The girl replaced a black pebble in the bag

4.What lesson can we learn from the story?

A. Keeping calm when facing a difficult situation.

B. Thinking about a complicated problem in another way.

C. Thinking twice before making a final choice.

D. Coming up with a clever answer is easy.

 

Your efforts to develop good habits will ______ later, and it is well worth working hard to do so.

A. pay off    B. pay back   C. pay for     D. pay up

 

Temporary failure is not to be feared. We must bear it in mind that the pains-taking efforts we have made will ______ in the long run.

A. pay off                  B. take off             C. break off        D. work off

 

Prison Break（《越狱》） is a huge hit thanks to its handsome star, Wentworth Miller. His character, Michael Scofield, is the engine that drives the show．

Having committed a crime to get into prison and broke out his innocent elder brother, Michael Scofield is one of the most interesting personalities on television today. But what about the man behind the character?

Miller, 35, is a hard guy to figure out. He does not come from a normal background and has never lived his life in a typical way．

Miller didn’t take a direct path to fame and fortune. He graduated from Princeton University in 1995, not with a degree in theatre or film, but in English．He didn’t even act when he was in college. His only performance experience was in his university’s singing group. Yet, at graduation Miller still decided to make the move to Hollywood．

Miller has always been different. Although he is American, he was born in Britain when his father was studying there. His family background is also a special mix of cultures．“My father is black and my mother is white. That means I have always been caught in the middle．I could be either one, which can make you feel out of place，”Miller says．

Following his unusual path, Miller did not start trying out for films and TV shows when he first got to Hollywood．Instead, he worked as a lowly production assistant, not what you would expect from a Princeton graduate. However, it all paid off for Miller in the end．

In 2002, Miller played a role in the drama Dinotopia．He starred as a thoughtful and shy man．Producers remembered his performance when they were casting Prison Break two years later. With a golden globe nomination(提名) and another season of Prison Break on his resume(履历), Miller seems ready to take over all of Hollywood．                                               

What do you think the text is mainly about?

A. What kind of person Michael Scofield is．

B. Miller’s unusual path to fame and fortune．

C. Why Prison Break became a huge hit．

D. How special Miller is in the entertainment field．

The author thinks “Miller is a hard guy to figure out” because           ．

A. it’s difficult to tell him from others

B. he is a shy man and hard to work with

C. he always has ideas hard for people to understand

D. his family background and life experience are very special

Which of the following can best explain “pay off” in the underlined sentence?

A. to be successful and bring good results

B. to give someone all the money you owe them

C. to pay someone their wages and tell them to leave their job

D. to pay someone to keep quiet about something illegal or dishonest

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Miller succeeded in the field that he had never majored in．

B. Miller had lots of movie performance experiences when he was in college．

C. Miller’s only performance experience in university made him move to Hollywood．

D. Miller was chosen to play a role in Prison Break because he is a thoughtful and shy guy.

It is very likely that Miller will ____________.

A. pay off all his debts in the end

B. not star in another season of Prison Break

C. make greater achievements in his career

D. move to Hollywood and settle down there