“My work is done.” Those words were some of the last penned by George Eastman. He included them in his suicide note. They mark an ignoble end to a noble life, the leave taking of a truly great man. The same words could now be said for the company he left behind. Actually, the Eastman Kodak Company is through. It has been mismanaged financially, technologically and competitively. For 20 years, its leaders have foolishly spent down the patrimony of a century’s prosperity. One of America’s bedrock brands is about to disappear, the Kodak moment has passed.
But George Eastman is not how he died, and the Eastman Kodak Company is not how it is being killed. Though the ends be needless and premature, they must not be allowed to overshadow the greatness that came before. Few companies have done so much good for so many people, or defined and lifted so profoundly the spirit of a nation and perhaps the world. It is impossible to understand the 20th Century without recognizing the role of the Eastman Kodak Company.
Kodak served mankind through entertainment, science, national defense and the stockpiling of family memories. Kodak took us to the top of Mount Suribachi and to the Sea of Tranquility. It introduced us to the merry old Land of Oz and to stars from Charlie Chaplin to John Wayne, and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Hanks. It showed us the shot that killed President Kennedy, and his brother bleeding out on a kitchen floor, and a fallen Martin Luther King Jr. on the hard balcony of a Memphis motel. When that sailor kissed the nurse, and when the spy planes saw missiles in Cuba, Kodak was the eyes of a nation. From the deck of the Missouri to the grandeur of Monument Valley, Kodak took us there. Virtually every significant image of the 20th Century is a gift to posterity from the Eastman Kodak Company.
In an era of easy digital photography, when we can take a picture of anything at any time, we cannot imagine what life was like before George Eastman brought photography to people. Yes, there were photographers, and for relatively large sums of money they would take stilted pictures in studios and formal settings. But most people couldn’t afford photographs, and so all they had to remember distant loved ones, or earlier times of their lives, was memory. Children could not know what their parents had looked like as young people, grandparents far away might never learn what their grandchildren looked like. Eastman Kodak allowed memory to move from the uncertainty of recollection, to the permanence of a photograph. But it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the sacred and precious times that families cherish. The Kodak moment, was humanity’s moment.
And it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the precious times that familes cherish.  Kodak let the fleeting moments of birthdays and weddings, picnics and parties, be preserved and saved. It allowed for the creation of the most egalitarian art form. Lovers could take one another’s pictures, children were photographed walking out the door on the first day of school, the person releasing the shutter decided what was worth recording, and hundreds of millions of such decisions were made. And for centuries to come, those long dead will smile and dance and communicate to their unborn progeny. Family history will be not only names on paper, but smiles on faces.
The cash flow not just provided thousands of people with job, but also allowed the company’s founder to engage in some of the most generous philanthropy in America’s history. Not just in Kodak’s home city of Rochester, New York, but in Tuskegee and London, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He bankrolled two historically black colleges, fixed the teeth of Europe’s poor, and quietly did good wherever he could. While doing good, Kodak did very well. Over all the years, all the Kodakers over all the years are essential parts of that monumental legacy. They prospered a great company, but they – with that company – blessed the world.
That is what we should remember about the Eastman Kodak Company.
Like its founder, we should remember how it lived, not how it died.
History will forget the small men who have scuttled this company.
But history will never forget Kodak.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following is to blame for the fall of Kodak?

“My work is done.” Those words were some of the last penned by George Eastman. He included them in his suicide note. They mark an ignoble end to a noble life, the leave taking of a truly great man. The same words could now be said for the company he left behind. Actually, the Eastman Kodak Company is through. It has been mismanaged financially, technologically and competitively. For 20 years, its leaders have foolishly spent down the patrimony of a century’s prosperity. One of America’s bedrock brands is about to disappear, the Kodak moment has passed.

But George Eastman is not how he died, and the Eastman Kodak Company is not how it is being killed. Though the ends be needless and premature, they must not be allowed to overshadow the greatness that came before. Few companies have done so much good for so many people, or defined and lifted so profoundly the spirit of a nation and perhaps the world. It is impossible to understand the 20th Century without recognizing the role of the Eastman Kodak Company.

Kodak served mankind through entertainment, science, national defense and the stockpiling of family memories. Kodak took us to the top of Mount Suribachi and to the Sea of Tranquility. It introduced us to the merry old Land of Oz and to stars from Charlie Chaplin to John Wayne, and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Hanks. It showed us the shot that killed President Kennedy, and his brother bleeding out on a kitchen floor, and a fallen Martin Luther King Jr. on the hard balcony of a Memphis motel. When that sailor kissed the nurse, and when the spy planes saw missiles in Cuba, Kodak was the eyes of a nation. From the deck of the Missouri to the grandeur of Monument Valley, Kodak took us there. Virtually every significant image of the 20th Century is a gift to posterity from the Eastman Kodak Company.

In an era of easy digital photography, when we can take a picture of anything at any time, we cannot imagine what life was like before George Eastman brought photography to people. Yes, there were photographers, and for relatively large sums of money they would take stilted pictures in studios and formal settings. But most people couldn’t afford photographs, and so all they had to remember distant loved ones, or earlier times of their lives, was memory. Children could not know what their parents had looked like as young people, grandparents far away might never learn what their grandchildren looked like. Eastman Kodak allowed memory to move from the uncertainty of recollection, to the permanence of a photograph. But it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the sacred and precious times that families cherish. The Kodak moment, was humanity’s moment.

And it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the precious times that familes cherish.  Kodak let the fleeting moments of birthdays and weddings, picnics and parties, be preserved and saved. It allowed for the creation of the most egalitarian art form. Lovers could take one another’s pictures, children were photographed walking out the door on the first day of school, the person releasing the shutter decided what was worth recording, and hundreds of millions of such decisions were made. And for centuries to come, those long dead will smile and dance and communicate to their unborn progeny. Family history will be not only names on paper, but smiles on faces.

The cash flow not just provided thousands of people with job, but also allowed the company’s founder to engage in some of the most generous philanthropy in America’s history. Not just in Kodak’s home city of Rochester, New York, but in Tuskegee and London, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He bankrolled two historically black colleges, fixed the teeth of Europe’s poor, and quietly did good wherever he could. While doing good, Kodak did very well. Over all the years, all the Kodakers over all the years are essential parts of that monumental legacy. They prospered a great company, but they – with that company – blessed the world.

That is what we should remember about the Eastman Kodak Company.

Like its founder, we should remember how it lived, not how it died.

History will forget the small men who have scuttled this company.

But history will never forget Kodak.

1.According to the passage, which of the following is to blame for the fall of Kodak?

2.It can be learnt from the passage that George Eastman         .

3.Before George Eastman brought photography to people,             .

4.The person releasing the shutter (Paragraph 5) was the one        .

5.What is the writer’s attitude towards the Eastman Kodak Company?

6.Which do you think is the best title for the passage?

“My work is done.” Those words were some of the last penned by George Eastman. He included them in his suicide note. They mark an ignoble end to a noble life, the leave taking of a truly great man. The same words could now be said for the company he left behind. Actually, the Eastman Kodak Company is through. It has been mismanaged financially, technologically and competitively. For 20 years, its leaders have foolishly spent down the patrimony of a century’s prosperity. One of America’s bedrock brands is about to disappear, the Kodak moment has passed.
But George Eastman is not how he died, and the Eastman Kodak Company is not how it is being killed. Though the ends be needless and premature, they must not be allowed to overshadow the greatness that came before. Few companies have done so much good for so many people, or defined and lifted so profoundly the spirit of a nation and perhaps the world. It is impossible to understand the 20th Century without recognizing the role of the Eastman Kodak Company.
Kodak served mankind through entertainment, science, national defense and the stockpiling of family memories. Kodak took us to the top of Mount Suribachi and to the Sea of Tranquility. It introduced us to the merry old Land of Oz and to stars from Charlie Chaplin to John Wayne, and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Hanks. It showed us the shot that killed President Kennedy, and his brother bleeding out on a kitchen floor, and a fallen Martin Luther King Jr. on the hard balcony of a Memphis motel. When that sailor kissed the nurse, and when the spy planes saw missiles in Cuba, Kodak was the eyes of a nation. From the deck of the Missouri to the grandeur of Monument Valley, Kodak took us there. Virtually every significant image of the 20th Century is a gift to posterity from the Eastman Kodak Company.
In an era of easy digital photography, when we can take a picture of anything at any time, we cannot imagine what life was like before George Eastman brought photography to people. Yes, there were photographers, and for relatively large sums of money they would take stilted pictures in studios and formal settings. But most people couldn’t afford photographs, and so all they had to remember distant loved ones, or earlier times of their lives, was memory. Children could not know what their parents had looked like as young people, grandparents far away might never learn what their grandchildren looked like. Eastman Kodak allowed memory to move from the uncertainty of recollection, to the permanence of a photograph. But it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the sacred and precious times that families cherish. The Kodak moment, was humanity’s moment.
And it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the precious times that familes cherish.  Kodak let the fleeting moments of birthdays and weddings, picnics and parties, be preserved and saved. It allowed for the creation of the most egalitarian art form. Lovers could take one another’s pictures, children were photographed walking out the door on the first day of school, the person releasing the shutter decided what was worth recording, and hundreds of millions of such decisions were made. And for centuries to come, those long dead will smile and dance and communicate to their unborn progeny. Family history will be not only names on paper, but smiles on faces.
The cash flow not just provided thousands of people with job, but also allowed the company’s founder to engage in some of the most generous philanthropy in America’s history. Not just in Kodak’s home city of Rochester, New York, but in Tuskegee and London, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He bankrolled two historically black colleges, fixed the teeth of Europe’s poor, and quietly did good wherever he could. While doing good, Kodak did very well. Over all the years, all the Kodakers over all the years are essential parts of that monumental legacy. They prospered a great company, but they – with that company – blessed the world.
That is what we should remember about the Eastman Kodak Company.
Like its founder, we should remember how it lived, not how it died.
History will forget the small men who have scuttled this company.
But history will never forget Kodak

1. 1.

   According to the passage, which of the following is to blame for the fall of Kodak?

   1. A.
      The invention of easy digital photography
   2. B.
      The poor management of the company
   3. C.
      The early death of George Eastman
   4. D.
      The quick rise of its business competitors
2. 2.

   It can be learnt from the passage that George Eastman         

   1. A.
      died a natural death of old age
   2. B.
      happened to be on the spot when President Kennedy was shot dead
   3. C.
      set up his company in the capital of the US before setting up its branches all over the world
   4. D.
      was not only interested in commercial profits, but also in the improvement of other people’s lives
3. 3.

   Before George Eastman brought photography to people,             

   1. A.
      no photos has ever been taken of people or events
   2. B.
      photos were very expensive and mostly taken indoors
   3. C.
      painting was the only way for people to keep a record of their ancestors
   4. D.
      grandparents never knew what their grandchildren looked like
4. 4.

   The person releasing the shutter (Paragraph 5) was the one        

   1. A.
      who took the photograph
   2. B.
      who wanted to have a photo taken
   3. C.
      whose decisions shaped the Eastman Kodak Company
   4. D.
      whose smiles could long be seen by their children
5. 5.

   What is the writer’s attitude towards the Eastman Kodak Company?

   1. A.
      Disapproving
   2. B.
      Respectful
   3. C.
      Regretful
   4. D.
      Critical
6. 6.

   Which do you think is the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      Great Contributions of Kodak
   2. B.
      Unforgettable moments of Kodak
   3. C.
      Kodak Is Dead
   4. D.
      History of Eastman Kodak Company

The town I live in is about to put cameras at all traffic lights to catch people who run red lights．It   36   me of how many people I’ve seen who take the yellow light as a   37   to go faster．I also can’t understand why people don’t move when the traffic light has turned green．Above all, there are those   38   situations in which someone doesn’t even   39   that the light turns red, and just keeps going．That is why so many   40   happen! All these situations make me   41__    the purpose of traffic lights．

         42   , it’s even more frightening to imagine letting people make their own decisions at   __43   crossroads．Do the biggest cars get to go first? Who decides who goes next? So I guess I do like the idea of a system to   44   traffic．And I’ll do my best to   45   the traffic rules: to go, to be cautious, and to stop when I’m   46   to．

       It occurs to me that my   47   have done much the same for me   48   teaching me how to live．They have given me many   49   lights: to get along well with others, to listen and talk to them, to help others, and to   50   with joy and purpose．They have also given me some red lights   51   my life goes astray（误入歧途）: not to be greedy, to keep my temper, and to control my desires．And there   52   have been some yellow caution lights: to watch how much I drink, to keep control of my behavior, and to   53    school regularly and work hard．

       If I obey these rules, my life will be as   54   as it can be．Just as I’m wise to pay attention to the traffic lights when I’m walking across the street, I’m wise to pay attention to the“   55__ signals” given to me by my parents．

A．suggests     B．informs        C．reminds         D．warns

A．sight          B．signal           C．message         D．switch

A．instant         B．exciting        C．dangerous       D．cautious

A．notice        B．sense         C．remember     D．feel

A．events         B．problems        C．situations      D．accidents

A．think of        B．wonder about   C．care for        D．worry about    

A．Besides        B．Anyway        C．Instead         D．However

A．noisy          B．narrow         C．crowded       D．key

A．control        B．direct          C．improve        D．serve

A．learn          B．obey          C．protect          D．carry

A．supposed       B．used            C．devoted        D．delighted

A．teachers    B．friends           C．leaders          D．parents

A．in charge of   B．in face of       C．in terms of           D．indanger of     

A．safe           B．green         C．beneficial      D．helpful

A．live               B．share         C．work           D．communicate

A．unless        B．when         C．before          D．till

A．still               B．even           C．only            D．also

A．start           B．attend           C．leave           D．miss

A．good          B．colorful        C．meaningful      D．healthy

A．traffic         B．light          C．life           D．confidence

The United States is full of cars. There are still many families without cars, but some families have two or more. However, cars are used for more than pleasure. They are a necessary part of life.

Cars are used for business. They are driven to offices and factories by workers who have no other way to get to their jobs. When salesmen are sent to different parts of the city, they have to drive in order to carry their products. Farmers have to drive into the city in order to get supplies.

Sometimes small children must be driven to school. In some cities school buses are used only when children live more than a mile away from the school. When the children are too young to walk too far, their mothers take turns driving them to school. One mother drives on Mondays taking her own children and the neighbors' as well. Another mother drives on Tuesdays, another on Wednesday, and so on. This is called forming a car pool. Men also form car pools, with three or four men taking turns driving to the place where they all work.

More car pools should be formed in order to put fewer cars on the road and use less gas. Too many cars are being driven. Something will have to be done about the use of cars.

The United States is filled with cars, but             .

       A. not every family has a car       B. few families have two cars or even more

       C. every American has a car      D. every family has a car

What's the main idea of the second paragraph?

       A. Workers drive cars to offices and factories   B. Salesmen drive to carry their products.

       C. Farmers drive into cities to get supplies.     D. Cars are widely used.

Which statement is true according to the third paragraph?

       A. Small children are driven to school. 

B. All children go to school by bus in some cities.

       C. Mothers drive their children who can't walk to school. 

D. School buses pick up all children.

Mothers form car pools in order that             .

       A. they can drive to school   

B. they can take turns driving their children to school

       C. they reach school quickly  

D. they can drive their children to school in time

The traffic in and around cities is a great problem because              .

       A. too many cars are being driven       B. there are too many car pools

       C. people put fewer cars on the roads   D. there is less gas