While success is surely sweeter than failure, it seems failure is a far better teacher, and organizations that fail miserably often flourish (繁荣) more in the long run, according to a new study by Vinit Desai, assistant professor of management at the University of Colorado Denver Business School. Researchers have found that people missing their goals perform much better in the long run. That is because they gain more knowledge from their failures than their successes and the lessons are more likely to stay longer in their minds.

“We found that the knowledge gained from success was often fleeting while knowledge from failure stuck around for years,” said professor Desai, who led the study. “But companies often ignore failure. Managers may fire people or turn over the whole workforce while they should treat the failure as a learning opportunity.”

Prof Desai compared the flights of the space shuttle Atlantis and the Challenger. During the Atlantis flight last year, a piece of insulation (绝缘体) broke off and damaged the left solid rocket booster (助推火箭) but didn’t influence the program. There was little investigation. The Challenger was launched next and another piece of insulation broke off. This time the shuttle and its seven–person crew were destroyed. The disaster led to a major investigation resulting in 29 changes to prevent future disasters.

The difference in response in the two cases came down to this: Atlantis was considered a success and the Challenger a failure.

“Despite crowded skies, airlines are extremely reliable,” he said. “The number of failures is extremely small. And past researches have shown that older airlines, those with more experience in failure, have a lower number of accidents.”

Prof Desai doesn’t recommend finding out failure in order to learn. Instead, he advises organizations to analyze small failures to collect useful information rather than wait for major failures.

1. Why did experts pay little attention to the problem of Atlantis?

A．Because it worked perfectly.

B．Because the right booster was still OK.

C．Because nothing serious happened then.

D．Because fewer people died in the flight.

2.Fewer accidents happen to older airlines in that ________.

A．their planes couldn’t fly high in the sky

B．they gained much from experience in failure

C．their planes were often checked by the experts

D．they were unpopular among passengers

3.The passage is written mainly to ________.

A．show failure is a better teacher than success

B．explain why Challenger failed

C．introduce something about Prof Desai

D．tell managers how to achieve success

4. Which writing strategy is NOT used in developing the passage?

A．Giving definitions.

B．Making comparisons.

C．Analyzing causes.

D．Providing different examples.

 

BEIJING--Alarmed by the overreaching ambitions of many Chinese provinces to grow at all costs, China’s top economic chief is calling on officials to calm down and spare a thought for the environment．

Zhang Ping, who heads China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the central economic planning agency, said only five or six of China’s 30 provinces are targeting annual economic growth of 8 percent or 9 percent．

The remaining provinces are aiming for growth rates of more than 10 percent this year, with some wanting to double economic output in the coming five years．

“China has a planned energy supply of about 4 billion cubic tons of coal equivalent（等量的）for the next five years, and this is not enough to meet demands for economic growth to double,” he was quoted as saying on the news portal Sina．Com．

Beijing is increasingly concerned with the ambitions of Chinese provinces across the country to chase high growth despite the central government’s urgent request for a more moderate and sustainable（可持续的）pace of expansion．

Years of rapid economic growth has taken a toll on China’s environment, with Beijing trying to remove some of the damage now．It has an annual growth target of 7 percent for the next five years, well down from last year’s 10 percent．

Zhang said Beijing has asked local governments to take into account the supply of “energy, environment, water and land” to set more reasonable growth targets．

1.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Many Chinese provinces are alarmed by Beijing．

B．Zhang Ping is an expert and economic chief from www. Sina.Com．

C．The supply of the coal in China is not sufficient(足够的) for the next five years．

D．Few Chinese provinces are aiming for economic growth rates of less than 10%．

2.The underlined phrase “taken a toll on” in the sixth paragraph means “_________”．

A．looked forward to	B．paid attention to
C．caused damage to	D．attached importance to

3.The general idea of the whole passage can be that ________．

A．China’s economy is developing

B．China’s top chief places more emphasis on the environment

C．all Chinese provinces should slow down their economic growth rates

D．economic high growth should go hand in hand with environmental protection

4.What could be the best title for the news?

A．Economic Development	B．Energy Supply
C．Sustainable Development	D．Environment protection

 

Cleveland has won the distinction of being the worst city in the United States, according to a new survey. The city has high unemployment, terrible weather, heavy taxes, and ordinary sports teams, all of which have pushed it to the No. 1 position in the Forbes.com list.

"Cleveland was the only city that fell in the bottom half of rankings in all nine categories. And it has been entitled with a less than endearing nickname: the Mistake by the lake," Forbes said on its website,

The economic downturn hit cities across the United States last year particularly in the mid-west section of the country. Crime and unemployment secured the No. 2 spot for Stockton, which held the top position in last year's ranking. Memphis got third place thanks to its violent crime rate and the number of officials who are guilty, while the poor auto industry drove the Michigan cities of Detroit and Flint into the top five.

"A lot of the cities that showed up on our list are going through hard times fight now, dealing with high unemployment, with declining producing bases. Many have experienced strong movement out of the city over the last 20 and 30 years."

Despite (尽管) its fine weather, Miami scored in the bottom 10 percent in commuting (上下班往返) time, and violent crime which sent it into sixth place.

"One of the biggest surprises is Miami. The good weather and no state income taxes blur some of the severe problems that Miami has related to crime as well as long commutes," Badenhausen added.

Florida was followed in the poor ranking by St Louis, Buffalo, Canton, Ohio and Chicago, which has the country's highest sales tax at 10.25 percent. New York, the nation's biggest city, is rich in culture but its lengthy commuting time and high income taxes pushed it into 16th place.

1.From the text we can learn that ______.

A．Cleveland has been entitled a lovely nickname

B．the economic downturn hit cities in the mid-east section

C．Miami scored in the bottom 10 percent in all nine categories

D．commuting time in New York is too long

2.What information can be inferred according to the text?

A．The number of officials who are guilty is large in Memphis.

B．Stockton got second place in last year's ranking.

C．High income taxes made New York get 16th place.

D．Ohio has the country's highest sales tax.

3.The word "blur" underlined in the last paragraph but one probably means ______.

A．make it possible    B．make it unclear     C．make if obvious     D．make it important

4.Which of the following is the correct ranking order?

A．Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Buffalo, Florida.

B．Stockton, Miami, Flint, Florida, Canton.

C．Cleveland, Stockton, Miami, Chicago, Florida.

D．Stockton, Detroit, Miami, Florida, St Louis.

 

Saying “thank you” is probably the first thing most of us learn to do in a foreign language. After all, we’re brought up to be polite, and it is important to make a good impression upon other people — especially across national divides.

So, what exactly are you supposed to say when “thank you” is only the 20th most popular way to express gratitude? According to a recent survey, 19 other ways of expressing appreciation finished ahead of “thank you” in a poll of 3,000 people.

Pollsters(民测调查员) found almost half of those asked preferred the more informal “cheers”, while others liked to use such expressions as “ta”, “great” and “nice one”.

So, just what is the appropriate form of words to express your thanks?

Fortunately, the clue is in the language itself. “Cheers”, despite its popularity, is considered an informal way to say thank you — and this is a definite clue as to when you can best use it.

For instance, when going for a drink with friends, a smile and a “cheers” by way of thanks is not only appropriate to the situation, it is also culturally accurate.

“Ta”, originated from the Danish word “tak”, was the second-most popular expression of thanks, and is also commonly used in informal situations, along with phrases such as “nice one”, and “brilliant”. Interestingly, one word that didn’t make it into the top 20 was “thanks”, Thank you is shorter, more informal cousin.

“Thanks” can be useful, as it is able to bridge the divide between the formality of “thank you” and the downright relaxed “cheers”.

Certain words can double as an expression of thanks as well as delight. Again, the words themselves offer the clue as to when best to use them.

For example, words like “awesome”, “brilliant” and “you star” featured highly in the new poll and they can hint at both your pleasure at someone’s action, as well as serving to express your thanks. If you are on the receiving end of a “new” thank you, you can respond with a simple “no problem”, or “sure”.

Of course, in certain circumstances, a simple wave, nod or smile may be appropriate. For instance, if a car driver slows down to let you cross the road, simply raising your hand in acknowledgement is enough to show that you appreciate the driver’s consideration.

Sometimes, formality is necessary, and “thank you” is still the best choice in such situations. But students should not worry about when exactly to use certain expressions.

Many people in Western countries are worried that good manners are in decline. People are tired of seeing their acts of kindness and service pass without comment. So don’t think your “thank you” is clumsy or awkwardly formal. The chances are, if you said “thank you”, you made someone’s day. You star.

1.We can tell from the results of the poll that __________.

A．people are unconcerned about politeness nowadays.

B．“thank you” remains the best expression of gratitude.

C．there is a variety of expressions of appreciation.

D．there are more formal expressions than informal ones.

2.According to the passage, which is an appropriate response to “awesome” or “brilliant”?

A．Thanks.           B．Sure.             C．Nice one.          D．Cheers. .

3.In the last paragraph the author encourages people to          .

A．show their gratitude to others.             B．behave themselves well.

C．continue their acts of kindness.             D．stop worrying about bad manners.

4.Which of the following can serve as the best title of this passage?

A．How to Appear More Polite .               B．Ways to Show Gratitude.

C．Never hesitate to Say “Thank You”.        D．Good Manners in Decline!

 

While success is surely sweeter than failure, it seems failure is a far better teacher, and organizations that fail spectacularly often flourish more in the long run, according to a new study by Vinit Desai, assistant professor of management at the University of Colorado Denver Business School. Researchers have found that people missing their goals perform much better in the long run. That is because they gain more knowledge from their failures than their successes and the lessons are more likely to stay longer in their minds.

“We found that the knowledge gained from success was often fleeting while knowledge from failure stuck around for years,” said professor Desai, who led the study. “But companies often ignore failure. Managers may fire people or turn over the whole workforce while they should treat the failure as a learning opportunity.”

Prof Desai compared the flights of the space shuttle Atlantis and the Challenger. During the 2002 Atlantis flight, a piece of insulation (绝缘体) broke off and damaged the left solid rocket booster (助推火箭) but didn’t influence the program. There was little investigation. The Challenger was launched next and another piece of insulation broke off. This time the shuttle and its seven–person crew were destroyed. The disaster led to a major investigation resulting in 29 changes to prevent future disasters.

The difference in response in the two cases came down to this: Atlantis was considered a success and the Challenger a failure.

“Despite crowded skies, airlines are extremely reliable,” he said. “The number of failures is extremely small. And past researches have shown that older airlines, those with more experience in failure, have a lower number of accidents.”

Prof Desai doesn’t recommend finding out failure in order to learn. Instead, he advises organizations to analyze small failures to collect useful information rather than wait for major failures.

1.Why did experts pay little attention to the problem of Atlantis?

A．Because it worked perfectly.

B．Because the right booster was still OK.

C．Because nothing serious happened then.

D．Because fewer people died in the flight.

2.Fewer accidents happen to older airlines in that _____.

A．their planes couldn’t fly high in the sky

B．they gained much from experience in failure

C．their planes were often checked by the experts

D．they were unpopular among passengers

3.The passage is written mainly to _____.

A．show failure is a better teacher than success

B．explain why Challenger failed

C．introduce something about Prof Desai

D．tell managers how to achieve success

4.Which writing strategy is NOT used in developing the passage?

A．Giving definitions.	B．Making comparisons.
C．Analyzing causes.	D．Providing different examples.