With parents who taught at school, Sophia received a fairly good education. She would have achieved   36   in a career, but she   37   to spend most of her marriage in the  38   role of wife and mother,   39   herself to her husband and her three children.
At the beginning of their family life, Sophia took on the   40  for running the house in order for her husband to   41   his personal interest: writing novels. However, things weren’t going as   42   as expected. Nate’s writing failed to     43  the whole housekeeping. He had to take a position in the government to    44   for his family. Sophia tried to persuade Nate to give up his    45   for full-time writing, but he didn’t listen to her. He took his job   46    because it promised the family would be prevented from being   47 . That accounted for the shocking   48  he suffered when he lost his job. That day, he said to Sophia in a    49  , “I got fired. I am a    50   failure.”“Now you can focus your mind   51 your writing.” she responded. To make Nate believe money was no longer the major   52  ， Sophia took out a box that was full of   53  . She explained that she got the money for their hand-painted lampshades.
The unemployed husband did   54   a book that was a(n)   55  hit and is a long-lasting literary masterpiece. The story of Sophia’s turning her husband into a world famous writer has been widely talked about ever since then.

One day a rich man was invited to dinner at the home of one of his friends. He did not know what to   36  the wine, meat and chicken he had just bought. Certainly he could not    37   them to the servant. Then he had   38   idea. He called up the servant and    39  to him.
"I'll be away for the whole evening, and I'll leave you to look after the house. In the cupboard there are two bottles filled with    40 . Be careful about it. You'll be killed if you take even a   41   of it. There is also some meat and chicken in the cupboard. Take care of them".    42  these words the rich man left the home.
  43  the master turned his back, the servant opened the cupboard and began to enjoy all the nice things in it. He   44  the two bottles and ate up the meat, the chicken and   45  he found in the cupboard. He was   46  and soon fell 47 .
At mid-night the rich man returned home. He looked into the cupboard and to his great 48  , all the wine and food were   49 . He was mad with   50 and called the servant up.
"Oh, Master," the servant began to say   51  the rich man could open his mouth; "while you were away, the neighbor's black cat stole into our kitchen and ate up every things in the cupboard. I know you would be angry with me. I was so   52  that I drank the two bottles of poison to kill   53  “there were tears in the servant's eyes.”Oh, Master," he continued, "Please don't get angry with a 54 _ man. I'll soon be dead.
The rich man, of course, did not   55 a word of his story. But again, he could do nothing about it.

An earthquake left the whole town      .

Everyone in business has been told that success is all about attracting and retaining (留住) customers. It sounds simple and achievable. But,   50 , words of wisdom are soon forgotten. Once companies have attracted customers they often   51  the second half of the story. In the excitement of beating off the competition, negotiating prices, securing orders, and delivering the product, managers tend to become carried away. They forget what they regard as the boring side of business—  52  that the customer remains a customer.
  53  to concentrate on retaining as well as attracting customers costs business huge amounts of money annually. It has been estimated that the average company loses between 10 and 30 per cent of its customers every years. In constantly changing   54 , this is not surprising. What is surprising is the fact that few companies have any idea how many customers they have lost.
Only now are organizations beginning to wake up to those lost opportunities and calculate the   55 
implications. Cutting down the number of customers a company loses can make a big   56  in its performance. Research in the US found that a five per cent decrease in the number of defecting (流失的) customers led to   57  increases of between 25 and 85 per cent.
In the US, Domino’s Pizza estimates that a regular customer is worth more than $5,000 over ten years. A customer who receives a poor quality product or service on their first visit and   58  never returns, is losing the company thousands of dollars in   59  profits (more if you consider how many people they are likely to tell about their bad experience).
The logic behind cultivating customer   60  is impossible to deny. “In practice most companies’ marketing effort is focused on getting customers, with little attention paid to   61  them”, says Adrian Payne of Cornfield University’ School of Management. “Research suggests that there is a close relationship between retaining customers and making profits.   62  customers tend to buy more, are predictable and usually cost less to service than new customers. Furthermore, they tend to be less price   63 , and may provide free word-of-mouth advertising. Retaining customers also makes it   64  for competitors to enter a market or increase their share of a market.

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和Ｄ）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I used to be ashamed of my grandma. I know that's a　 31　 thing to say, but it was true until today, so I have to　 32　 it.  
The　 33　 started when my friend Katy found Grandma's false teeth floating in a glass on the bathroom sink. I was so used to seeing them that I　 34　 took notice of them. But Katy shouted, laughing and　35　 to talk to them. I  had to get down on my knees and　36　 her to shut up so my grandma wouldn't　37　 and get hurt.  
After that happened, I　38　 there were a million things about Grandma that were embarrassing（令人窘迫）.  
Once she took Jill and me out to Burger King.　39　 ordering our hamburgers well-done, she told the person behind the counter, "They'll have two Whoppers (巨无霸) well-to-do. " Jill burst out laughing, but I almost　 40　.
After a while, I started wishing I could　 41　 Grandma in a closet. I even complained to my parents. Both my parents said I had to be careful not to make Grandma feel　 42　 in our home.
Then last Wednesday, something happened that 43　 everything completely. My teacher told us to help find interesting old people and 44　 them about their　45　 for a big Oral History project. I was trying to think of someone when Angie pushed me gently.  
"Volunteer your grandmother," she whispered. "She's 46　 and rich in experience."
That was the last thing I ever thought Angie would say about my grandma.
This is how I ended up on　47　 today interviewing my own grandmother before the whole school assembly (集合). All my friends and teachers were listening to her　48　 she was a great heroine. I was　49　 of my grandma and hoped she would 50　 know that I had been ashamed of her.
31. A. funny      B. common       C. terrible         D. clear
32. A. admit     B. receive         C. refuse  D. show
33. A. quarrel  B. accident       C. trouble         D. adventure
34. A. already  B. always C. simply  D. hardly
35. A. enjoying          B. pretending  C. imagining　 D. continuing
36. A. warn      B. demand        C. advise  D. beg
37. A. mind       B. hear     C. see       D. fall
38. A. expected        B. declared       C. realized　　　D. doubted
39. A. Because of     B. Except for    C. Such as 　　 D. Instead of
40. A. died        B. cheered        C. disappeared　　D. suffered
41. A. meet      B. avoid    C. arrange 　　　D. hide
42. A. independent  B. inconvenient        C. unwelcome　D. unfamiliar
43. A. changed         B. finished        C. stopped　　　D. Prepared
44. A. interview        B. report  C. tell        D. write
45. A. news      B. lives     C. advantages  D. achievements
46. A. free        B. popular         C. interesting    D. embarrassing
47. A. show     B. stage   C. duty　　　　　 D. time
48. A. and then         B. even if C. so that　　　　 D. as if
49. A. sure        B. proud   C. ashamed　　　 D. afraid
50. A. never     B. even     C. still　　　　　 D. once