Burn rate is the speed at which a startup business consumes money. My rate was $ 75,000 a month. Four months after my company was set up, I had only a quarter of the starting capital left in the bank.

    Looking for guidance, I went to talk to my friend, Arthur Walworth about my new venture. “Times of great change always bring out the risk-takers,” he said. “And they leave winners and losers. My grandfather invested a lot of money in a project of Thomas Edison’s that ended up in failure. ”

    I was lost in thought at the notion (an idea or belief about something) of a Thomas Edison project ending in failure. Damn. It could happen to anybody! I must continue.

    At that time CD-ROM sales had bombed, so investors were fleeing from the field. I didn’t turn away from mine entirely, but instead linked it to the Internet.

    My plan was to offer consumers descriptions of home-design products by using a special software and let them modify the designs. Then we can enable them to get online professional and constructional help to have their houses built, decorated and furnished according to their own choice.

    To realize my plan I needed investors, so I continued to meet regularly with venture capitalists. One said I had a great idea. But I needed to test it. Get the money somewhere. To get this money from a venture capitalist is going to cost my wife and my children! He turned down my request.

    Wife? Children? I hardly remembered them.

    I was working nonstop --- struggling to turn the key in the lock, to find the right way ahead. The pressure was terrible. It was just at this time that my parents and sisters stepped up. Two hundred thousand dollars. A lot of money to them, invested in this crazy son and brother without a moment’s hesitation. Dad and Mom had driven out from Chicago and seen the passion in my little office and the trouble at home.

   With their help my company survived and has been prospering ever since.

1.When the author’s company started operation, he had _______ .

A. $ 450,000    B. $ 400,000   C.$ 350,000     D. $ 300,000

2.Arthur implies that to start a business in times of change, people have to _______ .

A. rely on famous people all be time

B. invest as much money as possible

C. face the risks of possible failure

D. think about nothing but success

3.The author’s company was engaged in _______

A. furniture design and production

B. online home-design service

C. traditional home designing

D. home decoration business

4.Faced with a very unfavorable market situation, the author decided  _______.

A. to improve his service         B. to start a new business

C. to withdraw his money        D. to reduce his investment

 

Televisions were among the most talked about items at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some employed the most advanced technology ever.

Some of the TVs used a new technology called Organic Light Emitting Diodes, or OLED. They were thinner, lighter, offered better color and were brighter than traditional LEDs. Smart TVs this year were smarter. Many offered technology that let users have a more personalized experience. One such TV from the electronics company TCL uses sensors and voice recognition to determine who is watching. It then offers programming based on the specific user. Another TV from Panasonic offers a similar personalized user experience.

In addition to television technology, size also played a major part in CES 2013. Televisions varied in size from big to bigger, with at least two companies — Samsung and HiSense — exhibiting TVs measuring 110 inches.

The yearly Consumer Electronics Show is the biggest technology trade show in North America and one of the biggest in the world.

Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, the group that organizes CES. He gave one of the keynote speeches on opening day.

“Now you know that CES is more than a trade show. It’s a gathering of the brightest minds and the top leaders from many industries and those seeking a glimpse into the future.”

That glimpse into the future included a look at digital health and fitness devices, which were also big at CES 2013. There were devices that track your activity and others that measure blood pressure, heart rate and weight. There was even a fork that tells you when you are eating too fast.

Cars, smart-phones, tablet computers and PCs also made news. And a 27-inch table computer drew quite a bit of attention.

CEA President Gary Shapiro says there was much to see but not nearly enough time to see it all. “You cannot see the show in the four days that you have. We have over 3200 different industries showing over 20,000 new products. It’s absolutely incredible.”

1.At the 2013 CES, which item drew the most attention?

A. Cars.          B. Smart-phones.       C. Computers.       D. Televisions.

2.From the text, we can know that the TV from Panasonic _________.

A. is bigger than the others                              B. uses the technology of OLED

C. offers a personalized experience          D. can track your activity

3.What can we know from Gary Shapiro?

A. CES is only a big trade show.

B. CES offers a glimpse into the future.

C. CES lasts only four days in all.        

D. He thinks little of the new products’ quality.

4.At the CES, the biggest TV in size might be from ______.

A. HiSense        B. Panasonic         C. TCL         D. CEA

5.From the passage we can infer that__________.

A. the CES is held every 4 years

B. at the 2013 CES, the TV section was crowded

C. if you watch TV every day, you needn’t see a doctor

D. tablet computers drew more attention at the 2013 CES

 

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s loves amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boats (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.

All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so.  We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind on another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientist; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.

However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.

There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestor faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.

The new products become more and more time-saving because         .

A. our love of speed seems never-ending      B. time is limited.

C. the prices are increasingly high.           D. the manufactures boast a lot.

What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to ?

A. Imaginary life                             B. Simple life in the past.

C. Times of inventions                        D. Time for constant activity.

What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?

A. Critical             B. Objective.     C. Optimistic.      D. Negative.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The present and past times.        B. Machinery and human beings.

C. Imaginations and inventions.       D. Modern technology and its influence.

Modern inventions have speeded up people's lives amazingly. Motor cars cover a hundred miles in light more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never ending. Every year motor cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts(吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.

  All this saves time, but at a price.When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet lag；our bodies feel that they have been left behind in another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also                    , according to some scientists；too much use may put harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.

  However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.

  There was a time when some people's lives were devoted simply to the cultivation(耕耘) of the land or the care of cattle. No multi tasking there；their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestors faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to make tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.

1.What's the passage mainly about?(within 10 words)

                                                                        

2.List the difficulties our ancestors met according to the text.(within 15 words)

①                                                                      

②                                                                       

③                                                                      

3.Fill in the blank in the 2nd paragraph with proper words or phrases.

                                                                        

4.Why do we make new products more and more time-saving according to Paragraph 1 of this passage?

                                                                        

5.Translate the underlined sentence in the 3rd paragraph into Chinese.

                                                                        

                                                                        

 

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s loves amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.

All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so.  We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind on another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.

However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.

There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestor faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.

1.The new products become more and more time-saving because         .

A. our love of speed seems never-ending            B. time is limited.

C. the prices are increasingly high.                 D. the manufactures boast a lot.

2. What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Imaginary life                              B. Simple life in the past.

C. Times of inventions                          D. Time for constant activity.

3. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The present and past times.                   B. Machinery and human beings.

C. Modern technology and its influence.           D. Imaginations and inventions.