So much to do, so little time. So much information, so little time to read. In this age there is more information than ever before. There is not enough time to read everything we want to read. However, you can take in and understand more information in shorter time through speed-reading. This article will not make you read 3,000 words per minute, but it will show you how to increase your speed greatly. You will also learn the basic techniques of speed reading, along with the dos and don’ts of speed-reading．

When you first learned to read, you would say the word out loud and sound it out. Then you might whisper the word because people can become annoyed when you read aloud. The stage you are now at is saying the word in your head．Most people tend to read this way. Saying the word in your head will cut your reading speed tremendously.

How do you calculate your reading speed? The speed is measured by how many words per minute you can read. Get some reading material, preferably a book. Find out how many words are on the page. Time yourself one minute. Start your timer and start reading. When the timer sounds, stop at once. If you counted 500 words on the page and you read half of the page, then you are probably reading at 250 words per minute.

The first thing about speed-reading is looking at the word and recognizing it. Don’t say the word in your mind, just look at it and recognize its appearance. Later you will recognize groups of four words or more to increase your speed. This is the first and most important step in speed-reading.

The next step is technique. As with any other skill, speed-reading requires technique. You should first be sitting up straight with your book on a horizontal surface, such as a table or desk. Next, should be able to see the entire page．This is necessary if you want to recognize clumps of words. Lastly, you should be focused. It’s hard to read a lot of noise. Find a quiet place to read. This will help your understand of the text. You need something to guide your eyes while reading. Then right, you should use your hand, Remember when you were little, you would read using your finger. That is a great technique, only now you're using your hand to underline each line．Move your finger smoothly across page．No need to go rush , start our slow. Keep your eyes focused on words as you recognize them while using your hand as a guide. This will increase you speed.

The third step is practice. Practice makes perfect. Set time intervals（时间间隔）. Read using different techniques, but make sure you understand what you’re reading.

Which of the following statements in true according to the text?

A．Now there is limited information than ever before.

B．Now conditions ask people to use less time to know more information.

C．No people can read what they like.

D．The less you read, the more time you will spend.

What is the subject discussed in the text?

A．What speed-reading is.

B．Why we need speed-reading.

C．Now it has much information, less time.

D．People should practice speed-reading in different kinds of ways.

Which of the following shows the right way for the speed-reading from the text?

a．Ask for some techniques.

b．Look at many words and recognize them.

c．Practice more.

       A．c, a, b      B．c, b, a       C．b, a, c       D．a, c, b

The underlined sentence “you should be focused” in the fifth paragraph means that          .

A．a person should devote his attention to it while reading

B．your feelings will be hurt while reading

C．a person should smooth away difficulties while he reads

D．you should pay attention to your faults while you are reading

To speed up your reading, you should       。

A．sit up straight with your book flat and use something to guide your eyes

B．say every word out loud and sound it out

C．know it is necessary to read quickly

D．underline some important words while you say them

So much to do, so little time．So much information, so little time to read．In this age there is more information than ever before．There is not enough time to read everything we want to read．However, you can take in and understand more information in shorter time through speed-reading．This article will not make you read 3,000 words per minute, but it will show you how to increase your speed greatly．You will also learn the basic techniques of speed reading, along with the dos and don’ts of speed-reading．
When you first learned to read, you would say the word out loud and sound it out．Then you might whisper the word because people can become annoyed when you read aloud．The stage you are now at is saying the word in your head．Most people tend to read this way．Saying the word in your head will cut your reading speed tremendously （极大的）．
How do you calculate your reading speed? The speed is measured by how many words per minute you can read．Get some reading material, preferably a book．Find out how many words are on the page．Time yourself one minute．Start your timer and start reading．When the timer sounds, stop at once．If you counted 500 words on the page and you read half of the page, then you are probably reading at 250 words per minute．
The first thing about speed-reading is looking at the word and recognizing it．Don’t say the word in your mind, just look at it and recognize its appearance．Later you will recognize groups of four words or more to increase your speed．This is the first and most important step in speed-reading．
The next step is technique．As with any other skill, speed-reading requires technique．You should first be sitting up straight with your book on a horizontal （水平的） surface, such as a table or desk．Next, should be able to see the entire page．This is necessary if you want to recognize clumps of words．Lastly, you should be focused．It’s hard to read with a lot of noise．Find a quiet place to read．This will help your understanding of the text．You need something to guide your eyes while reading．Then right, you should use your hand．Remember when you were little, you would read using your finger．That is a great technique, only now you’re using your hand to underline each line．Move your finger smoothly across page．No need to go rush, start out slow．Keep your eyes focused on words as you recognize them while using your hand as a guide．This will increase your speed．
The third step is practice．Practice makes perfect．Set time intervals．Read using different techniques,
but make sure you understand what you’re reading．
【小题1】Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

One day, I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physical problem ，while the student claimed a perfect score. I was elected as their arbiter( 仲裁人).I read the examination problem： “Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer(气压计).” The student had answered： “Take the barometer to the top of the building，attach a long rope to it，lower it to the street，and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of it is the height of the building. ”
The student had really answered the question completely ，but the answer didn’t confirm his competence in physics. I suggested the student try again. I gave him six minutes to answer the question, warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. Five minutes later, he said he had many answers and clashed off one, which read： “Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, use the physical formula (公式）to calculate the height of the building. ”
At this point, my colleague had to accept it, and then the student made almost full marks. I couldn’t help asking the student what the other answers were. He listed many others ，and then added₅ “Probably the best is to take the barometer to the. administrator and said to him，' Sir, here is a fine barometer. If you tell me the height of the building, I will give it to you.，”
Then, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did ，but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.
The name of the student was Bohr who later was famous all over ,the world. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922.
【小题1】The student got a zero at the beginning because_______.

Before ___ a loan ____, calculate (核算) your monthly costs.

Everyone in business has been told that success is all about attracting and retaining(留住) customers. It sounds simple and achievable. But,   41   , words of wisdom are soon forgotten. Once companies have attracted customers they often    42   the second half of the story. In the excitement of beating off the competition, negotiating prices, securing orders, and delivering the product, managers     43    become carried away. They forget what they regard as the boring side of business---    44   that the customer remains a customer.
     45   to concentrate on retaining as well as attracting customers costs business huge amounts of money annually. It has been estimated that the    46     company loses between 10 and 30 percent of its customers every year. In constantly changing    47    , 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 these lost opportunities and calculate the   48  implications.     49    the number of customers a company loses can make a big    50   in its performance. Research in the US found that a five percent decrease in the number of defecting(流失的) customers led to    51   increases of between 25 and 85 percent.
In the US, Domino’s Pizza estimates that a regular customer is     52    more than five thousand dollars over ten years. A customer who receives a poor quality product or     53    on their first visit and    54     never returns, is losing the company thousands of dollars in   55    profits (more if you consider how many people they are likely to tell about their bad experience).
The logic behind cultivating customer   56    is impossible to deny. “In practice most companies’ marketing effort is focused on getting customers, with little attention paid to     57   them”, says Adrian Payne of Cornfield University’s School of Management. “Research suggests that there is a close relationship between retaining customers and making profits.     58     customers tend to buy more, are predictable and usually cost less to service than new customers. Furthermore, they tend to be less price    59   , and may provide free word-of-mouth advertising. Retaining customers also makes it   60  for competitors to enter a market or increase their share of a market.”