大学英语四级快速阅读
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Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires
They?re just like you. But with lots of money.
When you think of “millionaire”, what image comes to your mind?
For many of us, it?s a flashy Wall Street banker type who flies a
private jet, collects cars and lives the kind of decadent lifestyle that would make Donald Trump proud.
But many modern millionaires live in middle-class neighborhoods,
work full-time and shop in discount stores like the rest of us.
What motivates them isn?t material possessions but the choices that money can bring. “For the rich, it?s not about getting more stuff. It?s about having the freedom to make almost any decision you want,”
says T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. Wealth means you can send your child to any school or quit a job you don?t like.
According to the Spectrem Wealth Study, an annual survey of
America?s wealthy, there are more people living the good life than ever before — the number of millionaires nearly doubled in the last decade. And the rich are getting richer. To make it onto the Forbes
400 list of the richest Americans, a mere billionaire no longer
makes the cut. This year you needed a net worth of at least $1.3 billion.
If more people are getting richer than ever, why shouldn?t you be
one of them? Here are the secrets revealed by the people who have at
least a million dollars in liquid assets.
1. Set your sights on where you’re going
Twenty years ago, Jeff Harris hardly seemed on the road to wealth.
He was a college dropout who struggled to support his wife, DeAnn, and three kids, working as a grocery store clerk and at a junkyard where he melted scrap metal alongside convicts (囚犯). “At times we were so broke that we washed our clothes in the bathtub because we couldn?t afford the Laundromat.” Now he?s a 49-year-old investment advisor and multimillionaire in York, South Carolina.
There was one big reason Jeff pulled ahead of the pack: He always
knew he?d be rich. The reality is that 80 percent of Americans worth at least $5 million grew up in middle-class or lesser households, just like Jeff.
Wanting to be wealthy is a crucial first step. Eker says, “The
biggest obstacle to wealth is fear. People are afraid to think big, but
if you think small, you?ll only achieve small things.”
It all started for Jeff when he met a stockbroker at a Christmas party. “Talking to him, it felt like discovering fire,” he says. “I started
reading books about investing during my breaks at the grocery store, and I began putting $25 a month in a mutu al fund.” Next he taught a class at a local community college on investing. His students became his first clients, which led to his investment practice. “There were lots of struggles,” says Jeff, “but what got me through it was believing with all my hear t that I would succeed.”
2. Educate yourself
When Steve Maxwell graduated from college, he had an engineering degree and a high-tech job — but he couldn?t balance his checkbook. “I took one finance class in college but dropped it to
go on a ski trip,” s ays the 45-year-old father of three, who lives in Windsor, Colorado. “I actually had to go to my bank and ask them to teach me how to read my statement (结算单).”
One of the biggest obstacles to making money is not understanding it: Thousands of us avoid investing because we just don?t get it.
But to make money, you must be financially literate. “It bothered
me that I didn?t understand this stuff,” says Steve, “so I read books and
magazines about money management and investing, and I asked every financial whiz (高手) I knew to explain things to me.”
He and his wife started applying the lessons: They made a point to
live below their means. They never bought on impulse, always negotiated better deals (on their cars, cable bills, furniture) and stayed in their home long after they could afford a more expensive one.
They also put 20 percent of their annual salary into investments.
Within ten years, they were millionaires, and people were coming to Steve for advice. “Someone would say, …I need to refinance my house — what should I do?? A lot of times, I wouldn?t know the answer, but I?d go find it and learn something in the process,” he says.
In 2003, Steve quit his job to become part owner of a company that holds personal finance seminars for employees of corporations like Wal-Mart. He also started going to real estate investment seminars, and it?s paid off: He now owns $30 million worth of investment properties, including apartment complexes, a shopping mall and a quarry.
“I was an engineer who never thought this life was possible, but
all it truly takes is a little self-education,” says Steve. “You can
do
anything once you understand the basics.”
3. Passion pays off
In 1995, Jill Blashack Strahan and her husband were barely making ends meet. Like so many of us, Jill was eager to discover her purpose, so she splurged on a session with a life coach. “When I
told her my goal was to make $30,000 a year, she said I was setting the bar too low. I needed to focus on my passion, not on the paycheck.”
Jill, who lives with her son in Alexandria, Minnesota, owned a gift basket company and earned just $15,000 a year. She noticed when she let potential buyers taste the food items, the baskets sold like crazy. Jill thought, Why not sell the food directly to customers in
a fun setting?
With $6,000 in savings, a bank loan and a friend?s investment, Jill started packaging gourmet foods in a backyard shed and selling them at taste-testing parties. It wasn?t easy. “I remember sitting outside one day, thinking we were three months behind on our house payment, I had two employees I couldn?t pay, and I ought to get a real job. But then I thought, No, this is your dream. Recommit and get to work.”
She stuck with it, even after her husband died three years later.
“I live by th e law of abundance, meaning that even when there are challenges in life, I look for the win-win,” she says.
The positive attitude worked: Jill?s backyard company, Tastefully Simple, is now a direct-sales business, with $120 million in sales last year. And Jill was named one of the top 25 female business owners in North America by Fast Company magazine.
According to research by Thomas J. Stanley, author of The
Millionaire Mind, over 80 percent of millionaires say they never would have been successful if their vocation wasn?t something they cared about.
1. How does the passage portray modern millionaires?
A) People who fly private planes. B) People who have the freedom to make any decision.
C) People who do part-time jobs. D) People who lead rotten lives.
2. How much net worth is needed if you want to be one of the richest Americans, according to the Forbes?
A) $5 million. B) $30 million. C) $120 million. D) $1.3 billion.
3. How old was Jeff Harris when he was so poverty-stricken that he could barely support his family?
A) 45. B) 29. C) 35. D) 49.
4. What should people do to make big money, according to Steve Maxwell?
A) Live below their means. B) Buy on impulse.
C) Read books and magazines about finance. D) Negotiate better deals.
5. Jill Blashack Strahan?s success in business is mostly due to her
_________.
A) willingness to think big B) financial literacy
C) positive attitude D) material possessions
6. What made Jill Blashack Strahan one of the top 25 businesswomen
in North America?
A) She sold super foods directly to customers. B) She made up an
annual income goal.
C) She got a big loan from the bank. D) She got a real job.
7. Which of the following is NOT a way to become a millionaire?
A) Setting big goals. B) Studying by yourself.
C) Being passionate. D) Sharing success stories.
8. According to Eker, the biggest barrier for people to be wealthy
is ________.
9. The study done by Thomas J. Stanley shows that more than 80% of millionaires say their success are due to ___________.
10. The author gave us ___________ people?s secrets of becoming a millionaire in the passage.
2.
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions. For questions 1~7, mark Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage; N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. For questions 8~10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
How to be a traveling beauty this May holiday
May Day holiday is a time for traveling. Go to the seaside, enjoy beautiful sunshine and soft breezes and let your mind and body both relax; hide away in a small town, amble on winding pebble tracks and melt into the romantic ambiance; or take up your backpack, go mountaineering, stretch your body and smell the fresh air…They all sound wonderful. But changing environments can pose threats to delicate skin. How can you protect yourself and stay beautiful through seven days of traveling? Here are some helpful suggestions.
If you?re going to the seaside:
Typical resort: Sanya
Typical weather: 24-31? with strong ultraviolet sunrays and fresh air.
Warm sunshine, fresh sea breezes, and moist air make the seaside an agreeable haven from Beijing?s dust. But excessive sun
exposure can easily darken your skin, and of course most Chinese
girls prefer fair skin. To prepare for a pleasing and beautiful sojourn (逗留) at the seaside take note of following:
1. Night time skin care
Even if you?ve managed to block the sun in the daytime, give your skin a soothing rehabilitative (使复原的) treatment in the evening. Cool your glowing skin with a product like La Mer?s newly released The Concentrate (50ml/RMB 3,700).
2. Shine in your bikini.
At the seashore, your body is more in the spotlight than your face. To become a bikini beauty, you need to take care of every inch of your skin. Exfoliate with a fine-grained scrub, which will not only let your exposed skin shine, but also acts as a deep cleanser to help prevent skin from darkening and roughening after too much sun and
salt water.
3. Control excess oil.
Never try to control oil with foundation that will clog pores (阻塞
毛孔) when combined with sun block cream. Gentle oil-control products do
a better job.
4. Hair care.
Beautiful girls never use free hotel shampoos, they carry their own moisturizing restoring hair care products. Wash your face and
hair with fresh water after swimming to get rid of salty residue (残余，滤渣), and remember to protect your hair from too much sun exposure.
Recommended skin care products
1. SPF30/PA++sunscreen products. HR Premium SPF40/PA++(RMB 620) protects your skin from ultraviolet rays.
2. Soothing, moisturizing, and after-sun rehabilitating products.
Olay Intensive Nourishing Emulsion (RMB 120) has natural hot spring microelements to give rapid relief to burned skin.
3. Gentle exfoliating scrubs.
4. Easy to carry oil-control products.
5. Moisturizing shampoo and hair protection products.
Tips
1. Whitening is as important as wearing sunscreen. For dry skins, moisturizing products are a must. Laneige Water Sleeping Pack (RMB 150) is a good choice.
2. For sensitive skins, Nuskin Aloe Vera Gel complements sun block creams. Washing your face with lemonade stops skin from
darkening and is refreshing.
3. Never use body sun block creams on your face. Use special facial sun block creams. For drier skins, Chanel UV Essential SPF45 (RMB 450) is nice, but Shu Uemura UV under Base DF (RMB 350) is much fresher.
If you?re going to a small town:
Typical resorts: Lijiang, Yunnan; Zhouzhuang, Jiangsu; Phoenix, Zhejiang
Typical weather: 11-25? with a lot of ultraviolet radiation
As depicted in Teresa Teng?s popular song Xiaocheng Gushi (Small Town Romances), small-secluded charming Chinese towns are the scene of many romances. Pebble tracks, winding lanes and ancient low villas make romantic backdrop for lovers wandering
hand-in-hand. To prepare for a romantic and sweet stay in a small town, take note of the following:
1. Go easy on the make up! To match your light-hearted mood we recommend the minimum of make-up. Basic skin care to keep your face healthy and glowing is enough.
2. Wear flirtatious (俏皮的) colors for special nights.
Liquid foundation in heavy glass bottles and powdered blush or eye shadow is not easy to carry. So we recommend sun-blocking pressed powder, two-in-one brow pencil and eye liners, and products that can be used on both lips and cheeks.
3. Make-up removal.
Remember to remove sun block creams at night. Try a moisturizing and relaxing mask, and we promise you a renewed glowing
complexion the next day.
Recommended skin care products
1. SPF15/PA+sun block face cream. Its small size makes Freeplus UV Day Protector (RMB 190, sun block and moisturizer) a good
choice.
2. A multi-functional cosmetic case. Bobbi Brow?ns hand-sized palettes (RMB 380), including a foundation stick, creamy concealer, corrector, and sheer finish pressed powder are convenient.
3. Clear foundation. Maybelline Mousse White Stay (RMB 89) the mousse-like texture makes this foundation light, breathable, and easy to carry.
4. Make up remover. Lancome?s mild Gentle Clarifying and Cleaning Fluid (small set) is perfect for traveling and it does a good job of removing all make-up thoroughly.
Tips
1. Apart from your daily skin care routine, traveling girls may also need protective lip cream, mascara (Maybelline is a good cheap choice), and fragrance (Try Anna Sui?s fresh Secret Wish Eau de Toilette).
2. For lazy girls, base creams are especially useful. Wearing just a base foundation cream is enough and saves the trouble of constantly reapplying foundation at romantic moments. Others may try creamy concealers and pressed powers. Adding blush (Watsons small tubes of blush are cheap/RMB20-30 and works well) will give a healthy glow.
If you?re going mountaineering:
Typical resorts: Huashan, Shanxi; Huangshan, Anhui; Shennongjia, Sichuan
Typical weather: 10-20?, a high level of ultraviolet radiation and dry air.
Boys often complain that mountaineering girls with their disheveled (凌乱的) hair and no make up don?t look attractive. In response to this, we recommend you use absolutely no make up except for basic skin care. But looking beautiful without the aid of make up isn?t
easy! With all your mountaineering equipment in your backpack, there isn?t much room for skin care products. The key is to choose the most important ones only, such as the following:
1. Moisturizing products.
Moisturizing and hydrating creams and masks help you become both sporty and ladylike.
2. Sun block products.
Even though the sunshine is usually not too strong in the mountains, you should take care not to be burned by ultraviolet radiation.
Fresh breathable SPF20-30 sun block products are recommended.
3. Facial cleaning pads.
Easy to carry cleaning pads help you stay fresh and clean at all times.
4. Soothing creams.
Compound soothing creams can be applied onto the skin directly to reduce inflammation and help you relax.
5. Lip conditioner and hand cream to prevent dryness caused by wind.
Tips
1. Make sure you have enough moisturizing skin care products, including a cleanser, cream, lotion and mask, even at the expense of make up products.
2. Secret recipe mask: While your boyfriend is away finding wood for the fire, apply a mashed banana to your face and leave for over ten minutes. Although tiny allergic symptoms (red swollen patches) may appear right after you rinse (冲洗掉, 漂净) off the mask, your face will be dazzling after a sound sleep.
__1. Tips of how to stay beautiful through traveling are provided in the passage.
__2. Exfoliate with a fine-grained scrub can help prevent skin from darkening.
__3. Beautiful girls never use free hotel toothbrush.
__4. Travelers had better not use special facial sun block creams on body.
__5. Typical resorts to a small town are Lijiang, Yunnan; Zhouzhuang and Sichuan.
__6. If you?re going to Shanxi, you are recommended to use basic skin care.
__7. Five tips are offered before you?re going mountaineering.
8. Typical temperature for going mountaineering is______________ .
9. The name of the popular song mentioned in the passage
is_____________ .
10. To prevent dryness caused by wind in mountains, you should
take_____________ .
3. Directions:In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions For question 1—7,choose the best answer from the four choices marked A),B),C),and D).For questions 8—10,complete the sentences with the
information given in the passage.
The Modern Olympic Games
The Modern Olympic Games might have remained just a part of history without the dream of one Frenchman, Pierre de Coubertin. Coubertin believed that sport and exercise were very important for the health and happiness of every man and also for the nation. He
therefore tried, in 1892, to interest other Frenchmen in his dream
of starting a modern form of the early Greek Games. His ideas were strongly criticized by many people, who did not really understand what he was trying to do. It is perhaps sad that the great work Pierre
de
Coubertin did to bring back the Games was never properly recognized during his lifetime. Gradually, however, people all over the world became interested in his ideas and at a meeting in Paris in 1894,
with representatives from twelve different countries; plans were made to hold the first modern Games in Athens in 1899.
Organizing the first modern Games, however, was not without problems. The Greek government was unhappy with the decision to hold the Games in
Athens, as they had serious economic problems at the time and did not
feel they were in a position to spend the
necessary money. It seemed therefore that the Games would be
finished before they had even begun. Prince Constantine of Greece, however, gave his support to Coubertin and the newly-formed Olympic Committee and other rich Greeks soon followed his example. Enough money was collected in Greece and abroad to build a new stadium and pay all
the other costs.
On 5th April, 1896, a crowd of over 60 000 people watched the King
of Greece open the first modern Olympic Games. There were, however, very few competitors , only two hundred and eighty-five. Australia, Austria, Britain, Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA, were the only countries to send athletes to the Games and most of the athletes
who did come had to pay for their own travel and other costs. There were ten sports in the first program , cycling, gymnastics, tennis, swimming, athletics, fencing, weight-lifting, rowing, wrestling and shooting; there were also other non-sporting events, such as concerts and ballet, just as there had been at the early Games.
At the first modern Olympics almost all the gold medals were won by American sportsmen, but the most famous of all the first medal winners was a young Greek named Spyros Louis, who came from a small village in the mountains near Athens. It was he who won the long and difficult race, the Marathon, and gave the Greeks the national win they had hoped for.
The Greeks would have been happy to keep the Games in Greece but Coubertin believed strongly that the Olympics should be truly international and would not allow this to happen. It was therefore decided to hold the next Games in Paris in 1900. Sadly, however, the Paris Games and the following Games, held in St. Louis, America, in 1904, were poor examples of Coubertin's dream and Coubertin himself did not even travel to the St. Louis Games. For these two Games were more like circus shows than serious international sports meetings. Only fifteen non-Americans went to the 1904 Games, mainly because the high travel costs prevented others from competing.
Olympic events were mixed with other sports and events, and the Games were organized to continue over many months, so that as much money as possible could be made by the organizers from the selling of tickets.
It was not until 1908, when the Games were held in London, that international rules and distances were introduced;until then the events had been the decision of the organizing nation alone. The London Games were far better organized than any of the other modern Games but it took many more years before Coubertin's dream of a truly international meeting of sportsmen became a reality. It was necessary to make many changes before the Olympic Games became as well-organized and as popular as they are today.
Since 1896 the Games have been held every four years, except for a break during the years of the two World Wars. Gradually the
number of competitors who take part in each Games has grown and so has the number of countries. In 1896, only thirteen countries were represented and only two hundred and eighty-five competitors took part. Today, however, as many as one hundred and twenty-two countries send athletes to the Games and more than seven thousand men and women come to the Games to take part. In recent years, the
number of events has grown to twenty-one, eleven of which are also open to women.
It is interesting that Coubertin, whose ideas were born in the late nineteenth century, probably never imagined that women would ever play a part in the new Olympics. Women had never competed in the early Greek Games; indeed, for many years they were not even allowed to watch. In modern times, the London Games in 1908 were the first in which women took a serious part , 36 women came to the Games to compete. The first woman to win an Olympic event was the British Tennis Player, Charlotte Cooper, who won a tennis event in 1900. From 1908, however, the number of events began to grow with the introduction of ladies? gymnastics. Athletics events for women were introduced in 1928 at the Games held in Amsterdam. Today, women are as highly-trained and as fit as men. Although in almost every sport women and men compete separately, in horse-riding events they compete against each other and women have shown over the years that they are just as good.
The International Olympic Committee, whose home is in Lausanne in Switzerland, is responsible for all the important decisions of the Olympic Movement. The members of this committee are chosen not
by their governments but by members already on the committee and they are therefore above politics or group interests. Most of
the members are simply rich men who wish to keep Coubertin?s ideas alive. Not every country is represented, therefore, because this would mean more than 120 members and no decisions would ever be made.
However, each country must form a National Olympic Committee before it is allowed to send competitors to the games and this committee must be recognized by the International Olympic Committee. At present, more than 136 countries have formed such a committee. The National Committees are responsible for organizing the national teams and for deciding which competitors to send.
Competitors cannot choose to go to the Games , they must be chosen and this means competing against their own countrymen. It is not even enough to be the best in the country, for each competitor must be able to reach the standard expected for entry to the Games.
These standards change each year as sportsmen and sportswomen improve. Some countries are not able to send all the competitors they would like to, even if they have reached the expected standard, because of the cost. The National Committee must then decide whether to
send the competitors who have the most chance of winning or whether, instead, to send competitors to represent each sport even though some of them have little hope of doing well.
Not only the competitors but also the team manager must be paid for. The manager is an extremely important member of the team;
he is responsible for the competitors while they are at the Games
and his job includes, for example, getting the competitors to each event on time and helping with medical or personal problems. Most
countries ask the people for money to help pay for the costs of travel and
training. A lot of money is given by businesses and companies who
also give, for example, clothes, shoes and uniforms.
The city where the Games are to be held is chosen by the
International Olympic Committee;this is usually decided five years
before
the Games are to take place. Several cities may wish to hold the Games in any one year and the Committee decides only after it has listened to and seen the arguments and plans of each city. Once chosen, the city then has five years to prepare.
1. Coubertin planned to hold the first modern Olympic Games
in_________ in Athens.
A. 1894
B. 1896
C. 1899
D. 1900
2. The competitors of the first Olympic Games came from all of the following countries EXCEPT__________.
A. UK
B. Hungary
C. Switzerland
D. Norway
3. Which of the following was NOT part of the first Olympic Games?
A. concerts
B. circus
C. fencing
D. boxing
4. According to the passage, the most successful modern Olympic Games was the one held in_________
A. Athens, Greece
B. St. Louis, America
C. Paris, France
D. London, UK
5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Women were not allowed to participate in the ancient Olympics.
B. Women were not allowed to watch the Olympic Games in the past.
C. Women appeared in the Amsterdam Olympic Games.
D. Before 1908
there were no women in the Olympic Games.
6. Women and men always compete separately except in_______
A. tennis
B. racing
C. swimming
D. horse-riding
7. What do we learn about the International Olympic Committee (IOC)?
A. Every country has its representatives in IOC.
B. The representatives in IOC speak for their own countries.
C. Most representatives in IOC are wealthy.
D. The representatives in IOC are elected by their own country.
8. It was _________________ that are responsible for organizing the national teams and for deciding which competitors to send.
9. Both the competitors and ___________ must be paid for.
10. Every city chosen to hold the Olympic Games usually have___ to prepare.