B
He’s saving for college 25 cents at a time.For senior David Krichbaum of Firestone High School in Ohio,US,that means handfuls of peanut M&Ms,lots of sales pitches (推销辞令) and plenty of rejections.
This 17-year-old student bought his first gumball machine (口香糖贩卖机) about 18 months ago “just for something to do”.
He cleaned up the machine with fresh paint and placed it inside a popular Chinese restaurant in Ohio.
Since then,David has set up six more vending machines (自动售货机) in spots around Ohio.
But it wasn’t until he added a full-color “My College Fund” sign above the candy-filled globe late last year that his business skyrocketed.
“My sales doubled when I added that sign,” he said.
His goal is to expand his market to 30 gumball machine locations and generate $800 a month in profits.
He has already been accepted into the University of Akron’s business college, where the cost of tuition (学费) and books will be about $10,500 (69,000 yuan) per year.
The budding (崭露头角的) businessman doesn’t want to take out a student loan.“I just want to have some responsibility and at the same time get some experience in sales and business,” he said.
Theresa Krichbaum said her son has always had a creative mind.Aside from the vending business,he also runs his own hot dog stand at special events.
When he was recently denied a chance to sell his hot dogs at a local wrestling meet,he bought and opened his own candy stand.David hopes it will carry him through college and eventually to his own restaurant or other small business.
As with any business model,things in the candy market are not always sweet.David estimates that prospective (预期的) business clients (客户) have rejected him and his vending machines about 200 times.
“It’s no big deal; it’s just part of the game,” he said.
24.What inspired David to begin his business?
A.His parents’ encouragement.
B.His desire to help support his family.
C.His wish to do something to enrich his life.
D.His goal to earn college tuition by himself.
25.The underlined word “skyrocketed” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to .
A.greatly took off
B.appeared suddenly
C.decreased rapidly
D.faced a big challenge
26.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
A.David has dreamed of starting his own business since he was a kid.
B.David’s mother doesn’t like his son to do business at school.
C.David is unafraid of failures and always seeks a new solution when he fails.
D.Besides the vending machine business,David is also running a small restaurant now.
27.Which of the following best describes David?
A.Creative and cooperative.
B.Ambitious and determined.
C.Independent and generous.
D.Optimistic and cautious.
语篇解读:这是一篇关于一个美国高中生巧卖糖果挣学费的报道。
答案及剖析:
24.C 细节理解题。由第二段This 17-year-old student bought his first gumball machine (口香糖贩卖机) about 18 months ago “just for something to do”.可知答案为C。
25.A 词义猜测题。由下文提到的“My sales doubled when I added that sign”可知,在贴上“大学基金”的牌子后,David的生意变得非常红火,销售量大增,故选A。skyrocketed意为“突升,猛涨”,与took off (腾飞,突然成功)意思相近。
26.C 细节理解题。由倒数第三、四段可以推知C为正确答案。A文中没有提及;由倒数第四段可知母亲对David的所作所为非常欣赏,故B不对;由倒数第三、四段可知D项的后半句“is also running a small restaurant now”不对。
27.B 推理判断题。由全文可以看出,David是一个非常独立的、有远大志向、富有创新精神且百折不挠的人,故答案为B。其他选项都有一个词体现不出来,如A项的cooperative,C项的generous,D项的cautious。
