Every business needs two things, says Skullcandy CEO Rick Alden: inspiration and desperation. In 2001, Alden had both. He’d sold two snowboarding businesses, and he was desperately bored. But he had an idea; He wanted to make a new kind of headphone. “ I kept seeing people missing their cell phone calls because they were listening to music,“ he explains. “Then I’m in a chairlift(索道) , I’ve got my headphones on, and I realize my phone is ringing. As I take my gloves off and reach for my phone, I think, “ It can’t be that tough to make headphones with two plugs, one for music and one for your cell phone. “ Alden described what he wanted to a designer, perfected a prototype, and outsourced(外包) manufacturing overseas. Alden then started designing headphones into helmets, backpacks—anywhere that would make it easy to listen to music while snowboarding. “ Selling into board and skate shops wasn’t a big research effort,“ he explains. “Those were the only guys I knew!“ Alden didn’t want to be a manufacturer. And by outsourcing, he’d hoped he could get the business off the ground without debt. But he was wrong. So he asked his wife, “Can I put a mortgage(抵押贷款) on the house? She said, ’ What is the worst thing that can happen? We lose the house, we sell our cars, and we start all over again. ’ I definitely married the right woman!“ For the next two years, Alden juggled mortgage payments and payments to his manufacturers. “Factories won’t ship your product till they get paid,“ he says. “ But it takes four or five months to get a mortgage company so upset that they knock on your door. So we paid the factory first. “ Gradually, non-snowboarders began to notice the colourful headphones. In 2006, the company started selling them in 1,400 FYE (For Your Entertainment) stores. “We knew that nine out of ten people walking into that store would be learning about Skullcandy for the first time. Why would they look at brands they knew and take home a new brand instead? We had agreed to buy back anything we didn’t sell, but we were dealing with huge numbers. It’d kill us to take back all the products. “ Alden’s fears faded as Skullcandy became the No. 1 headphone seller in those stores and tripled its revenue to $120 million in one year. His key insight was that headphones weren’t gadgets; they were a fashion accessory. “ In the beginning,“ he says, “ that little white wire that said you had an iPod—that was cool. But now wearing the white bud means you’re just like everyone else. Headphones occupy this critical piece of cranial real estate and are highly visible. “ Today, Skullcandy is America’s second-largest headphone supplier, after Sony. With 79 employees, the company is bigger than Alden ever imagined.

According to the conversation, an example of “Christmas trimmings“ could be______.M: Hello, Helen! Merry Christmas! W: Merry Christmas, Rob. You always get so excited on Christmas day. M: Come in! Come in! W: Thank you. Wow! M: So, what do you think? W: That’s amazing! So many decorations, and what a beautiful Christmas tree! You must have spent ages doing this. It’s beautiful! M: I like to do Christmas with all the trimmings! W: All the trimmings? I don’t understand. M: All the trimmings—it means all the extra things that traditionally come with something to make it more special. W: I see. Like all these decorations? M: Yes. (1) In my family, we have always had Christmas with all the trimmings, so we have a Christmas tree, decorations, gifts, Christmas songs, silly Christmas games, and most importantly, Christmas lunch. Come this way. W: A turkey for lunch? M: Now that is a roast turkey with all the trimmings! Not only is it a turkey, but (2) we’re eating it with all the things you traditionally eat with Christmas roast turkey: cranberry sauce, roast potatoes, gravy, stuffing, carrots. W: I think I understand what “all the trimmings“ means now. M: It’s an expression usually used with food, especially at Christmas and for the big roast dinners that we like to eat. I adore Sunday lunch with all the trimmings: roast meat, along with lots of vegetables and sauces and other traditional accompaniments. W: Mm... M: Anyway, enough talk! Let’s eat! W: Delicious! (3)Thank you for inviting me. M: Well, cheers to that and Merry Christmas—with all the trimmings! W: Merry Christmas! presents fruits sauce meat

According to the passage, what benefit can technology bring to people?Once upon a time, societies were organized around religion, farming, trade or industry. In many parts of the world today this is still true, but something else is becoming more important—the exchange of information, and the technology that we use to do this. Twenty-four-hour news, e-commerce, mobile phones, Global Positioning Systems... all these are making the world smaller and faster. (14) The growth in telecommunications is giving more and more people access to the science that will help their country to develop or to acquire the medical knowledge that can fight disease. But how can everybody in the world share the recent technological advances? (15) Millions of people cannot read these words because they don’t have access to a computer. They don’t understand English either. They don’t even have a telephone. They are more worried about how far they will have to walk today to get clean water or if they can feed themselves and their families. For most people on this planet, information is not a priority. (17)The United Nations is now trying to make the information society a reality for more of the developing world. (16) Ten years from now, the plan is that everybody in the world will have a radio or television and that 50% of the world’s population will have access to the Internet from schools and universities, health centers and hospitals, libraries and museums. This will improve medical care and education, science and agriculture, business opportunities and employment. More useful information to better their life. Greater changes in social organization. Better understanding of mass media. Closer contact with modern devices.

What is the main purpose of the new rules?The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, the government agency that regulates civil aviation in the United States, announced new rules this month to combat pilot fatigue. (27) The new guidelines, which will go into effect in two years, call for reducing the number of pilots’ on-duty hours and giving them a 10-hour rest period between shifts, so they can get at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. (28) The new rules apply to only pilots of passenger airlines. FAA determined that including pilots who fly cargo planes—a large segment of the aviation industry—would add too much to the cost of implementing the changes . But the Independent Pilots Association has filed a lawsuit asking the government to set one level of safety for all pilots. To reduce the number of pilots on duty. To prevent pilots from working overtime. To ensure an adequate amount of sleep. To fix the amount of work for each pilot.

Everyone knows that taxation is necessary in a modern state: without it, it【C1】______not be possible to pay the soldiers and policemen who protect us; 【C2】______the workers in government offices who【C3】______our health, our food, our water, and all the other things that we cannot do for ourselves. 【C4】______taxation, we pay for things that we need just【C5】______we need somewhere to live and something to eat. But【C6】______everyone knows that taxation is necessary, different people have different ideas about【C7】______taxation should be arranged. In most countries, a direct tax on【C8】______, which is called income tax, 【C9】______. It is arranged in such a【C10】______that the poorest people pay nothing, and the percentage of tax grows【C11】______as the taxpayer’s income grows. In some countries, for example, the tax on the richest people【C12】______as high as ninety-five per cent! 【C13】______countries with direct taxation nearly【C14】______have indirect taxation too. Many things imported into the country have to pay taxes or “ duties. “ Of course, it is the men and women who buy these imported things in the shops【C15】______ really have to pay the duties, in the【C16】______of higher prices. In some countries, 【C17】______, there is a tax on things sold in the shops. If the most necessary things are taxed, a lot of money is【C18】______but the poor people suffer most. If unnecessary things【C19】______jewels and fur coats are taxed, less money is obtained but the tax is【C20】______, as the rich pay it.

Xinchun returned from abroad a different man. The italicized part functions as a(n)______ in the sentence. appositive (同位语) object adverbial complement

Which of the following is a compound word(复合词) ? Nonsmoker. Meanness. Deadline. Misfit.

Which of the following CANNOT be used as a nominal substitute(名词替代词) ? Much. Neither. One. Quarter.

All the following sentences definitely indicate future time EXCEPT______. Mother is to have tea with Aunt Betty at four The school pupils will be home by now The President is coming to the UN next week He is going to e-mail me the necessary information

Which of the following italicized parts serves as an appositive? He is not the man to draw back. Larry has a large family to support. Tony hit back the urge to tell a lie. There is really nothing to fear.

The following are all dynamic verbs(动态动词) EXCEPT______. remain turn write knock

He is fed up with the same old dreary routine, and wants to quit his job. The underlined part means______. hard tiring long dull

At last night’s party Larry said something that I thought was beyond me. The underlined part means______. I couldn’t understand I was unable to do I couldn’t tolerate I was unable to stop

Sally contributed a lot to the project, but she never once accepted all the ______for herself. credit attention focus award

The child nodded, apparently content with his mother’s promise. The underlined part means______. as far as one has learnt as far as one is concerned as far as one can see as far as one is told

No food or drink is allowed on the premises. The underlined part means______. proposition advertisement building street

The court would not accept his appeal unless______evidence is provided definite conclusive eventual concluding

As soon as he opened the door, a______of cold air swept through the house. flow movement rush blast

The couple told the decorator that they wanted their bedroom gaily painted. The underlined part means______. cheerfully light-heartedly brightly lightly

I was standing in my kitchen wondering what to have for lunch when my friend Taj called. “Sit down,“ she said. I thought she was going to tell me she had just gotten the haircut from hell. I laughed and said, “ It can’t be that bad. “ But it was. Before the phone call, I had 30 years of retirement saving in a “safe“ fund with a brilliant financial guru(金融大亨). When I put down the phone, my savings were gone. I felt as if I had died and, for some unknown reason, was still breathing. Since Bernie Madoffs arrest on charges of running a $65 million Ponzi scheme, I’ve read many articles about how we investors should have known what was going on. I wish I could say I had reservations about Madoff before “the Call“ , but I did not. On New Year’s Eve, three weeks after we lost our savings, six of us Madoff people gathered at Taj’s house for dinner. As we were sitting around the table, someone asked, “ If you could have your money back right now, but it would mean giving up what you have learned by losing it, would you take the money or would you take what losing the money has given you?“ My husband was still in financial shock. He said, “I just want the money back. “ I wasn’t certain where I stood. I knew that losing our money had cracked me wide open. I’d been walking around like what the Buddhists call a hungry ghost; always focused on the bite that was yet to come, not the one in my mouth. No matter how much I ate or had or experienced, it didn’t satisfy me, because I wasn’t really taking it in, wasn’t absorbing it. Now I was forced to pay attention. Still, I couldn’t honestly say that if someone had offered me the money back, I would turn it down. But the other four all said that what they were seeing about themselves was incalculable, and they didn’t think it would have become apparent without the ground of financial stability being ripped out from underneath them. My friend Michael said, “I’d started to get complacent. It’s as if the muscles of my heart started to atrophy (萎缩). Now they’re awake, alive—and I don’t want to go back. “ These weren’t just empty words. Michael and his wife needed to take in boarders to meet their expenses. Taj was so broke that she was moving into someone’s garage apartment in three weeks. Three friends had declared bankruptcy and weren’t sure where or how they were going to live.

In the 19th century, there used to be a model of how to be a good person. There are all these torrents of passion flowing through you. Your job, as captain of your soul, is to erect dams to keep these passions in check. Your job is to just say no to laziness, lust, greed, drug use and the other sins. These days that model is out of fashion. You usually can’t change your behaviour by simply resolving to do something. Knowing what to do is not the same as being able to do it. Your willpower is not like a dam that can block the torrent of self-indulgence. It’s more like a muscle, which tires easily. Moreover, you’re a social being. If everybody around you is overeating, you’ll probably do so, too. The 19th-century character model was based on an understanding of free will. Today, we know that free will is bounded. People can change their lives, but ordering change is not simple because many things, even within ourselves, are beyond our direct control. Much of our behaviour, for example, is guided by unconscious habits. Researchers at Duke University calculated that more than 40 percent of the actions we take are governed by habit, not actual decisions. Researchers have also come to understand the structure of habits—cue, routine, reward. You can change your own personal habits. If you leave running shorts on the floor at night, that’ll be a cue to go running in the morning. Don’t try to ignore your afternoon snack craving. Every time you feel the cue for a snack, insert another routine. Take a walk. Their research thus implies a different character model, which is supposed to manipulate the neural(神经系统) networks inside. To be an effective person, under this model, you are supposed to coolly examine your own unconscious habits, and the habits of those under your care. You are supposed to devise strategies to alter the cues and routines. Every relationship becomes slightly manipulative, including your relationship with yourself. You’re trying to arouse certain responses by implanting certain cues. This is a bit disturbing, because the important habitual neural networks are not formed by mere routine, nor can they be reversed by clever cues. They are burned in by emotion and strengthened by strong yearnings, like the yearnings for admiration and righteousness. If you think you can change your life in a clever way, the way an advertiser can get you to buy an air freshener, you’re probably wrong. As the Victorians understood, if you want to change your life, don’t just look for a clever cue. Commit to some larger global belief.

Alden came up with the idea of a new kind of headphone because he ______.

The new headphone was originally designed for ______.

How did Alden solve the money problem?

What did Alden do to promote sales in FYE stores?

Alden sees headphones as______.