When I was a child I never said, "When I grow up, I want to be a CEO," but here I am. When I look back on my career, I realize the road to becoming a CEO isn't a straight, clear path. In fact, no two paths are the same. But whether you want to be a boss one day or not, there's a lot to learn from how leaders rise to the top of successful companies.  
As this series of stories shows, the paths to becoming a CEO may be different, but the people in that position(位置) share the qualities of commitment（義務）, work ethic（道德） and a strong desire for building something new. And every CEO take risks along the way—putting your life savings on the line to start a software company or leaving a big business to be one of the first employees at a startup.
I grew up in Minnesota, and learned how to be an entrepreneur（企業(yè)家）from my father, who has run a small business for almost 30 years. I went to Georgetown University and tried a lot of business activities in college with success. And I always had a dream job pattern(模式): to walk to work, work for myself and build something for consumers(顧客).  
I'm only 29, so it's been a quick ride to CEO. Out of college, I worked for AOL as a product manager, then moved to Revolution Health and ran the consumer product team. In mid-2007 I left Revolution Health and started LivingSocial with several other workmates, where I became a CEO.
Career advice: Don't figure out where you want to work, or even what industry you'd like to work at. Figure out what makes you do so. What gives you a really big rush? Answer why you like things, not what you like doing. . . and then apply it to your work life. Also, just because you're graduating, don't stop learning. Read more books than you did in college. If you do, and they're not, you're really well-positioned to succeed in whatever you do.
【小題1】What can we know from the first paragraph?

My teachers suggested that I see a speech specialist (專家) in school.
I never really gave much thought to my speech. If other people understood what I was saying, then that was good enough. I didn’t mind repeating myself many times.
Before testing me, the speech specialist asked me what I thought of having good speech. I told her I thought it was not important.
“Well, when you are in an interview for a job, and they don’t know what you are saying, what are they going to say to you? Nice meeting you, bye,” she said.
Maybe good speech was important. I took part in 20-minute classes each week with the specialist.
After she tested me, she told me that I spoke too fast, and didn’t give enough eye contact (眼神交流). I learned that when I made eye contact with someone, it meant that I was talking to that person, and I could also see what he or she thought about what I was saying.
When my first speech class started, I found that I had been speaking too fast to be understood. Every time I spoke too fast, the specialist stopped me and told me to start again. At first, I got stopped after almost every other sentence. After a while, I felt my speech slow down. I wasn’t sure if people could understand me better, but my friends stopped asking me to repeat myself.
Speech is an important skill to have. If you do have good speech, that’s a good thing, but if you don’t have it, it is never too late to improve.
【小題1】The article is probably taken from       .

I live on the twelfth floor of a building. One afternoon I was coming home from a friend's house. It was just after four o'clock. I got quickly into the lift and pressed Button (按鈕) 12.
The lift started to go up, but very slowly. And then, halfway up, it suddenly stopped between two floors. I couldn't understand it. I pressed all the buttons from 1 to 14. I called for help very loudly. But nobody answered.
Then suddenly the lights went out, and I was alone in the dark. I started to cry and beat the walls of the lift. I cried and cried until I had no voice left. Then, I felt hopeless, and pressed all the buttons with my open hands. And all at the same time, there was a bell far away. It rang and rang. It was the fire alarm (火災警報). I thought the whole building was on fire. I said to God quietly, "Just get me out of here. I'll never be bad again."
Just then, I realized the lift was moving very slowly. On the ground floor it stopped, and the doors opened. A man was standing there. "How long have you been in the lift? It is good that you pressed the alarm bell. But haven't you learned to read at your school?" He pointed at a small piece of paper on the wall beside the lift. It said:
"Attention: This lift will be stopped for repairs between 4pm and 5 pm on Thursday March 13."
【小題1】What happened to the lift?

Ding-Dong！
“Jason, honey? Can you answer the door?”
“I am busy, mom！” Jason shouted back at his mother. He had spent three hours so far working to this point in the game. He couldn’t stop now.
Ding-Dong！Mom′s footsteps approached the front door.
“Jason, it’s your friend Todd.” Mom called from the doorway.
Todd, his best friend, stepped into the room. “ Jason！I need a partner for playing basketball. ”He sounded excited.
Jason snorted. “No way, Todd. I′m playing a game here.”
Jason gave his friend a dirty look, and his character in the game almost got killed while he looked away, “ I almost died because of you！”
Todd looked at Jason′s mother. Jason’s mother looked back at him. They both looked at Jason. “Why don′t you play basketball with your friend?” Jason’s mother suggested.
“Tomorrow, maybe…” There were more levels to beat tomorrow, though, Maybe he had played tomorrow. He’d have to see what mood he was in. He thought he heard footsteps walking away, but he was too busy beating the next level to care.
An hour later, Jason’s father came home. It was dinner time after his father washed up and sat down. Jason didn′t even hear his name being called to the table. He didn′t hear his father walk at behind him and ask him to turn the game off, either.
When the screen suddenly went black and his father’s angry face loomed in front of him, Jason finally heard. “No more game for a month.” Jason′s father shouted at him. “You don’t play basketball, you don′t come to dinner, and you don′t do your chores. We′ll make you do something else before you play any more.”
Jason nodded slowly. He knew better than to argue with his father, and when he thought about it, he had been playing quite a bit. It was fun, but he was letting down his friends, his family, and himself by paying too much.
He′d try harder in the future.
【小題1】What did Todd ask Jason to do?

請你閱讀下面一篇短文，完成句子。
Do you want to do well in exams? Sometimes your knowledge is not enough, you also need good strategies(策略). Here are some for you:
* Before you answer the questions, if you feel a little nervous, take a deep breath to help you relax.
* Always read the question carefully and make sure that you understand it. Read it a few times if possible.
* If it asks to give one answer, only write one.
* If there is a difficult question, don’t worry. Go on to the next question and come back to it if you have time.
* Try not leave questions unanswered when you finish the test. Sometimes a guess may help you get points.
* When you finish, go back and check your answers. You will need to check your writing for spelling mistakes.
【小題1】This is a passage about how to_____________ in exams.
【小題2】There are __________ strategies mentioned in the passage.
【小題3】From the passage, we know we can _______ to help ourselves relax if we feel a little nervous.
【小題4】To make sure we understand the question, we had better read it_______________.
【小題5】When we finish answering all the questions, we need to___________ our answers.

March 5 is Lei Feng Day. Lei Feng is one of the most famous role models（榜樣） in China. He is known for his warm heart and kind deeds（行為）. We should learn from him. In honor of this great person, we did lots of kind deeds on March 4. Take a look!
Xu Hanchi, 13:
I went to a square（廣場）in a local university with my classmates to do cleaning. We swept off the fallen leaves and picked up rubbish. When we finished, the ground was very clean. Though no one came up to praise us, we still felt very happy. We learned that doing good things itself could make us happy.
Zhu Lingyue, 14:
My group cleaned the teachers’ office that day. When we got there, we were surprised that the office was not as clean as we expected. How could teachers work in such an untidy（不整潔的） place? We started cleaning quickly. Teachers work really hard and may not have the time to clean their offices. It’s great that we can do something to help make them less tired.
Tom Rui, 14:
We helped clean the yard in the front of a hospital, but some patients（病人） there left us a very bad impression（印象）. They were very impolite and shouted at nurses and doctors. I think nurses and doctors’ work is hard. They try their best to help us. We should give them more respect and understanding.
【小題1】The three children did lots of kind deeds _________

A Page From Li Meng’s Diary
Thursday, January 23Sunny
Today I was so happy to know that I did quite well in my last week’s science exam. Thanks to Daniel, he taught me a new way of going over lessons. It is called “map idea”.
Because of the map idea, I’ve learned how to find out the main idea in every lesson. And in my mind I can draw a map of all the important knowledge I need to remember. It’s really goo   D. I can remember so much in that way.
I never thought of changing the way of my study before. I used to complain about my poor memory, but now my memory has become good because of the map idea. It made my study much easier and more enjoyable. I realized learning how to learn well is the most important for us students.
【小題1】There was a science exam in Li Meng’s class                      .
【小題2】Daniel taught Li Meng a good way to study. That is                           .
【小題3】Li Meng                       complain about his bad memory.
【小題4】Li Meng has learned a new way of                       lessons.
【小題5】It is the most important                         how to learn well.

Stay as safe as possible during an earthquake. Be aware that some earthquakes are actually foreshocks(前震) and a larger earthquake might occur. Reduce your movements to a few steps to a nearby safe place.
If you are indoors, do “duck, cover and hold”. Duck or drop down to the floor, under something strong, such as a table or a desk, cover your head and face with your arms and hands and hold on to that table or desk so that it does not move away from you as the ground shakes. Do this until the shaking stops and it is safe to move. Stay inside to avoid being injured by falling glass or building parts. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch(蜷縮) in an inside corner of the building.
Stay clear of windows, fireplaces, and heavy furniture that may fall over. Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave.
If you are outside, get into the open and stay there. Move away from trees, buildings, signs and power lines. Once in the open, stay there until the shaking stops. The greatest danger exists directly outside buildings, at exits and alongside exterior walls. Ground movement during an earthquake is seldom the direct cause of death or injury. Most earthquake-related casualties（傷亡） result from collapsing walls, flying glass, and falling objects.
If you are driving, you may not realize what is going on at first because the car may feel like it is going to blow up. Stop the car in as clear and open an area as possible and stay in it until the shaking stops. If it is a really bad quake, turn on the radio to find an emergency channel to get information. Follow the directions of people directing traffic.
If you are in a mountainous area, watch out for falling rock and other debris that could be loosened by the earthquake.
If you are at the beach, move quickly to higher ground or several hundred yards inland.
【小題1】Which of the following pictures means “duck, cover and hold”?

【小題2】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?

One midnight, a little girl woke up to pass water. She by herself got up and down her bed, walked to the bedroom door and opened it. She looked outside and walked back, for it was so dark in the hall that she feared.
Her mother said, “Don’t be afraid, honey. Take courage!” “What’s courage?” she asked, running to her mother’s bed. “Courage is the brave breath,” her mother answered. “Mum, do you have courage?” “Certainly.” The girl held out her little hands, saying, “Mum, blow some of your breath of courage to me.”
After her mother blew out two mouthfuls of breath into her little cold hands, the little girl clenched her fists(握拳) nervously, afraid that the “breath of courage” would run away. Then with her fists clenched, she walked out of the bedroom towards the bathroom with nothing to fear.
Her mother said to herself, “It will be nice if someone can blow some kind of ‘breath’ to me. Then I can hold it in my hands too when I feel terrified or lost.”
In fact, mostly, what we are terrified of is nothing but the fear in our mind. Who we should defeat(戰(zhàn)勝) is nobody but ourselves.
【小題1】The girl walked back because _______.

A Manchester teenager has received a phone bill (賬單)for over £450 after sending 3 ，500 text messages in just one month.
Tony Russell has had his new mobile phone for only three months, but now his father, Lionel, has taken it away.
He's been asking me for a mobile for years because all his friends have got one，“ explained Lionel. "I finally bought one for his birthday because he's been doing so well at school, but he and his friends are crazy (瘋狂的)about sending text messages. They do it all the time. They even text each other from different sides of the school playground.
Tony said, "I thought texting was much cheaper than phoning, so I've been texting my friends all day long and even into the early hours of the morning. I've been going to bed at 2 ： 00 most nights. Sometimes my hand hurt because I pressed the buttons so much, but I was having such good fun that I couldn't stop！"
His father said,"! have forgiven him, but I am angry with the phone company as they are encouraging this crazy behaviour. " He has made his son promise to pay back the money, so Tony has been working on Saturdays. He has found a job in a shoe shop. "I think it will take me about a year to clear this debt(債務)，"he said.
A Xiangtan teenager has received a phone bill for over 350 yuan after sending 3,500 text messages in just one month.
Tan Wei has had his new mobile phone for only three months, but now his father has taken itaway
He's been asking me for a mobile for years because all his friends have got one," explained Tan Wei's father. "I finally bought one for his birthday because he's been doing so well at school, but he and his friends are crazy about sending text messages They do it all the time. "
Tan Wei said, "I thoughttexting was much cheaper than phoning, so I've been texting my friends all day long and even into the early hours of the morning, Sometimes my Angers hurt because I pressed the buttons(按鍵)so much, but I was having such good fun that l couldn’t I stop！”
His father said, “I am angry with the phone company as they are encouraging this crazy behaviour.' He has made his son promise to pay back the money, so Tan Wei has been working on Saturdays He has found a pan-time job in a shoe shop 'I think it will take me about half a year to clear this debt(債務)he said.
【小題1】Tan Wei got the mobile phone because_____
A he's been asking for it for years
B. all his friends have got one
C he's been doing well at school
【小題2】The underlined word "texting" probably means_____
A. 讀課文 B. 短信 C. 發(fā)郵件
【小題3】When he sent text messages, Tan Wei_______ .
A, made friends at school
B. got himself injured
C .felt quite happy
【小題4】How much money does Tan Wei get for his job every month?
A. About 40 yuan  B. About 60 yuan  C. About 80 yuan