16．A head track coach，Bill Bowerman，designed a lighter shoe with better support and greater strength and sent the design to leading sporting-goods companies．They all turned him down．
The refusal brought Bowerman face to face with his own philosophy of"competitive response"．He had taught his sportsmen value competition not so much for its prizes as for its intellectual and spiritual demands．This was true of his determination to make the shoes himself．
He made his first pair of track shoes graceful and light．And his runners won in his handmade shoes．But who would like to manufacture（制造）such shoes himself．
He made his first pair of track shoes graceful and light．And his runners won in his hand made shoes．But who would like to manufacture（制造）such shoes？
In 1962Knight，one of Bowerman's sportsmen，offered to travel to Japan and called on one of Japan's best manufacturers of sports shoes．The manufacturer promised to produce shoes of his design and Knight's company would be their only distributor（經銷商）in the U．S．Just over a year later，a shipment of 200Bowerman shoes arrived in Oregon．
At first，Knight and Bowerman worked with small team and went selling out of cars at track meets．But slowly，the secret of their product grew in the running world．
Then in 1972 the Japanese company cut off all supplies to their company and had established a separate distribution network in the U．S．In 30days Knight succeeded in lining up a new manufacturer．And today the company takes the largest share in the shoe business．Its name？Nike，after the Greek Goddess of victory．
Bowerman，Knight and the Nike team have a firm belief that a shared commitment requires outstanding individual performance and a willingness to contribute that performance to the group．
16．Bowerman designed new track shoes in order toD．
A．help out Knight，one of his sportsmen
B．make a fortune in shoe business
C．attract Japanese manufacturers
D．help improve his runners'performance
17．What encouraged Bowerman to overcome his difficulties wasD
A．his passion for sports
B．the support of the sporting-goods companies
C．the same spiritual demands he had on his sportsmen
D．the support of the sporting-goods companies
18．The difficulties Knight ran into in 1972were caused byC
A．the Japanese company's breakup with his in business
B．the quality of the shoes
C．the leak（泄漏）of the secret of his design
D．the competition from other companies．
分析 本文主要寫了耐克運動鞋的產生和發(fā)展的歷史故事．
解答 16．D 推理判斷題．根據句子Bill Bowerman，designed a lighter shoe with better support and greater strength and sent the design to leading sporting-goods companies．可見他把他的設計發(fā)送給領先的體育用品公司，應該是為了幫助提高跑步者的表現，所以答案選B．
17．D 細節(jié)理解題． The manufacturer promised to produce shoes of his design and Knight's company would be their only distributor（經銷商）in the U．S．Japan's best manufacturers of sports shoes日本最好的運動鞋制造商承諾生產他設計的鞋．所以答案選D．
18．C 細節(jié)理解題．根據句子 the secret of their product grew in the running world．他們的產品的秘密在世界上成長公開．所以是秘密的泄露導致公司的困難，所以答案選C．
點評 閱讀理解題測試考生在閱讀基礎上的邏輯推理能力，要求考生根據文章所述事件的邏輯關系，對未說明的趨勢或結局作出合理的推斷；或根據作者所闡述的觀點理論，對文章未涉及的現象、事例給以解釋．考生首先要仔細閱讀短文，完整了解信息，準確把握作者觀點．
