charge thousands of dollars to give his kind of training to corporate directors and staff. It cost me only a $12
taxi ride.
I had flown into Dallas just for the purpose of calling on a client. Time was important and my plan included
a quick turn-around trip from and back to the airport. A clean taxi pulled up.
The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he
closed the door. As we got in the driver"s seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to
me for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy.
Well! I looked around for a "Candid Camera!" Wouldn"t you? I could not believe the service I was receiving!
I took the opportunity to say, "Obviously you take great pride in you work. You must have a story to tell."
"You bet," he replied,"I used to be in Corporate America. But I got tired of thinking my best would never be
good enough. I decided to find my right position in life, somewhere I could feel proud of being the best I could
be.
I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have
done a full day"s work and done it well. I evaluated my personal property and, I became a taxi driver!
One thing I know for sure, to be good in my business I just have to meet the expectations of my passengers.
But, to be GREAT in my business, I have to EXEED the customer"s expectations! I like the sound of being
"great" better than just being "average".
Did I tip him big time? You bet!
The taxi driver taught me a great life lesson: Go an extra mile when providing any service to others. And
there is no good or bad job you can make any job good.
B. How to do better in the service business.
C. How to turn an interest into your career.
D. How to become a motivational speaker.
B. Because he was worried what the driver could be up to.
C. Because he was amazed by the way the driver was treating him.
D. Because he wasn"t interested in the tapes offered by the driver.
B. the author was anxious to get back to meet a client
C. when the author waited for a taxi at the airport, he was not in a rush
D. the taxi driver loved to play his favorite music during rides
B. was once often rewarded for being a model worker
C. enjoyed offering his customers more than they expected
D. was forced to become a taxi driver to support his family
Sunday and my father had recently died. I asked my mom if Dad had gone to heaven. "Yes, honey. Of course."
she said.
"Can we write him a letter?"
She paused, the longest pause of my short life, and answered, "Yes."
My heart jumped."How? Does the mailman go there?" I asked.
"No, but I have an idea." Mom drove to a party store and returned with a red balloon. I asked her what it
was for.
"Just wait, honey. You"ll see." Mom told me to write my letter. Eagerly, I got my favorite pen, and poured
out my six-year-old heart in the form of blue ink. I wrote about my day, what I learned at school, how Mom
was doing, and even about what happened in a story I had read. For a few minutes it was as if Dad were still
alive. I gave the letter to Mom. She read it over, and a smile crossed her face.
She made a hole in the corner of the letter where she looped (缠绕) the balloon string. We went outside
and she gave me the balloon. It was still raining.
"Okay, on the count of three, let go. One, two, three."
The balloon, carrying my letter, darted upward against the rain. We watched until it was swallowed by the
mass of clouds.
Later I realized, like the balloon, that Dad had never let his sickness get him down. He was strong. No
matter what he suffered, he"d persevere, dart up, and finally transcend (超越) this cold world and his sick
body. He rose into sky and became something beautiful. I watched until the balloon disappeared into the gray
and white and I prayed that his strength was hereditary. I prayed to be a balloon.
B. thought her a creative girl
C. believed it easy to do so
D. found it easy to lie
B. became excited
C. started writing immediately
D. was worried that it couldn"t be delivered
B. An unforgettable memory.
C. The hard time her father had.
D. The failures her father experienced.
B. The strong red balloon
C. Fly to paradise
D. A great father
water to the runners. I remember being so 2 to see all the different kinds of people who passed by and
grabbed a cup of water. Some ran past, some walked past and a few wheeled past. I saw so many types of
people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! So the next year I 3 up for the race.
That first 10,000m race was quite an 4 . I jogged, I walked, I jogged and I walked. 5 , I didn"t know
if I could finish. Then came a defining (决定性) 6 .
At one point near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me, very, very fast, and I felt 7 because I was
50 years younger than he but I couldn"t even keep up with him. I felt 8 for a second.
But then I 9 something. He was running his race and I was running mine. He had 10 abilities, experience,
training and goals for himself. I had mine. Remember my 11 was only to finish.
After a minute, it 12 me that this was a lesson I could draw from. I learned something about myself in
that moment. I turned my embarrassment into 13 .
I 14 that I would not give up on running races. In fact, I would run even more races and I would learn
how to train and prepare 15 and one day I would be one of those 70-year-old persons who were still running.
As I crossed the finish line, I was proud of my 16 .
In life we all have those moments where we 17 ourselves to others. It"s only 18 . Don"t allow those
moments to 19 you. Turn them into motivation and let them inspire you. With the proper preparation and
training, you can improve your result to 20 anything you want in life.
( )1. A. bring out | B. pass out B. worried B. made B. encouragement B. In time B. decision B. annoyed B. defeated B. lost B. evident B. plan B. hit B. devotion B. promised B. hardly B. accomplishment B. relate B. natural B. wound B. deliver | C. take out C. concerned C. signed C. instruction C. In all C. moment C. moved C. puzzled C. noticed C. common C. goal C. reached C. inspiration C. decided C. clearly C. movement C. present C. strange C. amuse C. achieve | D. pick out D. anxious D. dressed D. experience D. After all D. conclusion D. thrilled D. inspired D. remembered D. different D. direction D. hurt D. expectation D. suggested D. properly D. judgement D. compare D. ridiculous D. cheer D. abandon | ||||||||||||||||||
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A month after Hurricane Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans. There lay my house, 1 to waist-high ruins, smelly and dirty. Before the trip, I"d had my car 2 . When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill, she 3 my Louisiana license plate. "You from New Orleans?" she asked. I said I was. "No 4 ," she said, and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet. The next day I went for a haircut, and the same thing 5 . As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to 6 there and tried to find a rental house that we could 7 while also paying off a mortgage (抵押贷款) on our 8 house. We looked at many places, but none was 9 . We"d begun to accept that we"d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances 10 , when I got a very 11 e-mail from a James Kemmedy in California. He"d read some pieces I"d written about our 12 for Slate, the online magazine and wanted to give us ("no conditions attached") a new house 13 the lake from New Orleans. It sounded too good to be 14 , but I replied, thanking him for his exceptional 15 , that we had no plans to go back. Then a poet at the University of Florida 16 to rent his house to me while he went to England on his one-year paid leave. The rent was rather 17 . I mentioned the poet"s offer to James Kemmedy, and the next day he sent a check 18 our entire rent for eight months. Throughout this painful experience, the 19 of strangers has done much to bring back my faith in humanity. It"s almost worth 20 your worldly possessions to be reminded that people are really nice when given half a chance. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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