D

I was doing a weekend seminar (研讨会) at the Deerhurst Lodge, north of Toronto. On Friday night a tornado swept through a town north of us called Barrie, killing dozens of people and doing millions of dollars worth of damage. Sunday night, as I was coming home, I stopped the car when I got to Barrie. I got out on the side of the highway and looked around. It was a mess. Everywhere I looked there were smashed houses and cars turned upside down. 

    That same night Bob Templeton was driving down the same highway. He stopped to look at the disaster just as I had; only his thoughts were different than my own. Bob was the vice-president of Telemedia Communications, which owns a string of radio stations in Ontario and Quebec. He thought there must be something we could do for these people with the radio stations they had. 

    The following night I was doing another seminar in Toronto. Bob Templeton and Bob Johnson, another vice-president from Telemedia, came in and stood in the back of the room. They shared their conviction (信念) that there had to be something they could do for the people in Barrie.

After the seminar we went back to Bob's office. He was now committed (坚定的) to the idea of helping the people who had been caught in the tornado. 

    The following Friday he called all the executives (执行委员会) at Telemedia into his office. At the top of a flip chart (海报) he wrote three 3s. He said to his executives, "How would you like to raise 3 million dollars 3 days from now in just 3 hours and give the money to the people in Barrie?" There was nothing but silence in the room. 

    Finally someone said, "Templeton, you're crazy. There is no way we could do that." 

    Bob said, "Wait a minute. I didn't ask you if we could or even if we should. I just asked you if you'd like to." 

    They all said, "Sure we'd like to." He then drew a large ‘T’ underneath the 333. On one side he wrote, "Why we can't." On the other side he wrote, "How we can." 

    "I'm going to put a big X on the 'Why we can't' side. We're not going to spend any time on the ideas of why we can't. That's of no value. On the other side we're going to write down every idea that we can come up with on how we can. We're not going to leave the room until we figure it out." There was silence again. 

    Finally, someone said, "We could do a radio show across Canada." 

    Bob said, "That's a great idea," and wrote it down. Before he had it written, someone said, "You can't do a radio show across Canada. We don't have radio stations across Canada." That was a pretty valid (有效的) objection. They only had stations in Ontario and Quebec. 

    Templeton replied, "That's why we can. That stays." But this was a real strong objection because radio stations are not very compatible (和谐相处的). They usually don't work together. They are very cutthroat. They fight each other. To get them to work together would be virtually impossible according to the standard way of thinking. 

    All of a sudden someone said, "We could get Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson, the biggest names in Canadian broadcasting, to anchor (主持) the show.” (That would be like getting Tom Brokaw and Sam Donaldson to anchor the show. They are anchors on national TV. They are not going to go on radio.) At that point, it was absolutely amazing how fast and furious the creative ideas began to flow. 

    That was on a Friday. The following Tuesday they had a radiothon (广播募捐). They had fifty radio stations all across the country that agreed to broadcast it. It didn't matter who got the credit as long as the people in Barrie got the money. Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson anchored the show and they succeeded in raising three million dollars in three hours within three business days!

    You see, you can do anything if you put your focus on how to do it rather than on why you can't.

55. The first paragraph is written to______.

A. arouse the readers’ curiosity about the tornado.

B. tell the readers why the writer got out on the side of the highway and looked around.

C. introduce the background of the story.

D. tell the readers the influence of the tornado.

56. Why did Bob Templeton called all the executives at Telemedia into his office the following Friday? Because he wanted ______.

  A. them to help him decide whether they should raise money for the people in Barrie

  B. them to help him think of ways to raise money for the people in Barrie

  C. them to discuss how to do a radio show across Canada

  D. to share his conviction that there had to be something they could do for the people in Barrie

57. Which of the following does NOT result in the fact that they could not do a radio show across Canada?

  A. Telemedia only had stations in Ontario and Quebec.

  B. Radio stations are very compatible.

  C. It is virtually impossible to get the radio stations to work together.

  D. Radio stations are very cutthroat, and they fight each other.

58. What do the underlined sentences mean in the passage?

  A. That’s the reason why we can do a radio show across Canada, so it remains.

  B. That is a real strong objection.

  C. The idea of doing a radio show across Canada belongs to the side of “how we can”, so it should stay.

  D. The idea shows why we can help the people in Barrie.

59. That Tom Brokaw and Sam Donaldson are mentioned in the passage is because ______.

  A. they are anchors on national TV

  B. they are not going to go on radio

  C. they are biggest names in Canadian broadcasting

  D. they are to national TV as Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson are to Canadian broadcasting

60. We can conclude from the passage that Bob Templeton is______.

  A. compassionate and determined              B. stubborn and simple-minded

  C. independent and strong-willed              D. passionate and stubborn
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