successful. He says that he had to work sixty hours without stopping when he was trying to bring out the first issue.Thomas had waited for years after he came up with the idea for Mother Earth. During that time, he collected as much information as he could about his business. He borrowed books from the library, talked to successful people in the field, and began planning carefully the amount of money and the kinds and numbers of supplies he would need. When he finally opened with a capital of $1,500, he set up his office in the kitchen and his printing press in the garage. Owing to his devotion to business, his talent, and his skill in management, Mother Earth now has a circulation of 300,000.Not all small businesses are doing as fine as Mother Earth is 50% of the 450,000 that start in America every year fail. Still, 95% businesses in the US can be called “small”. Altogether these businesses amount to 40% of America’s gross national product.

 

 

 

1Thomas’ success can be attributed to

 A.his talent, his skill in management, and his devotion to his work.  B.his good luck.  C.his good relations with a business manager.  D.his good treatment of his workers.  

 

2According to Paragraph 2, many people start small businesses in order to

 A.do heavy work or earn more money  B.do less paper work or take less responsibility.  C.do more paper work or take less responsibility.  D.do light work or live quiet lives.  

 

3How many businesses in the US can be called “small”?

 A.5%  B.40%  C.50%  D.95%  

 

4What preparations did Thomas make before he started his business?

 A.He stayed at home  B.He borrowed money from a bank.  C.He made investigations and drew up a plan  D.He wrote a book.  

 

5According to the passage, which of the following is true of the small businesses in the US?

 A.All of them close down in the first two years.  B.Most of them fail within the first two years.  C.They all make big profits.  D.Only half of them continue to operate after the first two years.   2、Sino-Japan Animosity Lessens Chinese and Japanese people view each other slightly more positively than last year, according to a survey released on Wednesday at a press conference in Beijing.The survey is jointly sponsored by China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese think tank similar to the American Council on Foreign Relations. It also found overwhelming agreement in both countries that Sino-Japanese relations were important.The survey is a part of the Beijing-Tokyo Forum, an annual gathering of senior government officials and representatives from Chinese and Japanese NGOs designed to improve communication and understanding between the two countries.Conducted every year for five years now, the survey focused on two different groups of people: ordinary citizens, and intellectuals. In China, the intellectual group was comprised mainly of university students from well-known schools like Peking University. In Japan, the "intellectual" group was mainly made up of previous members of Genron NPO.Among ordinary Chinese polled, 35.7 percent said they have "very good" or "relatively good" impressions of Japan, a 5.5-percentage-point increase compared with last year. 45.2 percent of Chinese students had a positive impression of Japan, two percentage points more than last year. Only 26.6 percent of Japanese have a po