I used to think that a good vacation meant staying in fancy hotels, eating at the nicest restaurants, and coming back with a darker skin and a suitcase filled with   36  . I also thought in order for it to be great, it had to be  37 . A few years and ten countries later, I now realize that  38  could be further from the truth.

Something tells me that Wu Jiangping—a Chinese girl who recently travelled across      Europe on just 15,000 yuan — would  39  my change of heart. Many would think it is  40  to design a 20-day trip through 9 European countries on such a meager budget, but that’s exactly what Miss Wu did! The success of her adventure boils down to three things — planning,  41  and attitude.

Wu Jiangping made a careful and detailed  42  well in advance, which included booking her flights with a low-cost budget  43 . It’s important to research various transportation options when travelling on a tight budget. What is easiest and fastest usually isn’t  44 .

When it  45  to priorities, a budget traveller must value the experience of travelling over the expensive luxuries that one might desire on vacation. This might mean trading a cozy bed in a hotel for a  46  bunk in a hostel.  47 , this often means that you get to share a room with like-minded fellow travellers, and, in my experience, you are likely to make lifelong friends in the process.

Of course, travelling often involves challenges and unexpected problems.  48 , Miss Wu found herself trapped in Florence, Italy when the cold current  49  Europe in February. Even when there are no real problems,  50  arriving in an unfamiliar country where you don’t speak the language and you can’t even ask for directions  51  be a discomforting experience. However,  52  you have a spirit of adventure, getting lost may  53  fascinating discoveries! When travelling, simply wandering the streets, trying the local food, and taking in the sights, sounds and smells around you can make for an extraordinary and unforgettable day. When you return home, your  54  — good, bad and bittersweet — are  55  you treasure the most. There is no greater souvenir than the lingering memory of your adventure.

36. A. books         B. souvenirs          C. clothes             D. food

37. A. cheap          B. alone         C. expensive D. faraway

38. A. nothing       B. anything           C. something         D. everything

39. A. agree with   B. deal with    C. put up with       D. come up with

40. A. simple         B. impossible C. essential           D. inevitable

41. A. traditions     B. advantages        C. privilege           D. priorities

42. A. decision      B. judgment          C. plan          D. conclusion

43. A. airline          B. company   C. shop         D. railway

44. A. the favorite B. the best     C. the worst   D. the cheapest

45. A. takes           B. comes              C. goes          D. means

46. A. luxurious     B. fantastic           C. comfortable      D. simple

47. A. Similarly      B. Definitely          C. Obviously D. Fortunately

48. A. At a time     B. In some time         C. At one point      D. Beside the point

49. A. swept         B. pushed             C. attracted    D. rolled

50. A. absolutely    B. occasionally      C. frequently D. simply

51. A. can             B. shall                     C. need          D. ought

52. A. as far as      B. as well as          C. as long as D. as good as

53. A. arise from   B. result from        C. subscribe to      D. lead to

54. A. thoughts      B. memories          C. minds               D. insights

55. A. that             B. which                   C. whatever          D. what

Ryan and Lowry had been friends since high school， but it wasn’t until after college that they hit on the idea of a home-care-products company．“We were shocked to learn how toxic cleaning products were” says Ryan．Why couldn’t they create green products that would be just as environmentally pure as Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines?

When Ryan’s mom heard about the plan，she stared at him blankly: “I’ve never even seen you clean your room!” Not discouraged，Lowry experimented with nontoxic ways to clean while Ryan focused on marketing．In February 2001，they mixed their first four cleaning sprays and convinced the managers of 20 grocers to try them· Once they had their approval，they tapped friends and family and pooled their  savings to come up with $90，000 in seed money．

From the start，“Go big or go home’’ was their mantra(口头禅)．Their first financing— that $l million—was due to be signed on September 11, 2001. By the time they got it, two months later，says Ryan, "we had$16 in the bank and personally owed$300,000.”

Seeking a national retailer(零售商)proved just as troublesome．The friends set their sights on Target，known for its trendy，affordable goods．“But Target didn’t like the product or the brand，”recalled Ryan．“We thought the deal was dead，but then a new buyer saw that even though we weren’t selling big volumes, we were  profitable, just on a smaller scale．”They won over Target．

Consumers were hooked on the natural things and wonderful fragrance. Today, the partners sell 130 products in more than 8,000 stores，and taxes are over$100 million. Such rapid growth has at times  stressed the men’s friendship. “Eric and I agree on ‘what’ but never on ‘how，’ says Lowry． “Although we are willing to challenge each other，we come up with interesting and smarter solutions．There’s little fire and ice between us.”

The underlined word “toxic” in Paragraph 1 most probably means——·

  A．poisonous    B．dirty    C．expensive    D．troublesome

When Ryan told his mom his plan, ___________.

A．he knew his mom was sure to support him

B．his mom asked him to clean his room

C．his mom suspected his ability

D．he was discouraged by his mom

We can learn from the third paragraph that ___________．

    A．Ryan and Lowry wanted to give up and go home at first

    B．their plan didn’t go smoothly at the very beginning

    C．they made profit two months later after their first financing

    D．$1 million was not enough as their seed money

The partners’ cleaning products are sold very well because_________．

    A．the products are made of natural material and smell nice

    B．their friends and family offered to use their products

    C．they cooperated with a well—known national retailer

    D．they convinced 20 grocer managers to try them

It can be inferred from the passage that___________．

    A．Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines are not so successful as Ryan and Lowry’s

    B．Target is a famous environment-friendly cleaning brand

    C．The friends "cooperation with Target was very successful

D．The partners get on well with each other in their business     

Ryan and Lowry had been friends since high school， but it wasn’t until after college that they hit on the idea of a home-care-products company．“We were shocked to learn how toxic cleaning products were” says Ryan．Why couldn’t they create green products that would be just as environmentally pure as Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines?

When Ryan’s mom heard about the plan，she stared at him blankly: “I’ve never even seen you clean your room!” Not discouraged，Lowry experimented with nontoxic ways to clean while Ryan focused on marketing．In February 2001，they mixed their first four cleaning sprays and convinced the managers of 20 grocers to try them· Once they had their approval，they tapped friends and family and pooled their  savings to come up with $90，000 in seed money．

From the start，“Go big or go home’’ was their mantra(口头禅)．Their first financing— that $l million—was due to be signed on September 11, 2001. By the time they got it, two months later，says Ryan, "we had$16 in the bank and personally owed$300,000.”

Seeking a national retailer(零售商)proved just as troublesome．The friends set their sights on Target，known for its trendy，affordable goods．“But Target didn’t like the product or the brand，”recalled Ryan．“We thought the deal was dead，but then a new buyer saw that even though we weren’t selling big volumes, we were  profitable, just on a smaller scale．”They won over Target．

Consumers were hooked on the natural things and wonderful fragrance. Today, the partners sell 130 products in more than 8,000 stores，and taxes are over$100 million. Such rapid growth has at times  stressed the men’s friendship. “Eric and I agree on ‘what’ but never on ‘how，’ says Lowry． “Although we are willing to challenge each other，we come up with interesting and smarter solutions．There’s little fire and ice between us.”

1.The underlined word “toxic” in Paragraph 1 most probably means——·

  A．poisonous    B．dirty    C．expensive    D．troublesome

2.When Ryan told his mom his plan, ___________.

A．he knew his mom was sure to support him

B．his mom asked him to clean his room

C．his mom suspected his ability

D．he was discouraged by his mom

3.We can learn from the third paragraph that ___________．

    A．Ryan and Lowry wanted to give up and go home at first

    B．their plan didn’t go smoothly at the very beginning

    C．they made profit two months later after their first financing

    D．$1 million was not enough as their seed money

4.The partners’ cleaning products are sold very well because_________．

    A．the products are made of natural material and smell nice

    B．their friends and family offered to use their products

    C．they cooperated with a well—known national retailer

    D．they convinced 20 grocer managers to try them

5.It can be inferred from the passage that___________．

    A．Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines are not so successful as Ryan and Lowry’s

    B．Target is a famous environment-friendly cleaning brand

    C．The friends "cooperation with Target was very successful

D．The partners get on well with each other in their business     

 

Ryan and Lowry had been friends since high school，but it wasn’t until after college that they hit on the idea of a home-care-products company．“We were shocked to learn how toxic cleaning products were” says Ryan．Why couldn’t they create green products that would be just as environmentally pure as Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines?

When Ryan’s mom heard about the plan，she stared at him blankly: “I’ve never even seen you clean your room!” Not discouraged，Lowry experimented with nontoxic ways to clean while Ryan focused on marketing．In February 2001，they mixed their first four cleaning sprays and convinced the managers of 20 grocers to try them· Once they had their approval，they tapped friends and family and pooled their  savings to come up with $90，000 in seed money．

From the start，“Go big or go home’’ was their mantra（口头禅）．Their first financing— that $l million—was due to be signed on September 11, 2001．By the time they got it, two months later，says Ryan, "we had$16 in the bank and personally owed$300,000．”

Seeking a national retailer（零售商）proved just as troublesome．The friends set their sights on Target，known for its trendy，affordable goods．“But Target didn’t like the product or the brand，”recalled Ryan．“We thought the deal was dead，but then a new buyer saw that even though we weren’t selling big volumes, we were  profitable, just on a smaller scale．”They won over Target．

Consumers were hooked on the natural things and wonderful fragrance．Today, the partners sell 130 products in more than 8,000 stores，and taxes are over$100 million．Such rapid growth has at times  stressed the men’s friendship．“Eric and I agree on ‘what’ but never on ‘how，’ says Lowry．“Although we are willing to challenge each other，we come up with interesting and smarter solutions．There’s little fire and ice between us．”

1．The underlined word “toxic” in Paragraph 1 most probably means——·

      A．poisonous         B．dirty                 C．expensive         D．troublesome

2．When Ryan told his mom his plan, ___________．

    A．he knew his mom was sure to support him

       B．his mom asked him to clean his room

       C．his mom suspected his ability

       D．he was discouraged by his mom

3．We can learn from the third paragraph that ___________．

      A．Ryan and Lowry wanted to give up and go home at first

     B．their plan didn’t go smoothly at the very beginning

       C．they made profit two months later after their first financing

       D．$1 million was not enough as their seed money

4．The partners’ cleaning products are sold very well because_________．

      A．the products are made of natural material and smell nice

    B．their friends and family offered to use their products

    C．they cooperated with a well—known national retailer

     D．they convinced 20 grocer managers to try them

5．It can be inferred from the passage that___________．

    A．Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines are not so successful as Ryan and Lowry’s

     B．Target is a famous environment-friendly cleaning brand

      C．The friends "cooperation with Target was very successful

       D．The partners get on well with each other in their business