“Would you tell me which way I should go from here?” asked Alice.

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get,” said the Cat.

“I really don’t care where” replied Alice.

“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

--- from “ Alice in Wonderland ”

My name is David. And I have a brother called Mike.

One day, my brother called me and asked me for some advice. He was trying to decide between two job offers:

Job 1 – The first job was your typical 40 hour a week “office” job.

Job 2 – The second job was more of a career in the insurance industry(保险业), where he would start at the bottom, and after many years and many long hours eventually rise to the top (if he was good).

The second job did not pay as well as the first job (at the beginning), but the pay-off of the second job (in the future) was much greater than the first job. So which job should my brother take? Well the answer is…it depends.

Just like the Cat was trying to tell Alice, which road you take depends a great deal on where you want to end up.

Begin with the End in Mind

I asked my brother what was his life’s purpose. He said his purpose was to “teach,” but he wanted to make a lot of money first. I told my brother to forget about the money, and I advised him to focus on his purpose. I then asked him which job best supported his end result of “teaching.” He said the first job best supported his goal because he would only have to work 40 hours a week, which would give him spare time to teach. He continued on to say, “but if I take job number two, I can work hard and make more money, then I can retire early and “teach” later in life.” I again advised him to “focus” on his purpose, not money. Things don’t end wrong, they begin wrong!

You Can’t Ride Two Horses Well

It would be very difficult to have a successful teaching career while you’re working 70-80 hours a week in the insurance business; no one can ride two horses well. As they say, you can do anything, but not everything. I advised him to get started today by choosing the job that best supported that decision.

Tomorrow Never Comes

My brother was thinking that he could always start teaching later in life, but the reality is, tomorrow never comes. Unless you decide right now to follow your feelings, they will probably never be completed. You only live once, don’t go to the end of your life with one regret.

The Money Will Come

My brother seemed to be overly concerned with making money. I told him not to be anxious about making money. You will always have greater money when you’re doing what you love.

In a word, whenever you’re at a cross-road, be sure to make the decision that best supports the goal of your life. If you do, then you will be well on your way.

1.Mike ___________ David one day.

A．visited            B．met              C．made a telephone call to   D．found

2.Mike was trying to ____________.

A．look for a job                          B．start a career

C．wok in an office                         D．decide between two job offers

3.As for the life’s purpose, Mike ______________.

A．wanted to teach first                     B．wanted to make a lot of money first

C．wanted to work in the insurance industry     D．wanted to work 40 hours a day

4.You Can’t Ride Two Horses Well means _____________.

A．you’d better have two horses

B．you can only ride one horse well

C．you can do everything well.

D．you can’t do two things well at the same time

5.The best title of the passage is ______________.

A．How to choose a better job

B．It is more important to begin than to end

C．How to make a better decision

D．Make more money because tomorrow never comes

“Would you tell me which way I should go from here?” asked Alice.

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get,” said the Cat.

“I really don’t care where” replied Alice.

“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

--- from “ Alice in Wonderland ”

My name is David. And I have a brother called Mike. 

One day, my brother called me and asked me for some advice. He was trying to decide between two job offers:

Job 1 – The first job was your typical 40 hour a week “office” job.

Job 2 – The second job was more of a career in the insurance industry(保险业), where he would start at the bottom, and after many years and many long hours eventually rise to the top (if he was good). 

The second job did not pay as well as the first job (at the beginning), but the pay-off of the second job (in the future) was much greater than the first job. So which job should my brother take? Well the answer is…it depends.

Just like the Cat was trying to tell Alice, which road you take depends a great deal on where you want to end up.

Begin with the End in Mind

I asked my brother what was his life’s purpose. He said his purpose was to “teach,” but he wanted to make a lot of money first. I told my brother to forget about the money, and I advised him to focus on his purpose. I then asked him which job best supported his end result of “teaching.” He said the first job best supported his goal because he would only have to work 40 hours a week, which would give him spare time to teach. He continued on to say, “but if I take job number two, I can work hard and make more money, then I can retire early and “teach” later in life.” I again advised him to “focus” on his purpose, not money. Things don’t end wrong, they begin wrong!

You Can’t Ride Two Horses Well

It would be very difficult to have a successful teaching career while you’re working 70-80 hours a week in the insurance business; no one can ride two horses well. As they say, you can do anything, but not everything. I advised him to get started today by choosing the job that best supported that decision.

Tomorrow Never Comes

My brother was thinking that he could always start teaching later in life, but the reality is, tomorrow never comes. Unless you decide right now to follow your feelings, they will probably never be completed. You only live once, don’t go to the end of your life with one regret.

The Money Will Come

My brother seemed to be overly concerned with making money. I told him not to be anxious about making money. You will always have greater money when you’re doing what you love.

In a word, whenever you’re at a cross-road, be sure to make the decision that best supports the goal of your life. If you do, then you will be well on your way.

1. Mike ___________ David one day.

A. visited         B. met        C. made a telephone call to    D. found

2. Mike was trying to ____________.

A. look for a job            B. start a career   

C. wok in an office          D. decide between two job offers

3.As for the life’s purpose, Mike ______________.

A. wanted to teach first                    B. wanted to make a lot of money first 

C. wanted to work in the insurance industry    D. wanted to work 40 hours a day

4. You Can’t Ride Two Horses Well means _____________.

A. you’d better have two horses     

B. you can only ride one horse well

C. you can do everything well.      

D. you can’t do two things well at the same time

5. The best title of the passage is ______________.

A. How to choose a better job    

B. It is more important to begin than to end

C. How to make a better decision 

D. Make more money because tomorrow never comes

I shook hands with my father in the truck, and for a long time he looked straight ahead and didn’t say a word. But I knew he was going to say a little to me. “I can’t tell anything,” he finally said. “I never went to college, and none of your brothers went to college. I can’t say don’t do this and do that, because everything is different and I don’t know what is going to come up. I can’t help much with money either, but I think things will work out. ”

He gave me a new check-book. “If things get pushing, write a small check. But when you write one, send me a letter and let me know how much. There are some things we can always sell.” In four years all the checks I wrote were less than a thousand dollars. My part-time jobs such as reading to the blind student and sitting with the teachers’ kids filled in the financial gaps.

“You know what you want to be, and they’ll tell you what to take,” my father went on. “When you get a job, be sure it’s honest, and work hard.” I knew that soon I would be alone in the big town, and I would be missing the cool winds and a life where your thinking was done for you.

Then my dad reached down beside his seat and brought the old, broken Bible that he had read so often, the one he used when he wanted to look something up in a friendly quarrel with one of the neighbours. I knew he would miss it. I knew, though, that I must take it.

He didn’t say read this every morning. He just said, “This can help you if you will let it.”

Did it help? I got through college without being a burden on the family. I have been able to make money since.

1. What is the writer’s main purpose （目的） in writing this passage?

  A. To tell the readers his life story.

  B. To tell people what kind of person his father was.

  C. To let people know how poor he was.

  D. To tell the readers what present he got from his father.

2. Why did the father not ask his son not to do this and do that?

  A. Because he felt quite confident of him.

  B. Because he was born from a poor family.

  C. Because he was a man of few words.

  D. Because he didn’t want to be much too strict with him.

3. What would someone learn from this passage?

  A. How to live by oneself.            B. How to stand on one’s own feet.

  C. What a good father should do.       D. What the self-important is like.

4. What may be the proper Chinese for the underlined part in the passage?

A.闲暇时光.     B.学费.     C.经济不足.     D.精神空虚.

5. What kind of book did the Bible seem to be to the writer’s father?

  A. It was a book which told you how you should get on well with others.

  B. There were many good examples for you to copy in it.

  C. It was a book that told you how to get a good job and a good future.

  D. It was a good book that could help you when you were in trouble.