【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[听力原文] 23-30 F: Mr. Rayburn, do you have a 'most important piece of advice' for a person considering working for themselves? M: No. What is most important will vary with each person. Some will need to discover themselves first, others just need to get started. If someone is not confident of their abilities, I would encourage them to get a sales job in a retail company. Promotions come quickly in retail. They will get experience in all sorts of business disciplines: sales, buying, inventory control, income statements, and lots of other important knowledge. They will also get the chance to enter management and discover if they enjoy that relationship. If they decide to go out on their own, they will have the basics for success along with knowledge of their own strengths and weaknesses. F: So what makes the difference in starting styles, and how would a person find where they fit? M: Personalities. Some learn best getting face to face with clients, others need to get face to face with themselves first. Everyone needs to keep learning and challenging themselves if they expect to be successful. There are many good inspirational books or biographies of successful people that a person can read. I am usually reading three or four books at a time; I do make sure the book I read before bed is inspirational. I also listen to motivational tapes or books on tape. A lot of your ability to apply yourself comes from your own determination, you develop that by immersing yourself in positive information. F: How well were you prepared when you went out on your own? M: I started my business at the same time as 9 other sales people, of the 10 of us I was the least qualified. Within a short time I was the only one left. There is a huge amount of work required when starting a business. I am extremely lucky that my wife knows how important it is for me to stay glued to my desk, or sometimes the kitchen table, without interruptions. It took 4 months before I was making enough to cover all my bills, and a bit more for good stuff. Those were 4 months of 6 or 7 days a week, working from early morning to late night. I kept that schedule for quite a while as my business just took off, and I still wake early to get a few uninterrupted hours of work in before the world starts humming. F: Once you have started sales, how can you be most effective? M: The key is getting face to face with your clients. Drop by, even if all you do is hand them a business card. If you phone a client you will be interrupting something, in person they apologize for interrupting you. I've never had a client act upset that I've shown up, although sometimes if they are busy all I do is say Hi. Frequently they will say, ' Hold on a minute Ross, there is something I want to talk to you about. ' That doesn't happen when you call for an appointment. F： Ross, talk a bit about the pleasure of working for yourself. M: I'm happy to. When I worked for a boss, my wife had to push me out of bed in the mornings. I hated the alarm clock, I hated the sunrise. After I quit and started working for myself everything changed. It didn't take long, the first morning I jumped out of bed, set myself up, and started going. Now the great part, I was doing exactly the same job. The difference was I was doing it for myself, everything I made belonged to me. F: OK, any final thoughts, Ross? M: Yes. If you want to be successful and stay successful remember one thing: All business is long term. F: Thank you, Mr. Rayburn. 为什么不太自信的创业人要从零售业开始?因为Mr．Raybmm指出，在零售业中，他们能够得到各方面的经营经验，而且提升较快，能够进入管理阶层，看看自己是否适应各种关系；此外，还能通过这些发现自己的长处与不足。这些方面都跟积累经验有关，因此选择B，“获取经验”。选项A意为“能够很快挣到钱”，对话中没有提及。选项C意为“发展关系网”，尽管对话中提到：relationship一词，但并不是零售业能够帮助他们扩展关系，而是要让他们看清自己是否能适应复杂的关系，因此排除。

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】是什么决定了创业方式的不同?Mr．Rayburn认为决定因素是个人性格(personalities)，要根据自己的特点作出选择。正确答案为A，在对话中已直接说出。B“经济实力(financial strength)”和C“工作背景(working background)”这两项在谈话中都没有涉及。

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】如何让自己沉浸在正面的信息当中?Rayburn先生认为“听令人振奋的磁带”是有效途径之一，因此选择A。此外，Mr．Rayburn还提到读成功人士的传记，但是没有说要跟成功人士当面谈，所以选项B被排除。Mr．Rayburn提到鼓舞人心的磁带，但并没有提到“令人放松的音乐”，因此选项C也被排除。

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】当年共同创业的十个人当中，为什么Mr．Rayburn成为唯一成功的一个?刚开始的时候工作量很大，他坚持不懈地工作。前四个月都是每周工作六天甚至七天，从一大早干到深夜。因此他的成功源于他的勤奋，答案为C。谈话中虽然提到“I am extremely luck”，但是他的幸运之处是他有一个好妻子，让他能够不受干扰地长时间工作，却并不是他成功的直接原因，因此可以排除。而谈话中已经直接说出在当初开始创业的十人中，他的资历是最差的(the least qualified)，所以选项B也可排除。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】Mr．Rayburn看来，最有效的销售方式是什么?备选的三个答案都与联系客户的方式有关，A是通过电话与客户沟通，B是亲自拜访客户，C是通过电子邮件和客户联系。谈话中Mr．Rayburn提到“the key is getting face to face with your client”，一定要跟你的客户面对面地接触，哪怕只是亲手交给客户一张名片。因此选择B。谈话中也提到了打电话给客户的缺点，并不是最有效的手段，所以可以排除选项A；写Email给客户谈话中没有提及，因此也可以排除选项C。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】如果拜访客户的时候，客户正在忙自己的事该怎么办呢?Mr．Rayburn通常只是“say Hi”，向客户问好，因此选择答案为B，“just greet the client”。选项A“leave a message”在谈话中并没有涉及，可以排除；选项C“apologize for interruption”是打电话联系客户时出现的情况，并不是面对面拜访客户时的情况，因此也可以排除。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】Mr．Rayburn认为自己创业最令他高兴的是什么?在谈话中，Mr．Rayburn说“同样的工作，唯一的不同就是给自己干，所得的一切都是自己的”，因此选择B，“He gets everything he makes”。虽然Mr．Ray-burn说以前早上起床很痛苦，讨厌闹钟，等等，但并不表示他原来睡眠不足，现在可以有更多的时间睡觉，而是说明原来上班缺乏动力，现在有了动力，每天早上都能一跃而起。所以可以排除选项A。选项C“不再受老板的控制”在谈话中没有涉及，也可排除。

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】Mr．Rayburn对于取得成功、保持成功的忠告是什么呢?要在这三个选项中做出正确的选择，首先要理解“term”一词在上下文中的含义。Mr．Rayburn说：“All business is long term”，含义是“做生意要高瞻远瞩，做好打持久仗的准备”，因此正确答案是C，“在发展的过程中要有远见卓识和坚定的信念”。选项A将“term”解释为“合同条款”；B将“term”解释为“学期”，都不是这个词在谈话上下文中的含义，因此均是干扰项，应予以排除。