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Passage Four: Questions are based on the following passage.

Cordia Harringtun was tired of standing up all day and smelling like French fries at night. She owned and operated three McDonald’s shops in Illinois, but as a divorced mother of three boys, she yearned for a business that would provide for her children and let her spend more time with them.

Her lucky moment came, strangely enough, alter she was nominated in 1992 to be on the McDonald’s bun committee. “The company picked me up in a corporate jet to see bakeries around the world.” She recalls. “Every time I went to a meeting, I loved it. This was global!”

The experience opened her eyes to business possibilities. When McDonald’s decided it wanted a new bun supplier, Harrington became determined to win the contract, even though she had no experience running a bakery.

Harrington studied the bakery business and made sure she was never off executives’ radar. “If you have a dream, you can’t wait for people to call you,” she says, “So I’d visit a mill and send them photos of myself in a baker’s hat and jacket, holding a sign that says ‘I want to be your baker,’” After four years and 32 interviews, her persistence paid off.

Harrington studied the deal with a handshake, sold her shops, and borrowed $13.5 million. She was ready to build the faster, most automated bakery in the world.

The Tennessee Bun Company opened ahead of schedule in 1997, in time for a slump in US fast-food sales for McDonald’s. Before Harrington knew it, she was down to her last$20,000, not enough to cover payroll. And her agreement with McDonald’s required that she sell exclusively to the company. “I cried myself to sleep many nights,” she recalls. “I really did think I am going to go bankrupt.”

But Harrington worked out an agreement to supply Pepperide Farm as well. “McDonald’s could see benefit if our production went up and prices went down and no benefit if we went out of business,” she says. “That deal saved us.”

Over the next eight years, Harington branched out even more: She started her own trucking business, added a cold-storage company, and now has three bakeries producing flesh buns and frozen dough—all now known as the Bun companies. Speed is still a priority: It takes 11 people at the main bakery to turn out 60,000 buns an hour for clients across 40 states,South America, and the Caribbean.

Grateful for the breaks she’s had, Harringtun is passionate about providing opportunities to all 230employees. “Financial success is the most fun when you can give it away,” she says.

The current economy is challenging. Some of her clients’ sales have declined, but she’s found new clients and improved efficiencies to help sustain the economy’s double-digit growth.

Cordia Harrington doesn’t have to stand on her feet all day anymore. Two of her three sons now work for her. And she’s married her husband, Tom, is now her CFO.

“This is more than a job,” says Harringtun. “It’s a mission. I’m always thinking, ‘How can we best serve our employees?’ If we support them, they’ll do their best to look after our clients. That’s how it works here.”

单选题

According to the passage, which of the following was most significant in Harrington’s early career?

【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】

第二段和第三段提到, 公司让她去世界各地的面包店参观(to see bakeries around the world) , 而这段经历使她有了经营面包店的想法(opened her eyes to business possibilities) 。 因此, 选A项。

单选题

“Harrington... made sure she was never off executives ‘radar’” (Paragraph Four) means that she ________.

【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】

文中第四段第一句表明, Harrington在学习如何经营面包店的同时, 确保自己仍然保持管理者的水平, 也就是说, 她要确保自己仍然熟知管理方面的知识和技能。因此, 选C项。

单选题

How did she survive the crisis of the bakery business?

【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】

第七段提到, Harrington要为Pepperide Farm提供面包。 该段的最后一句中, 提到“That deal saved us”, 说明她通过为另一个公司提供面包度过了危机。 故选B项。

单选题

Which of the following statements is INCORRECT in describing her current business?

【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】

倒数第五段的最后一句提到“for clients across 40 states, South America, and the Caribbean”, 说明其顾客范围包括美国的四十个州、 南美洲及加勒比海地区, 因此C项表述错误。

单选题

According to the passage, which of the following is fundamental to Harrington’s success?

【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】

文章前半部分讲了她坚持梦想(her persistence paid off) , 后半部分讲了她的管理理念就是关注员工(best serve our employees) , 正是通过这两点, 她获得了成功, 因此选A项。