Successful businesses tend to continue implementing the ideas that made them successful. But in a rapidly changing world, ideas often become obsolete overnight. What worked in the past won't necessarily work in the future. In order to thrive in the future, you must constantly create new ideas for every aspect of your business. In fact, you must continually generate new ideas just to keep your head above water. Businesses that aren't creative about their future may not survive. Although Bill Gates is the richest, most successful man on the planet, he did not anticipate the Internet. Now he's scrambling to catch up. If Bill Gates can miss a major aspect of his industry, it can happen to you in your industry. Your business needs to continually innovate and create its future. Gates is now constantly worried about the future of Microsoft. Here's what he said in a recent interview in U.S. News World Report: "Will we be replaced tomorrow? No. In a very short time frame, Microsoft is an incredibly strong company. But when you look to the two-to-three-year time frame, I don't think anyone can say with a straight face that any technology company has a guaranteed position. Not Intel, not Microsoft, not Compaq, not Dell, take any of your favorites. And that's totally honest." You may remember that in 1985 the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls were the best-selling toy on the market. But after Coleco Industries introduced their sensational line of dolls they became complacent and didn't create any new toys worth mentioning. As a result. Coleco went bankrupt in 1988. The most successful businesses survive in the long term because they constantly reassess their situations and reinvest themselves accordingly. The 3M Company has a 15% rule: employees are encouraged to spend 15% of their time developing new ideas on any project they desire; it's no surprise, then, that 3M has been around since 1902. Most businesses are not willing to tear apart last year's model of success and build a new one. Here's a familiar analogy to explain why they are lulled into complacency: imagine that your business is like a pot of lobsters; to cook lobsters, you put them into a pot of warm water and gradually turn up the heat; the lobsters don't realize they're being cooked because the process is so gradual. As a result, they become complacent and die without a struggle. However, if you throw a lobster into the pot when the water is boiling, it will desperately try to escape. This lobster is not lulled by a slowly changing environment. It realizes instantly that it's in a bad environment and takes immediate action to change its status.
单选题
Judging from the context, "to keep your head above water" (Paragraph 1) probably means ______.
单选题
Why is Gates now constantly worried about the future of Microsoft?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】这是一道细节题。题干中的信号词为worried about the future of Microsoft，出自于文章第二段第五句话中。文章第二段指出：你的事业需要不断地创新，打造你事业的未来；盖茨现在经常为微软的前途担心，他说，在很短的时期内，微软是一个非常强大的公司，但是，如果你展望两到三年的时间，我认为任何人都不能肯定地说哪个技术公司能确保自己的地位。这说明，原因是他认为，任何技术公司都不能确保自己的地位。D说“因为他认为，任何公司都不能确保自己的地位”，这与文章的意思符合。A和C明显不是原因；B与文章的意思相反。