阅读理解
TEXT D
Cordia Harrington was tired of standing up all day and smelling like French fries at night. She owned and operated three McDonald's shops in minois, 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, after 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 site 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 sealed the deal with a handshake, sold her shops, and borrowed $13.5 million. She was ready to build the fastest, most automated bakery in the world.
The Tennessee Bun Company opened ahead of schedule in 1997, in time for a slump in U.S. 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 Pepperidge Farm as well. "McDonald's could see a 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, Harrington branched out even more: She started her own trucking business, added a cold-storage company, and now has three bakeries producing fresh buns and frozen dough--all now known as the Bun Companies. Speed is still a priority: It takes 11 people at the mare 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, Harrington is passionate about providing opportunities to all 230 employees. "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 chents and improved efficiencies to help sustain the company'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 remarried--her husband, Tom, is now her CFO.
"This is more than a job," says Harrington. "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 her early career?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】根据题干中most，significant in her early career定位至第2段首句。
[解析] 第2段首句说“说也奇怪，在1992年被任命为麦当劳面包委员会委员后，她真的时来运转了”，这表明在她早期事业中，这件事对她最具有意义，答案是A。
[点睛] 细节判断题。虽然选项B、C、D的意思或部分意思在文中不同地方出现，但都没有像她被任命这件事这么重要，因为文中明确提到就此“她时来运转”了。
单选题
"Harrington... made sure she was never off executives' radar" (Paragraph Four) means that she
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】 第4段。
[解析] be off the radar的意思是“消失，不见”，executives的意思是“管理人员”。这部分句子的意思是“确保自己出现在管理层的雷达屏上”，也就是说，时刻主动地、不断地和各高层联系，正确答案是D。
[点睛] 句意理解题。如果对本题含义不是很清楚，可由上下文确定其含义。紧接本句的引文说：“如果你有梦想，你就不能等着别人把机会送上门来。”换句话说，就是应采取主动。由此可见，这个句子的含义其实就是主动地和各高层保持联系。本题不难排除A、B。C“学习管理知识和技能”，与上下文不相符。注意选项D中的management指“管理层”，而不是“管理”。
单选题
How did she survive the crisis at the start of her bakery business?