In the first sentence of the third paragraph, "transcendent genius" means ______.
A．people who are exceptionally superior and great in talent
B．people whose achievements are not forgotten by later generations
C．people whose genius has been passed down to the present time
D．people who have guaranteed themselves a place in the Focus list
相关问题推荐
-
Which of the following statements about small business is not true？
A．It helps effectively t9 fight unemployment.
B．The earlier it starts, the sooner it collapses.
C．There's a good omen for small business according to a survey.
D．Small businesses hire more workers than big businesses between now and the year 2000. -
Which of the following world organizations has the weakest leadership according to the passage？
A．The International Labor Organization.
B．The Food and Agriculture Organization.
C．The World Health Organization.
D．The World Bank. -
Large, multinational corporations may be the companies whose ups and downs seize headlines. But to a far greater extent than most Americans realize, the economy's vitality depends on the fortunes of tiny shops and restaurants, neighborhood services and factories. Small businesses, defined as those with fewer than 100 workers, now employ nearly 60 percent of the work force and are expected to generate half of all new jobs between now and the year 2000. Some 1.2 million small firm have opened their doors over the past six years of economic growth, and 1989 will see an additional 200, 000 entrepreneurs striking off on their own.
Too many of these pioneers, however, will blaze ahead unprepared. Idealists will overestimate the clamor for their products or fall to factor in the competition. Nearly everyone will underestimate, often fatally, the capital that success requires, Mid-career executives, forced by a takeover or a restructuring to quit the corporation and find another way to support themselves, may savor the idea of being their own boss but may forget that entrepreneurs must also, at least for a while, be bookkeeper and receptionist, too. According to Small Business Administration data, 24 of every, 100 businesses starting out today are likely to have disappeared in two years, and 27 more will have shut their doors four years from now. By 1995, more than 60 of those I00 start-ups will have folded. A new study of 3,000 small businesses, sponsored by American Express and the National Federation of Independent Business, suggests slightly better odds: Three years after start-up, 77 percent of the companies surveyed were still alive, Most credited their success in large part to having picked a business they already were comfortable in. Eighty percent had worked with the same product or service in their lest jobs.
Thinking through an enterprise before the launch is obviously critical. But many entrepreneurs forget that a firms health in its pulse. In their zeal to expand, small-business owners often ignore early warning signs of a stagnant market or of decaying profitability. They hopefully pour more and more money into tile enterprise, preferring not to acknowledge eroding profit margins that mean the market for their ingenious service or product has evaporated, or that they must cut the payroll or vacate their lavish offices. Only when the financial well runs dry do they see the seriousness of the illness, and by then the patient is usually too far-gone to save.
Frequent checks of your firm's vital signs will also guide you to a sensible rate of growth. To snatch opportunity, you must spot the signals that it is time to conquer new markets, add products or perhaps franchise your hot idea.
According to the passage, a country's economy is probably decided by ______.
A．the prosperity and decline of the transnational corporations
B．the rise and fall of the markets and products as well as capital
C．the fate of the small businesses such as small plants and restaurants
D．the economic increase and decrease of the large companies -
Most critical plot points in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came from J.K. Rowling's imagination, but Flamel and his powerful pebble were legendary long before Harry went to Hogwarts. The 14th century alchemist created the philosopher's stone （called "sorcerer's" in U.S. editions of Potter), with which he turned mercury to gold and gained eternal life. But Flamel's tale - like his stone and his science - was no more real than a magic.
The philosopher's stone was the key to alchemy, the medieval predecessor to chemistry that aimed to cure all illnesses, make the elixir of life, and transmute base metals into gold. The last made perfect sense at the time. The Aristotelian theory of elements stated that all things consisted of fire, air, water, and earth. So a little shift in one metal's composition could create gold.
Hamel was renowned as an alchemical success. In 1382, after 25 years of studying an ancient book by "Abraham the Jew," he is said to have produced the philosopher's stone. His texts, notably a deconstruction of the "Abraham" work, were standard reading for aspiring scientists like Isaac Newtori.
Many alchemists believed Flamel faked his 1418 death and that of his wife. Rumored sightings in the 18th century placed them at the Paris Opera. As late as 1816, there were reports of people searching Flamel's former house for secrets of the stone.
Contemporary historians say a Nicolas Flamel did live in Paris in the 1300s and endowed many churches and hospitals with his wealth. But he was no alchemist. "He got his money in pedestr/an ways - his wife's earlier marriages, real-estate speculation," says Lawrence Principe, author of The Aspiring Adept. Anachronisms, style. of language, and the lack of earlier copies indicate that none of "his" writings originated prior to the 1500s.
"This sort of thing happens in alchemy," says Bill Newman, author of alchemical history Gehennical Fire. When an alchemist couldn't back up his ideas, he might publish them in the guise of a "lost" work. Flamel's wealth made a good candidate for alchemical identity theft.
Flamel writings and sightings faded with alchemy's prestige. And the closest anyone's come to the philosopher's stone is Rowling. In her hands, it has yielded not just gold but eternal （shelf) life as well.
According to the passage, that Flamel gained eternal life with the aid of his powerful pebble ______.
A．came from J. K. Rowing's imagination
B．was legendary long before Rowling wrote the book
C．turned out to be a magic in Potter
D．was believed by many alchemists -
What Makes a "Millennial Mind"？
（1) Since 1000 AD, around 30 billion people have been born on our planet. The vast majority have come and gone unknown to all but their friends and family. A few have left some trace on history: a discovery made, perhaps, or a record broken. Of those, fewer still are remembered long after their death. Yet of all the people who have lived their lives during the last 1000 years, just 38 have achieved the status of "Millennial Minds" that's barely one in a billion. Those whose lives Focus has chronicled have thus become members of possibly the most exclusive list of all time. And choosing who should be included was not easy.
（2) From the beginning, the single most important criterion was that the "Millennial Minds" are those who did more than merely achieve greatness in their own time, or in one field. Thus mere winners of Nobel Prizes had no automatic right to inclusion, nor artists who gained fame in their own era, but whose reputation has faded with changing fashion. The achievements of the genuine "Millennial Mind" affect our lives even. now, often in ways so fundamental that it is hard to imagine what the world was like before.
（3) Not even transcendent genius was enough to guarantee a place in the Focus list. To rate as a "Millennial Mind", the life and achievements also had to cast light on the complex nature of creativity: its origins, nature and its personal cost.
The first paragraph tells us that ______.
A．Focus had a list of "Millennial Minds" worked out in secret
B．Focus had compiled a biographical book of the lives of "Millennial Minds"
C．Focus's list of the "Millennial Minds" consists of a strictly selected few
D．Focus tried hard to exclude most of the famous lives from the list of the "Millennial Minds"