Lesson Three
Michael Dell’s Two-Billion-Dollar Dream
Exercises:
I. Fill in the blanks with the right forms of the words in the brackets.
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The man tried hard to come to terms with his ______.(disable)
China saw a great ______ (agriculture) development in 2004 owing to the right policy.
I like the wheelchair for its______ (comfortable) and ______。
（convenient）
The villagers there are known for their _____ (kind) and_______.( honest).
Having got neither ______ (encourage) nor______ (approve) from his superior, he looked
very depressed.
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My tutor checked my work with_______ (satisfy).
The essay is written in a very informal and ______ (conversation) style.
Benjamin Franklin is known for his ______ (practice) concerns and _____ (politics)
enthusiasm.
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Fruits and vegetable are ______ (season) and sell at different prices.
II. Write an essay of about 200 words commenting on Michael Dell’s success as a
businessman.
III. Paraphrase the following sentences. Pay attention to the underlined parts.
1. Under a deadline, his pace was frantic.
2. So Dell guaranteed next-day on-site service for his products.
3. Growing up in Houston, Michael and his two brothers were imbued by their parents with the
desire to learn and the drive to work hard.
4. It might be a good idea to get high school out of the way.
5. Dell knew that IBM required its dealers to take a monthly quota of PCs.
IV. . Cloze.
The next year Dell _____ at the University of Texas in Austin. Like most _____, he _____
to earn ______ money. Just _____ everyone on _____ was talking about ______ computers. At the
time, _____ who didn’t have a PC wanted one, but _____ were selling them at a hefty ______.
People wanted low cost machines _________ to their needs, and these were not readily ______.
Why should ______ get such a big markup for so little _____ value? Dell wondered. Why not sell
from the manufacturer _____ to the end user?
V.
Translate the following into Chinese:
1. to raise one’s eyebrows
2. to sink into the ooze
3. To acknowledge one’s defeat
4. To keep one’s nerve
5. To make a deep bow
6. To leave a mark
7. To leave a trace
8. To take stock of the situation
9. To blunder into the swamp
10. To recover one’s confidence
11. To varnish the sky 12. To get down on one’s knees
13. To hold one’s breath 14. To smash the enemy
15. To dress the wound 16. To sip
one’s wine
17. To tighten one’s belt
18. To strain one’s eyes
19. To hum
a tune
20. To shrug one’s shoulders
21. To furnish the repast
22. To light a cigarette
23. To snap the gate shut
24. To blunder on through the dark
25. To strike off from the main road
VI.
Put the following into the inverted order:
1. The scientist is so dedicated to his research work that nothing could make him flinch .
2. The fake diamond ring seems so real that one can hardly tell it is not.
3. Her reputation rose so rapidly that even her opponents believed that he would win in the
election.
4. The subjects are so sensitive that serious dialog start a riot.
5. In this area, droughts are so common that they are a daily fact of life.
6. The meeting had hardly ended when a riot burst into the hall.
7. He knows much, but he is still a child.
8. A large stretch of land lies at the foot of the mountain.
9. I realized how valuable friendship was only after he left me.
10. Everybody can see the situation is by no means improved throughout all these years of
hard work. .