Back to the failure
The DeLorean, with its strange gull - wing doors, was one of the most
spectacular innovation failures in history. The first prototype ( 雏 形 ) was
built in 1976, when there were not many competitors for this type of
futuristic car. The DeLorean was marketed as a luxury sports car, but with a
severely under-powered engine the car was painfully slow. It was also
difficult to keep clean and the stainless steel panel ( 钣金) required constant
polishing. The design was unusual and special, but otherwise the car was a
disaster-- - a nightmare on wheels. The DeLorean Motor Company went
bankrupt, but the car will always be remembered as the famous time machine
from the movie series Back to the Future.
21. What is the theme of Museum of Failure?
A. Change is the parent of success.
B. It's no use challenging traditions.
C. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
D. Where there is a will, there is a way.
22. What do these two products have in common?
A. They were inaccessible to ordinary consumers.
B. They were launched with wrong market strategies.
C. They were too advanced for the markets back then.
D. They had issues that led to their failure despite initial innovation.
23. Where is the text probably taken from?
A. A science fiction. B. A travel brochure.
C. A museum website. D. A movie application.
B
In all the time I' ve spent in China, I' ve had my share of emotional crises. I can't remember which one it was in
particular, but I do remember how my adopted“aunt” Li once took care of me, tucking me up( 掖 好 被 角 ) in an
armchair in her Chengdu apartment, bringing me a cup of green tea, peeling and cutting fruit for me, chatting about
unrelated matters as she prepared one of her wonderful Sichuanese suppers. Like many Chinese people, particularly
those of the older generation, she didn't show her love for me by hugging or requesting emotional outpourings, but
through food and over-concern.
It took me a while to become used to this way of expressing affection. At first I found it brusque and bossy:“Have
some porridge! Drink some soup! Put on some more clothes!” But over time I came to understand what it meant. I can
always tell, now, when someone Chinese is becoming fond of me because they start to become over-worried about my
physical needs, urging me to eat or drink, to wrap up warm, to rest. When serious-faced chef barks at me to have some
more baozi for breakfast or Li presses me to have another mouthful of her red-braised pork, I know they are offering me
the edible equivalent of a hug.
Food in China can mean many things. It is also art and craft and magic. It is the slices of fish that fall like snow
from the knife of the chef, the slivers of meat that dance in the shimmering heat of the wok( 炒菜锅), the grains of millet
or rice that swell in the steamer. It is the employment of armies of microorganisms in the clay vat of jiang( 酱菜缸) or the
wine jar, the creating of a hundred flavors in a tiny kitchen, the transformation of natural raw materials into numerous
forms. It is finding ways to generate delight in everything from a duck's tongue to the peel of an orange. It is one of the
supreme expressions of human wit and creativity.
Above all, it is what connects us and makes us human.
24. Why did the writer mention her mental distress/ emotional breakdown at the beginning of the text?
A. To compare the difference in two cultures.
B. To introduce how Chinese express their love.