Passage 3

Have you ever been in a meeting while someone was making a speech and realized suddenly that your mind was a million miles away? You probably felt sorry and made up your mind to pay attention and never have daydreaming again. Most of us, from earliest school days, have been told that daydreaming is a waste of time.

“On the contrary,” says L. Giambra, an expert in psychology, “daydreaming is quite necessary. Without it, the mind couldn’t get done all the thinking it has to do during a normal day...You can’t possibly do all your thinking with a conscious mind. Instead, your unconscious mind is working out problems all the time. Daydreaming then may be one way that the unconscious and conscious states of mind have silent dialogues.”

Early experts in psychology paid no attention to the importance of daydreams or even considered them harmful. At one time daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses. They did not have a better understanding of daydreams until the late 1980s. Eric Klinger, a professor of psychology, is the writer of the book Daydreaming. Klinger says, “We know now that daydreaming is one of the main ways that we organize our lives, learn from our experiences, and plan for our futures… Daydreams really are a window on the things we fear and the things we long for in life.”

Daydreams are usually very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand. It’s easier to gain a deep understanding of your life by paying close attention to your daydreams than by trying to examine your sleep dreams carefully. Daydreams help you recognize the difficult situations in your life and find out a possible way of handling them.

Daydream cannot be predicted; they move off in unexpected directions which may be creative and full of useful ideas. For many famous artists and scientists, daydreams were and are a main source of creative energy.

So the next time you catch yourself daydreaming, don’t stop. Just pay attention to your dream. It may be more important than you think.

38、Daydreaming used to be considered ______.

为了获得市场份额，他们必须竭尽全力。(market share, go to lengths)

愿意买该产品的人越多，价格就降得越多。(the more, the more)

我们要在出发前把一切都规划好。(plan out, departure)

阅读下面的短文，然后把划线的句子翻译成汉语。

It has been a tumultuous time for dot-com start-ups. In fact, Gartner, Inc. estimates that over 75% of e-commerce start-ups will end in failure. (71) [While it is tempting to blame prevailing market conditions for this failure rate, the fact is that early planning ultimately determines the potential success or failure of a start-up.] This whitepaper helps managers understand the characteristics that contribute to successful start-ups. (72)[Importantly, this work also includes a valuable diagnostic survey that helps entrepreneurs quantify the strength of the business and identify problem areas.]

One thing is clear: There are a lot of ways for a new business to go out of business. (73) [Loss of focus, an inability to fulfill customer orders or service, and a mismatch of top management with the corporate culture are but a few common reasons that businesses fail.] To increase the chances of success, managers need to consider four crucial inputs:

Management / People:The single most vital component of any business, every start-up needs a skilled management team that can execute the business plan, adapt to changing environments, and attract and retain valuable staff.

Market Opportunity:To succeed, a venture requires a business model that is adaptable, scalable, defensible, and able to generate both revenue and profits. (74) [In addition, management must recognize the company’s market position and the potential of its ideas in the market.]

Funding:The ability of the venture to raise operating cash in order to establish profitability.

Product and Service:This defines the demand for the product, including the degree to which it addresses customer needs and the ability to provide fulfillment and client service functions.

 (75) [By keeping a close eye on these found areas — strong leadership and management, good people, a solid business plan, and a product that people want to purchase — businesses can position themselves to weather inevitable challenges.]

电子商务的交易通常涉及几个互动的步骤。 (involve, interactive steps)

我们怎样才能防止这种疾病蔓延?(prevent…from, disease)

information technology

human resources

market share

Federal Express