Burn rate is the speed at which a startup business consumes money. My rate was $ 75,000 a month. Four months after my company was set up, I had only a quarter of the starting capital left in the bank.
Looking for guidance, I went to talk to my friend, Arthur Walworth about my new venture.
"Times of great change always bring out the risk-takers," he said. "And they leave winners and losers. My grandfather invested a lot of money in a project of Thomas Edison’s that ended up in failure. "
I was lost in thought at the notion of a Thomas Edison project ending in failure. Damn. It could happen to anybody! I must continue.

     At that time CD-ROM sales had bombed, so investors were fleeing from the field. I didn’t turn away from mine entirely, but instead linked it to the internet.

    My plan was to offer consumers descriptions of home-design products by using a special software and let them modify the designs. Then we can enable them to get online professional and constructional help to have their houses built, decorated and furnished according to their own choice.

   To realize my plan I needed investors, so 1 continued to meet regularly with venture capitalists.

   One said I had a great idea. But I needed to test it. Get the money somewhere. To get this money from a VC is going to cost my wife and my children! He turned down my request. Wife? Children? I barely remembered them.

   I was working nonstop--struggling to turn the key in the lock, to find the right way ahead.

   The pressure was terrible. It was just at this time that my parents and sisters stepped up. Two hundred thousand dollars. A lot of money to them, invested in this crazy son and brother without a moment's hesitation. Dad and Morn had driven out from Chicago and seen the passion in my little office and the trouble at home.

   With their help my company survived and has been prospering ever since.

1. When the author' s company started operation, he had_____.
A. $ 450,000
B. $ 400,000
C. $ 350,000
D. $ 300,000

2. Arthur implies that to start a business in limes of change, people have to_____.
A. rely on famous people all be time
B. invest as much money as possible
C. face the risks of possible failure
D. think about nothing but success

3. The author's company was engaged in_____.
A. furniture design and production
B. online home-design service
C. traditional home designing
D. home decoration business

4. Faced with a very unfavorable market situation, the author decided_____.
A. to improve his service
B. to start a new business
C. to withdraw his money
D. to reduce his investment

5. It is implied that venture capital is often _____.
A. risky
B. timely
C. secure
D. abundant

參考答案及解析：

1．B推理題。本題需要就第一段提供的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行計(jì)算。作者說(shuō)每月花75，000美元，四個(gè)月之后賬戶里只剩下四分之一的資金，，由此我們用75，000乘以4得到的300，000美元應(yīng)該是總共用掉的錢．這個(gè)數(shù)額占總資金的四分之一，計(jì)算可得總資金是400，000美元。故選B。

2．C細(xì)節(jié)題。從第1段Arthur所說(shuō)的話“they leave winners and losers(不是成功就是失敗)”可以看出前面所說(shuō)的事情是有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的。故選C。

3．B推理題。從文章第六段第一句話“．．．offer consumers descriptions of home—design products．．．”以及后面的“．．．have their houses built．decorated and furnished…”可知，選項(xiàng)A、D都只是公司業(yè)務(wù)的一部分，C項(xiàng)文中沒(méi)有提及，只有B項(xiàng)才是完整的答案。

4．A細(xì)節(jié)題。 由文章第五段第二句“I didn’t turn away from mine entirely，but instead linked it to the Internet．”可知，作者沒(méi)有放棄而是開辟了新的路徑，這與A項(xiàng)表述一致。

5．A推理題。由文章倒數(shù)第五段倒數(shù)第二句“．．．to get this money from a VC is going to cost my wife and my children!”可知，作者如果向投機(jī)資本家借錢的話就會(huì)失去自己的妻子和孩子，由此可推測(cè)向投機(jī)資本家借錢有很大的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。故選A。