Conversation 2

　　W: I have many business English students. When I teach the classroom, we often end up talking about things like success and what leads to success. And it's interesting that many of them mention the element of luck.

　　M: Right.

　　W: Luck is important to success. But since you've seen that fantastic video on the TED Talks website by Richard St. John, he doesn't mention luck at all.

　　M: Well, I'm a firm believer that people can make their own luck. I mean what people regard as luck, you can actually create, to a degree.

　　W: Sure. I think a lot of what people consider luck is attributed to how you respond to the opportunities that come your way.

　　M: Yes. Very good point.

　　W: Seizing the opportunities. But was there any point in the video that you thought was particularly interesting?

　　M: Yes. Actually there was. Something very impressive to me as many people think that luck is important and that natural talent is something you must have in order to be successful. And in the video we saw, the point about getting good at something is not about having some natural talent. It's all about practice, practice, practice.

　　W: Definitely yeah. Natural talent helps in some way but at the end of the day you really do need to work hard and get really really good at what you do.

　　M: Sure.

　　W: I thought one interesting thing in the video was the idea of passion being so important and that people who really love what they do. Of course you're going to want to work harder and put the time and effort into it. And the funny thing is that if you love what you do and are really passionate about it and work really hard, the money kind of comes automatically.

　　Q5. What are the speakers mainly talking about?

　　Q6. What is the woman’s view of luck?

　　Q7. What is the chief point the TED Talks video makes?

　　Q8. What does the woman think is the funny thing in the TED Talks video?

　　sectionB Passage

　　Passage 1

　　Devil’s Tower, the first national monument in America, could almost be mistaken for the stump of an enormous tree. Its sheer rock sides sweep up from a broad until they cut off abruptly at the flat summit. Rising more than 1,000 feet in the middle of the gently rolling plains of Wyoming, the massive column of rock, looks as though it was dropped down into this location from a different time and place.

　　In a sense, it was, Devil’s Tower is a relic of the past. When the melt rock of the earth’s core forced its way to the surface to form the throat of a volcano, as the centuries passed, the rock cooled and hardened, shrinking and cracking into long columns, born in fire and fury. Devil’s Tower was then shaped by the slow, gentle work of wind and water. The outer s of the volcano were worn away until the hard core stood completely exposed.

　　It is small wonder that an Indian legend described Devil’s Tower as being formed by supernatural powers. The legend says that when seven girls were attacked by bears, they took refuge on top of a small rock, and they appealed to the Rock God for help. The God caused the rock to grow and to lift the girls far above the ground, while it sides were scored by the claws of the angry bears. Even today, says the legend, the girls can be seen above the towering rock. As seven shining stars in the night sky.

　　9. What does the Devil’s Tower look like?

　　10. What cause the volcano’s outer s to wear away?

　　11. What does the Indian legend say about the Devil’s Tower?

　　12. How did the Rock God help the seven girl in the Indian legend?