Passage Two
Federal Express is a company that specializes inrapid overnight delivery of high-priority packages.The first company of its type, Federal Express wasfounded by the youthful Fred Smith in 1971, whenhe was only28 years old. Smith had actuallydeveloped the idea for the rapid delivery service in aterm paper for an economics class when he was astudent at Yale University.
The term paper received a less-than-stellar grade because of the infeasibility of the project thatSmith had outlined. The model that Smith proposed had never been tried; it was a model thatwas efficient to operate but at the same time very difficult to institute.
Smith achieved efficiency in his model by designing a system that was separate from thepassenger system and could, therefore, focus on how to deliver packages most efficiently. Hisstrategy was to have his own planes so that he could create his own schedules and to ship allpackages through the centralized hub city of Memphis, a set-up which resembles the spokes(轮辐) on the wheel of a bicycle. With this combination ofhis own planes and hub set-up, hecould get packages anywhere in the United States overnight.
What made Smith’s idea difficult to institute was the fact that the entire system had to becreated before the company could begin operations. He needed a fleet of aircraft to collectpackages from airports every night and deliver them to Memphis, where they were immediatelysorted and flown out to their new destinations; he needed a fleet of trucks to deliver packagesto and from the various airports; he needed facilities and trained staff all in place to handle theoperation. Smith had a $4 million inheritance from his father, and he managed to raise anadditional 91 million dollars from venture capitalists to get the companyoperating.
Choose correct answers to the question:
6. The most appropriate title for this passage is ”_____”.
A. The Problems and Frustrations of a Business Student
B. The Importance of Business Studies
C. The Capitalization of Federal Express
D. The Implementation of a Successful Business
7. What is stated in the passage about Smith’s term paper?
A. Smith submitted it through a delivery service.
B. It was written by a student of Smith’s.
C. The grade was not quite satisfactory.
D. The professor thought it had great potential.
8. What was Smith’s key idea?
A. That he should focus on passenger service.
B. That package delivery should be separate from passenger service.
C. That packages could be delivered on other companies’ planes.
D. That passenger service had to be efficient.
9. It can be inferred from the passage that Smith selected Memphis as his hub citybecause it____.
A. was near the middle of the country
B. had a large number of passenger aircraft
C. already had a large package delivery service
D. was a favorite passenger airport
