(仔细阅读课文,并完成相应的练习) Text A How a Simple Idea Became a Huge Business – Starbucks and Me Howard Schultz When I was a child growing up in public-housing projects in Canarsie, Brooklyn, I remember lying in bed at night thinking: what if I had acrystal ball and could see the future? I was fortunate to go to college, but Ididn't know what to do next. My main goal was to escape the struggles my working-class parents lived with every day. Eventually I discovered I had atalent for sales, and was hired by a Swedish housewares corporation. By age 28, I was vice president in charge of sales in the United States. My parents couldn't believe I had come so far so fast. Most people would be satisfied with all this. But I was getting antsy. A company, Starbucks Coffee and Tea in Seattle, had only four small stores, yet it was buying our drip coffee maker in quantities larger than Macy's was. Why was Seattle so taken with this coffee maker when the rest of the country was using electric coffee makers? I had to find out, so I went to Seattle. The minute the door opened, a heady aroma of coffee drew me in. Whoa. My eyes shot wide open. That night Ihad dinner with one of Starbucks's owners, Jerry Baldwin. He wasn't just calculating how to maximize sales. He and his partner,Gordon Bowker, believed they were providing customers with something they ought to enjoy. It was an approach to business that was fresh and appealing to me. I tried to persuade Jerry Baldwin to hire me-although it didnot seem to be a logical career move. "You're doing well-you have a future," my mom argued. "Don't give it up for a small company nobody's heard of." But Starbucks held an inexplicable attraction for me. During the year after my first visit, I found reasons to get back to Seattle several times. Then in the spring of 1982, Jerry and Gordon invited me to meet board member Steve Donovan. The meeting went exceptionally well. I told them how I had served Starbucks coffee to my friends in New York, how enthusiastic they had been. Starbucks could be so much bigger, I argued. The partners seemed inspired by my vision. But they had decided not to hire me. "Your plans sound great," Jerry said. "But that's just not the vision we have for Starbucks." I still believed so much in the future of Starbucks that I couldn't accept "no" as a final answer. I had to join this company. Icalled Jerry back. "Jerry," I protested, "this isn't about me.It's about your company." The next morning I picked up the phone on the firstring. "You have the job, Howard." After I had been at Starbucks for a year, I had an experience that changed my life. I noticed a little espresso bar in Italy. Behind thecounter a tall, thin man was cheerfully greeting customers. "Espresso?" He asked, holding out a cup. After three sips it was gone, but I could still feel its warmth and energy. That day I discovered the romance and ritual of coffee bars in Italy. My mind started churning. My company's connection to coffee lovers did not have to be limited to their homes, where they ground and brewed our coffee. What we should do was sell coffee by the cup, in coffee bars. On my return to Seattle, however, my bosses argued that Starbucks was are retailer, not a restaurant or a bar. They pointed out that Starbucks was successful. Why rock the boat? I was torn between loyalty to Starbucks and confidence in my vision for coffee bars. In the end I followed my vision. With my wife Sheri's support, in late 1985 I left Starbucks and started my own company, II Giornale. Within six months we were serving more than a thousand customers a day in our tiny Seattle store. It became agathering place-just like the espresso bars in Italy. In March 1987 Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker decided to sell their Starbucks stores. As soon as I heard, I knew I had to buy. With the support of my II Giornale investors, Starbucks was mine five months later. I had a chance to accomplish my dreams. Starbucks now has more than 1500 stores and 25,000 employees. I've often wondered: what would have happened had I just accepted Jerry Baldwin's decision not to hire me? I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It's seeing what otherpeople don't see and pursuing that vision. Question: What difficulties did the author meet with in pursuing his dreams?