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Stubbornness can push an entrepreneur (企业家) to hold on but it can also kill a business if it gets
too extreme.
Because I'm stubborn, I realized my dream of creating a petfood company. Our foods include organic
fruits, vegetables and meats. At first we packaged our foods in transparent bags, as it was part of our
guiding philosophy.
To start the company in 2003, I visited every petfood store in Manhattan and some outside the city.
In 2007 I moved the company to Muskego, Wis., and our earnings were almost $500,000 that year. But
getting my products into stores was just the beginning. We were competing against much bigger petfood
companies whose monthly marketing budgets were more than our yearly sales. So we invested in
advertising and a website.
With more customers came more feedback, much of which I dismissed. I was also receiving
complaints about ice crystals (晶体) on the food, which form when the air temperature changes during
transport. For this reason, most frozen foods are packaged in opaque (不透明的) bags or boxes.
Studies have proved that ice crystals have little, if any, effect on either the quality or the taste of the food.
So I ignored the complaints. After all, I told myself, we were better than competitors that wouldn't even
show their products. We didn't hide anything.
In 2007 our sales kept growing, but not as fast as those of our competitors. We were told that new
consumers were choosing products packaged in opaque bags. When I visited the stores and forced
myself to consider my products objectively, I had to agree:The ice crystals destroyed the look I wanted.
We switched to opaque bags and tried to make the ice crystals smaller. Customers responded:In 2009
our products were sold in 2,500 stores across the country.

1. What was the author's purpose of packaging their foods in transparent bags at first?
A. To make their foods look attractive.
B. To show their guiding philosophy to consumers.
C. To make sure that their foods could be seen clearly.
D. To show that their foods were environmentally friendly.

2. Why did the author invest in advertising and a website?
A. Because few people knew about their products.
B. Because his company faced great challenges.
C. Because he wanted to move his company to Muskego.
D. Because his company was about to close down.

3. According to the passage, ice crystals ________.
A. only appear in frozen foods
B. may make pets feel uncomfortable
C. won't form if pet food is transported well
D. have little effect on the quality of pet food

4. The author's company switched to opaque bags because ________.
A. consumers disliked seeing ice crystals
B. opaque bags helped reduce ice crystals
C. foods in opaque bags are easy to keep fresh
D. opaque bags are cheaper than transparent ones

5. This passage was written mainly to show that ________.
A. people shouldn't let stubbornness stop them from taking advice
B. stubbornness can make people succeed or fail
C. the road leading to success is full of difficulties
D. stubbornness always leads to failure

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