听力课堂英语四级频道为各位备考四级的同学们，整理了大学英语四级听力美文第40篇:Problems and Opportunities，希望对大家有所帮助，一起来看一下吧！

　　英语四级听力美文第40篇:Problems and Opportunities

　　We live in an unusual time with corporate downsizing, restructuring, and the increase inglobal competition. Some view these times as problematic; others see the incredibleopportunities created by such change.In the last decade there has been a huge growth inhome-based and service-industry businesses.These businesses have been started by individualswith the courage to pursue their dreams. Yet, for every idea that is implemented, thousands ofideas never get beyond the conceptual stage -from the imagination to a plan of action.

　　What holds people back from pursuing their dreams and acting on their great ideas? I believeit’s fear of failure. Someone once said “there are a lot of ways to become a failure, but nevertaking a chance is the most successful way.” I’ve also heard it said that “people don’t plan tofail...they fail to plan.” Companies these days must be willing and able to change constantly. Sometimes companies change course to survive, and sometimes they do so because anopportunity is too good to resist. I know of a small company that provided a messengerservice several years ago.

　　A sudden major increase in corporate use of fax machines nearly put this small company out ofbusiness. Fortunately, the owner of the company was astute enough to realize other globalcorporate trends happening at the same time. The owner shifted gears from offering amessenger service to providing an offsite records storage service, and soon business wasbooming once again.

　　It all comes down to perspective. When there was a downturn in the economy, some peoplecould say “This is terrible! With the downturn in the economy, nobody will have a budget formy service.” Or others thought “This is great! With the tightening of budgets and the loss ofsupport staff, there’s an even greater need for professionals to be effective, which is preciselywhat I’m here to help them do!”