At first glance, the business world is no place for young women. as my cofounders and I have been told on many occasions. In spite of this pessimistic view of women's opportunity in business, We three college-age girl with zero experience in business started off with a highly ambitious goal: to start a seaweed farm in North Carolina, and grow as much seaweed as possible to help reduce carbon emissions（排放）and nutrient pollution from agricultural sources.
In the beginning, our ideas were either ignored or scoffed by the researchers from whom we sought help and advice. But we carried on with our research-if others wouldn`t provide us answers, we weren't afraid to try to work them out ourselves. We discovered which species could grow in warmer waters, and we'd identified potential markets into which we planned to sell the product. We've spent the last two years setting up the first seaweed farm in NC, applying for a patent（专利）and competing with five final teams in front of the United Nations for $ 1million.
Despite all of our efforts, many industry experts remained unwilling to take us seriously. But as often happens in business, the same characteristics we were ignored for were, in reality, our biggest competitive advantage. Our age gave us the strength to bounce back from failure, and our background as environmental scientists, rather than businesswomen, helped us find new marketing opportunities. For every 10 farmers who claimed nobody would ever want to feed their cows seaweed, we found one who was interested. For every 15 cosmetics producers who refused to answer our cold calls, we stuck to the one with an interesting idea for a seaweed lotion.
Over the course of our early business development efforts, we have had access to a wealth of resources, programs, and individuals who work constantly to help us succeed. By staying focused on bringing our ideas to light, our team has demonstrated that entrepreneurship（创业）is exactly the right place for the hopeful.
【小题1】What was the major cause for their difficultly in starting business?| A．They were women. | B．They were young. |
| C．They lacked experience. | D．They suffered prejudice. |
| A．They expanded their seaweed farms. |
| B．They experimented on seaweed species. |
| C．They got their product officially recognized. |
| D．They consulted the United Nations. |
| A．How they benefited from their weaknesses. |
| B．How they got others interested in seaweed. |
| C．How they made themselves more competitive. |
| D．How they approached potential customers. |
| A．Naive and simple-minded. | B．Ambitious and self-centered. |
| C．Adventurous and persistent. | D．Stubborn and courageous. |
