■听力答案■

听写答案来自大家的听写稿，没有权威答案，欢迎指出错误^_^
I'm Susan Clock with the special English Program: Words and their Stories.

Susan Cleveland is the young president of a candy company in the city of Chicago. Her father began the company in the 1960s. He died three years ago. Now the company belongs to Susan. Many of her father's employees were concerned when Susan took control. Susan's father had worked many years for other candy companies before starting this one. He had known a great deal about business. Susan, however, did not have any jobs before becoming head of the company. She just finished college. The employees became even more concerned during Susan's first month on the job. Mr. Cleveland had been a strong leader, but Susan permitted many employees to make their own decisions. One employee said, "Old Mr. Cleveland always told us what to do. He kept people on the short leash. But the company did well."

What does a short leash mean? A leash is a kind of rope. We use a leash to walk our pet dogs. The leash keeps the dog from running away or getting into trouble. Keeping a person on the short leash means keeping him or her under close control. The person can not make many decisions for himself or herself.