Question

“Get yourself up and make something of yourself，buddy！”Though my mother has passed away，her words are as clear in my head today as when I was a boy．

??? “Christ！”I said，“I have made something of myself. I want to sleep late as I like．”

??? “If there’s one thing I can’t stand，it’s a quitter．”Her voice in my head is more powerful than my will to refuse，so I pull myself from bed．

????? Before I was out of primary school，mother could see I lacked the gifts for either making millions or winning the love of crowds．So she began pushing me toward working with words．Words ran in her family．There seemed to be a word gene that passed down from her mother’s grandfather·

The greatest proof was my mother’s first cousin Edwin．He was the managing editor of the New York Times and had gained a name in his career．

??? In 1947 1 graduated from Johns Hopkins and applied for a job with the Baltimore Sun as a police reporter．It paid＄30 a week ．When I complained the wage was shameful for a learned man，mother refused to sympathize．“If you work hard at this job，”she said，“maybe you can make something of it．”

??? After a while，I was asked to cover diplomats（外交官）at various African embassies. Then，

seven years later I was arranged by the Sun to cover the White House，a task that was as close to heaven as a journalist could get．However，whatever achievement of mine only seemed insignificant in her eyes．Uncle Edwin’s success was really annoying during my early years as a reporter．What a thrill，I thought．

??? Then，out of my wildest childhood fantasy，the Times came knocking．It was sad that Uncle Edwin had passed away by this time．In 1979 I won the Pulitzer Prize．Unfortunately，my mother’s brain and health broke down the year before，leaving her in a nursing home，out of touch with life forevermore ．She never knew of my Pulitzer．

????? I can probably guess how she’d have responded．“ That’s nice，buddy．It shows if you work hand，you’11 be able to make something of yourself one day，”

1.The first three paragraphs are intended to＿＿＿＿＿＿

A．draw readers’attention to the author’s success

B．remind readers that the road to success is rough

C．serve as an introduction to the author’s mother

D．explain why the author’s mother kept blaming him

2.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 probably means that tier families＿＿＿＿

A. were gifted at language? B．never broke their promise

C. were fond of reading ? D. stuck to their family belief

3.What can we learn about the author

A．He got a good salary working as a police reporter．

B．He lived a rich life with his mother in his childhood．

C．It was proud of her mother to see his winning the Pulitzer Prize．

D．It was beyond his wildest dream that he could work for the Times．

4.The author regards Uncle Edwin’s success as a thrill because＿＿＿＿＿＿．

A．he himself was less smart than Uncle Edwin

B．his mother’s family thought Uncle Edwin to be a good reporter

C．few reporters can become the managing editor of the New York Times

D．Uncle Edwin spared no effort to get the Pulitzer Prize at the cost of his life

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.C

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

試題分析: 在本文中作者講述了母親對自己事業成功的影響力。母親從小就一直告誡作者要有出息，在任何情況下都不要放棄。在她的影響下作者長大后從事了記者的職業，采訪外交官，甚至白宮，一直到后來作者獲得了普利策獎，這些都離不開母親對他的鞭策和激勵。

1.C推理判斷題。文章前三段都是作者回憶小時候母親一貫對他說的話，然后在下文講述母親在他生活中的影響，由此可知前面三段只是為了引出主題，為下文做鋪墊，所以答案選C。

2.A推理判斷題。在第四段There seemed to be a word gene that passed down from her mother’s grandfather·The greatest proof was my mother’s first cousin Edwin．…. and had gained a name in his career．中作者提到做紐約時報主編的Edwin是最好的能證明母親家有word 基因遺傳下來的例子，由此判斷劃線句子意思是他們家有語言文字方面的天賦，答案選A。

3.D細節理解題。根據文章倒數第二段out of my wildest childhood fantasy，the Times came knocking可以判斷作者做夢都沒想到自己會被紐約時報選中，所以答案選D。

4.C推理判斷題。紐約時報是世界著名報紙，從情理可知能夠做紐約時報的執行編輯是讓人可望而不可及的事情，所以判斷C選項正確。

考點：考查人物類短文閱讀。