Question

I began working in journalism when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.

         With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was supper time, I walked back home.

         “How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.

         “None.”

         “Where did you go?”

         “The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”

         “What did you do?”

         “Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”

         “You just stood there?”

         “Didn’t sell a single one.”

         “My God, Russell!”

         Uncle Allen put in, “Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickle(五分鎳幣). It was the first nickle I earned.

         Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.

         One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.

         “If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.

         My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.

1.Why did the boy start his job young?

A．He wanted to be famous in the future  B．The job was quite easy for him.

C．His mother had high hopes for him.   D．The competition for the job was fierce.

2.From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.

A．excited        B．interested          C．ashamed    D．disappointed

3.What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?

A．She forced him to continue.            B．She punished him.

C．She gave him some money.              D．She changed her plan.

4.The phrase “this battle” in the last paragraph refers to       .

A．the war between the boy’s parents

B．the arguing between the boy and his mother

C．the quarrel between the boy and his customers

D．the fight between the boy and his father

5.What is the text mainly about?

A．The early life of a journalist.

B．The early success of a journalist.

C．The happy childhood of the writer.     

D．The important role of the writer in his family.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.B

5.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文敘述了作者在小的時候由于母親堅持讓作者早適應競爭的社會，讓8歲的他就出去賣雜志，結果第一天一份也沒有賣出去，母親感到很失望，母親告訴他該如何做，過了一段時間后，作者不想再繼續做下去了，可是母親堅決不同意，長大以后作者當了一名記者。

1.細節理解題。根據She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young 由于母親對作者的期望值太高強迫作者早早地從事工作，故選C。

2.細節理解題。根據Didn’t sell a single one.可知母親對作者的工作成績很失望，故選D。

3.細節理解題。根據She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines.當作者泄氣不想工作時，母親強迫他繼續，故選A。

4.詞義猜測題。根據這個斗爭指的是母親與作者之間的爭論，故選B。

5.主旨大意題。根據全文的內容可知主要敘述了作者小的時候早期的記者生活，故選A。

考點：故事類短文閱讀。

點評：詞義猜測題旨在考查學生根據上下文對生詞做出理解判斷的能力。近幾年來，閱讀理解中的詞義猜測題呈上升趨勢。在閱讀過程中根據選材、背景、及上下文等線索推測出生詞詞義是真實語言活動中的重要技巧。這一能力可以說是體現閱讀理解能力的一項重要指標。