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(五分镍币). 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】

试题分析：本文叙述了作者在小的时候由于母亲坚持让作者早适应竞争的社会，让8岁的他就出去卖杂志，结果第一天一份也没有卖出去，母亲感到很失望，母亲告诉他该如何做，过了一段时间后，作者不想再继续做下去了，可是母亲坚决不同意，长大以后作者当了一名记者。

1.细节理解题。根据She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young 由于母亲对作者的期望值太高强迫作者早早地从事工作，故选C。

2.细节理解题。根据Didn’t sell a single one.可知母亲对作者的工作成绩很失望，故选D。

3.细节理解题。根据She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines.当作者泄气不想工作时，母亲强迫他继续，故选A。

4.词义猜测题。根据这个斗争指的是母亲与作者之间的争论，故选B。

5.主旨大意题。根据全文的内容可知主要叙述了作者小的时候早期的记者生活，故选A。

考点：故事类短文阅读。

点评：词义猜测题旨在考查学生根据上下文对生词做出理解判断的能力。近几年来，阅读理解中的词义猜测题呈上升趋势。在阅读过程中根据选材、背景、及上下文等线索推测出生词词义是真实语言活动中的重要技巧。这一能力可以说是体现阅读理解能力的一项重要指标。