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 suppertime, 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 nickel. It was the first nickel 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.What does the underlined word “nickel” most possibly mean?

A．a note that is worth ten dollars

B．a bill signed in acknowledgement of debt

C．a list showing how much you have to pay

D．a coin that is worth five cents

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.C

2.D

3.A

4.D

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文叙述了作者在8岁时就在母亲的强迫下开始卖报，母亲教作者如何做一个推销员，当作者不想干的时候，母亲就责备作者，因此作者和母亲经常吵架，出乎她的意料，四十多年后，像作者这样一个成功的记者，为了真实的生活和爱，将回到她丈夫的生活中去。

1.细节理解题。根据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.主要是母亲对她的希望很高，故选C。

2.推理判断题。根据My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life,母亲是失望的，故选D。

3.细节理解题。根据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.每当作者想不干了，母亲就责备她，故选A。

4.词义猜测题。根据It was the first nickel I earned ，故选D。

5.主旨大意题。根据全篇内容来看主要讲述了作者作为记者的早期生活，故选A。

考点：故事类短文阅读。