Question

    There was no one quite like my father in our town. When any other man had an extra dollar, he bought a drink; when Father had an extra dollar, he bought a book. Other people had pictures on their walls; we had books, 3000  of them, lining every vertical surface of our little four-room house.

Father was the most persistent scholar I ever knew. He earned seven degrees, attended 11 different colleges and universities, and in 1951, when he was 82, sent us a cheerful little note from England to say that he had just enrolled for a graduate course in Elizabethan literature at Oxford.

I was the immediate beneficiary of Father's unbelievable hunger to learn. Every spring, he would take me hiking through the mountains to study mineral formations. On clear winter nights, he would set up a telescope and wake me to view the stars. After I grew up, wherever I traveled around this earth, the stars remained my friends.

Plain, distinct speech was a particular concern of my father and he was constantly drilling me in the art of elocution （演讲技巧）.Before I was three, he was reading aloud to me from the Bible, Shakespeare and Mark Twain. Thereafter, read aloud to him so he could work on my diction. By the time I was in the fifth grade, I could recite from a whole range of classical literature and poetry.

Of course, there had been times as a young man, when I got tired of study and devoted my time to playing. Then Father would admonish me succinctly by quoting a saying from Shakespeare, "If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious （乏味的）as to work."

Obviously, his efforts were not entirely in vain, for my voice has enabled me to earn a fair livelihood. But that fact doesn't begin to define the enormous debt I owe my father.

1.What contributed to my father's being a successful scholar?

A.His gift for academic studies.

B.The academic environment in our town.

C.The wealth of his family.

D.His lifelong passion for knowledge.

2.Which is closest in meaning to the underlined words in Paragraph 5?

A.Criticize me briefly. B.Comfort me patiently.

C.Praise me gently. D.Challenge me bravely.

3.Which of the words below can best describe the author's father?

A.Stubborn and lazy. B.Kind and generous.

C.Consistent and strict. D.Understanding and moody.

4.What may be the best title for the passage?

A.A Successful Scholar B.Enormous Debt

C.Secrets of My livelihood D.Father and Son

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。主要讲述了作者的父亲是一位执着的学者，作者也因此受益于父亲那令人难以置信的求知欲。父亲同时也很严厉，正是因为父亲作者才有了好的生活，作者亏欠父亲一笔“巨额债务”。

1.推理判断题。根据第二段Father was the most persistent scholar I ever knew. He earned seven degrees, attended 11 different colleges and universities, and in 1951, when he was 82, sent us a cheerful little note from England to say that he had just enrolled for a graduate course in Elizabethan literature at Oxford.（父亲是我所知道的最执着的学者。他获得了7个学位，上过11所不同的学院和大学。1951年，82岁的他从英国给我们寄来一张令人愉快的小纸条，告诉我们他刚刚在牛津大学注册了一门伊丽莎白时代文学的研究生课程）可知，作者父亲一生对知识的热情使他成为了一个成功的学者。故选D。

2.词义猜测题。根据后文by quoting a saying from Shakespeare, "If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work."（引用莎士比亚的一句话，"要是一年四季，全是游戏的假日，那么游戏也会变得像工作一般令人厌烦”）可知，作者的父亲是在用莎士比亚的话告诫作者不要老是想着玩，故划线单词意思为“告诫；简单地批评”。故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据第二段中Father was the most persistent scholar I ever knew.（父亲是我所知道的最执着的学者。）可知父亲是一个坚持不懈学习的人；以及倒数第二段Of course, there had been times as a young man, when I got tired of study and devoted my time to playing. Then Father would admonish me succinctly by quoting a saying from Shakespeare, "If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work."（当然，在我年轻的时候，我也有过厌倦学习，把时间花在玩耍上的时候。父亲会通过引用莎士比亚的一句话，"要是一年四季，全是游戏的假日，那么游戏也会变得像工作一般令人厌烦”来告诫我）可知，作者的父亲对作者很严格。故选C。

4.主旨大意题。根据文章最后一段最后一句But that fact doesn't begin to define the enormous debt I owe my father.（但这个事实并不能解释我欠父亲的巨额债务）以及文章主要内容为作者讲述自己的父亲对自己的影响好比是自己亏欠了父亲巨额债务，可知B选项“巨额债务”符合文章标题。故选B。