Question

    I always had the preference to take on more than I should when I was young. At times, I wanted to prove to myself that I could handle it. At other times, my purpose was to please someone and gain recognition for my efforts. Sometimes this led to stress or frustration.

When I was an IT manager after college graduation I was assigned to work with a wealthy customer and be a go-between (中间人)for my company. I took on the assignment happily, thinking that this might be my time to shine. However, the customer’s demands proved to be more than I could do with. And the company chose to stand by the customer and try to meet his unreasonable requirements rather than stick to what we had originally offered in the contract. As you can imagine, this led to a lot of unexpected problems and arguing with some of the staff who refused to do anything outside their scope (范围) of work. I remember walking into my office one morning, opening my laptop and staring at the blank screen for long, thinking to myself: What should I do? That was a difficult time in my life and then I finally had to give up my first job and left that company sadly.

Perhaps, I thought then, I could find the job that didn’t involve dealing with difficult people and difficult situations. But later I realized: Is this possible in our modern world? No, it is impossible. Now, I know, I shouldn’t run away from the challenges I faced in life: I had to learn how to deal with them. I regret not persevering ( 坚 持 ) in my job. We should train ourselves to look at things from a positive point of view, because that is far better than being trapped in the bad circle depression. I’ve come to see that when faced with difficulties, I should not give up, but persevere.

1.Why did the author take the work assigned to him happily?

A.He wanted to please the boss.

B.The work was very easy for him to do.

C.He failed to find a job many times before.

D.He thought it was time to prove his ability.

2.What does the underlined word “this” in the second paragraph mean?

A.Arguing with some of the staff.

B.Meeting the customer’s unreasonable requirements.

C.Accepting the assignment without hesitation.

D.Sticking to what had been originally offered in the contract.

3.What made the author leave his first job?

A.The depressing job situation. B.The low payment.

C.His lack of ability. D.A better job waiting for him.

4.What’s the best title of the text?

A.Running away from challenges. B.Persevering instead of giving up.

C.Refusing to argue with customers. D.Leaning to take on more than one can.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇夹叙夹议文。文章讲述了作者一直是个好强的人，却在大学毕业后从事第一份工作时，遇到了挫折。最终，丢掉了工作，失意地离开。从这段经历中，他悟出了面对困难时，要坚持下去，不能放弃。

1.

细节理解题。根据第二段第二句“I took on the assignment happily, thinking that this might be my time to shine.”可知，第一段中作者就自述了是个好强的人，之所以欣然接受委派，就是觉得到自己大显身手、证明能力的时候了，与D选项描述相符。故选D项。

2.

词义猜测题。根据第二段中And the company chose to stand by the customer and try to meet his unreasonable requirements rather than stick to what we had originally offered in the contract.（公司选择站在客户一边，努力满足客户不合理的要求，而不是坚持我们在合同中最初的报价。）可知，划线句表示“此举”导致了一系列问题的出现，而问题的根源就是前句中指出的公司的错误决策——罔顾合同承诺，而一味迎合客户的不合理要求，所以第二段中划线的“this”指满足客户不合理的要求。故选B项。

3.

推理判断题。根据第二段最后一句That was a difficult time in my life and then I finally had to give up my first job and left that company sadly.（那是我人生中最困难的一段时间，最后我不得不放弃我的第一份工作，遗憾地离开了那家公司。）和第三段第一句Perhaps, I thought then, I could find the job that didn’t involve dealing with difficult people and difficult situations.（那时我想，也许我能找到一份不需要和难相处的人打交道、不需要面对困难情况的工作。）可知，就是因为在第一份工作中常常落入让人犯难的处境和情形中，不得不对付一些难办的事务，才使得作者放弃了工作，A选项“令人沮丧的工作情境”符合文意。故选A项。

4.

主旨大意题。根据文章最后一句I’ve come to see that when faced with difficulties, I should not give up, but persevere.（我明白了，面对困难时，不应该放弃，而应该坚持下去。）并结合全文内容可知，本文就是作者通过分享自己的第一份工作经历，想要表达“面对困难时，应该坚持，而非放弃”，B选项符合这一主题，适合作为标题。故选B项。