Question

John H. Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas City in 1918. His father died in an accident when John was six. He was reaching the high school age, but his hometown offered no high school for blacks.

Luckily he had a strong-willed caring mother. John remembered that his mother told him many times, “Son，you can be anything you want really to be if you just believe.” She told him not to depend on others，including his mother. “You have to earn success,” she said. “All the people who work hard don’t succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard.”

These words came from a woman with less than a third grade education. She also knew that believing and hard work don’t mean everything. So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son, who was then 15，to Chicago.

Chicago in 1933 was not the promised land that black southerners were looking for. John’s mother and stepfather could not find work. But here John could go to school, and here he learned the power of words — as an editor of the newspaper and yearbook at Du Sable High School. His wish was to publish a magazine for blacks.

While others discouraged (使气馁) him, John’s mother offered him more words to live by: “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” She also let him pawn（典当）her furniture to get the ＄500 he needed to start the Negro magazine.

It is natural that difficulties and failures followed John closely until he became very successful. He always keeps his mother’s words in mind: “Son, failure is not in your vocabulary!”

Now John H. Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America — worth $150 million.

1.John’s father died in ________.

A．1922

B．1933

C．1924

D．1923

2.John’s mother decided to move to Chicago because _______.

A．his father died when John was very young

B．life was too hard for them to stay on in their hometown

C．there were no schools for black people in their hometown

D．John needed more education badly

3.John’s mother ________．

A．didn’t believe in or depend on others

B．thought no one could succeed without working hard

C．believed one would succeed without working hard

D．thought one could be whatever one wanted to be

4.The story mainly tells us ________ .

A．about the spiritual support John’s mother gave him

B．how John H. Johnson became successful

C．about the importance of a good education

D．about the key to success for blacks

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.B

4.A

【解析】

1.细节理解题。John H. Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas City in 1918. His father died in an accident when John was six可知他父亲于1918+6=1924年去世。

2.细节理解题。他妈妈决定去芝加哥，不是因为生活对他来说太艰苦了而无法生存，从第三段最后一句话可以看出，他妈妈当厨师并努力挣钱是因为他需要上学，而当地不允许黑人上学，这才是主要原因。

3.推理判断题。第二段最后一句话“All the people who work hard don’t succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard.”说：努力的人并非都能成功，但成功人士都很努力。

4.主旨大意题。文章塑造了一个倔强的黑人妈妈的形象，不幸的男孩出生在一个幸福的家庭，但幸运的是有一个坚强的妈妈，让其有自信心，让其受教育，带其离开家到他乡求发展，在其事业中鼎立相助。文章最后的话揭示了中心。