My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.

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My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.
It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More important, I earned my pay; it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.
I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $ 18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem(自尊心), one of the most important things a person can have.
When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dreamt of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.
The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb(番石榴树枝) and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity. I learned working in the field — except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick.
小题1:The writer’s first job was _______.

A．to stand down the fairway at a golf course

B．to watch over the sugar-cane plantation

C．to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields

D．to spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them

小题2:The word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _______.

A．difficult

B．boring

C．interesting

D．unusual

小题3:The writer learned that_______ from his first job.

A．he should work for those who he liked most

B．he should work longer than what he was expected

C．he should never fail to say hello to his owner

D．he should be respectful and faithful to the people he worked for

小题4:_______ gave the writer serf-esteem.

A．Having a family of eight people

B．Owning his own golf course

C．Bringing money back home to help the family

D．Helping his father with the work on the plantation

小题5:Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．He wanted to be a successful golfer.

B．He wanted to run a golf course near his house.

C．He was satisfied with the job he got on a plantation.

D．He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a broomstick.

答案

小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:C
小题5:A

解析

本文主要介绍作者小时候的工作经历：6岁时在一家甘蔗种植园耕地，7岁时在离家不远的一家高尔夫球场找到看球。
小题1:语义理解题。第 1 段第 2 句话My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields 和题干几乎完全相同。
小题2:词义猜测题。从第 2 段第 2 句话中的I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could 可以推知 tedious 的正确词义。
小题3:语义理解题。看到文章第 2 段第 4 句话 I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for，答案不言自明。
小题4:语义理解题。从文章第 3 段最后两句话 Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem (自尊心)… 不难肯定答案为C。
小题5:判断题。从最后一段内容不难看出他想当一名高尔夫球员的迫切之心。

举一反三

We spent a day in the country, picking wild flowers. With the car full of flowers we were going home. On our way back my wife noticed a cupboard (柜厨) outside a furniture shop. It was tall and narrow. “Buy it, ” my wife said at once. “We’ll carry it home on the roof rack. I’ve always wanted one like that.”
What could I do? Ten minutes later I was ￡20 poorer; and the cupboard was tied on the roof rack. It was six feet long and eighteen inches square, quite heavy too.
In the gathering darkness I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed unusually polite that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea.
After a time my wife said, “There’s a long line of cars behind. Why don’t they overtake, I wonder?” In fact a police car did overtake. The two officers inside looked at us seriously as they passed. But then, with great kindness, they led us through the rush-hour traffic. The police car stopped at our village church. One of the officers came to me.
“Right, sir, ” he said. “Do you need any more help?”
I was a bit puzzled. “Thanks, officer, ” I said. “You have been very kind. I live just on the road.”
He was staring at our car, first at the flowers, then at the cupboard. “Well, well, ” he said, laughing. “It’s a cupboard you’ve got there! We thought it was something else.”
My wife began to laugh. The truth hit me like a stone between the eyes. I smiled at the officer. “Yes, it’s a cupboard, but thanks again.” I drove home as fast as I could.
1. In fact the husband _______ the cupboard.
A. would like very much to buy           B. badly wanted
C. was glad to have bought                  D. would rather not buy
2. Other drivers thought they were _______.
A. carrying a cupboard to the church
B. sending flowers to the church
C. carrying nothing but a piece of furniture
D. going to attend a funeral(葬礼) at the church
3. The police will be more polite to those who are _______.
A. driving in gathering darkness                 B. in great sorrow (悲痛)
C. driving with wild glowers in the car        D. carrying furniture
4. What did the husband think of this matter?
A. It was very strange.                               B. He felt ashamed of it.
C. He took great pride in it.                        D. He was puzzled at it.

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When Johnson called again, the manager received him very politely. “That is a most remarkable oil you brought us, Mr Johnson,” he said. Johnson nodded his smooth, dark head. That was something he knew very well. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” the manager admitted. Johnson nodded again. “No?” he said politely. Then he added, “But I think you will, sir. A very great deal of it.” He appeared to think for a moment. “I think you will find it will be on sale seven, perhaps, eight years from now.” He smiled.
The manager thought that was uncertain. He said, “It is better than our fish oils. I admit that.” “So I am told, sir,” agreed Johnson.
“Have you any plans to produce it yourself, Mr Johnson?”
Johnson smiled again. “Would I be showing it to you if I had?”
“We might add some chemicals to one of our own fish oils,” said the manager.
“It would be expensive to do that, even if you could.” Johnson said gently. “Besides,” he added, “I am told that this oil will be much cheaper than your best fish oils. Cheaper than any vegetable oil, in fact.”
“Perhaps,” said the manager. “Well, I suppose you want to make an arrangement, Mr Johnson, Shall we discuss it?”
“Of course,” said Johnson. “There are two ways of dealing with a situation of this sort. The usual one is to prevent it altogether or at least to delay it as long as possible. That is, of course, the best way,” The manager nodded. He knew plenty about all that.
“But I am so sorry for you, because, you see, that is not possible this time.” The manager had his doubts, but all he said was an inquiring(asking), “Oh?”
“The other way,” continued Johnson, “is to produce yourself before the trouble starts.”
小题1:The manager thought of adding chemicals to the fish oil to make it ________.

A．cheaper than the new oil	B．more quickly
C．more expensive	D．as good as the new oil

小题2:Johnson’s new oil would be ________.

A．more expensive than fish oil, but better

B．less expensive, and better

C．less expensive, but not good

D．more expensive, and not so good

小题3:Johnson expressed his regret that the manager ________.

A．could not stop the new oil being made

B．would never know how to make it

C．had spent a lot of money on it

D．didn’t know enough about it

小题4:Johnson showed his new oil to the manager because he wanted ________.

A．to produce it himself	B．to prevent it being produced
C．to be paid not to produce it	D．the manager to produce it

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

In 1939 two brothers, Mac and Dick McDonald, started a drive-in restaurant in San Bernadino, California. They carefully chose a busy corner for their location. They had run their own businesses for years, first a theater, then a barbecue(烤肉) restaurant, then another drive-in. But in their new operation, they offered a new, shortened menu: French fries, hamburgers, and sodas. To this small selection they added one new idea: quick service, no waiters or waitresses, and no tips.
Their hamburgers sold for fifteen cents. Cheese was another four cents. Their French fries and hamburgers had a remarkable uniformity(一致性), for the brothers had developed a strict routine(程序) for the preparation of their food, and they insisted on their cooks’ sticking to their routine. Their new drive-in became surprisingly popular, particularly for lunch. People drove up by the hundreds during the busy noontime. The self-service restaurant was so popular that the brothers had allowed ten copies of their restaurant to be opened. They were content with this modest success until they met Ray Kroc.
Kroc was a salesman who met the McDonald brothers in 1954, when he was selling milkshake-mixing machines. He quickly saw the special attraction of the brothers’ fast-food restaurants and bought the right to franchise(特许经营) other copies of their restaurants. The agreement included the right to duplicate(复制) the menu, the equipment, even their red and white buildings with the golden arches(拱门).
Today McDonald’s is really a household name. In 1976, McDonald’s had over $ l billion in total sales. Its first twenty-two years is one of the most surprising success stories in modern American business history.
小题1: This passage mainly talks about _______.

A．the development of fast food services

B．how McDonald’s became a billion-dollar business

C．the business careers of Mac and Dick McDonald

D．Ray Kroc’s business talent

小题2:Mac and Dick managed all of the following businesses except _______.

A．a drive-in	B．a theater
C．a cinema	D．a barbecue restaurant

小题3: We may infer from this passage that _______.

A．Mac and Dick McDonald never became wealthy for they sold their idea to Kroc.

B．the place the McDonalds chose was the only source of the great popularity of their drive-in

C．forty years ago there were lots of fast-food restaurants

D．Ray Kroc was a good businessman

小题4:The passage suggests that _______.

A．creativity is an important element of business success

B．Ray Kroc was the close partner of the McDonald brothers

C．Mac and Dick McDonald became broken after they sold their ideas to Ray Kroc

D．California is the best place to go into business

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The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, pass quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.
小题1: According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.

A．his special tricks and supernatural powers

B．his unusual ability and a skeleton key

C．his magic tricks and unhuman powers

D．his wisdom and magic tricks

小题2:In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.

A．his first prison escape	B．the year 1898
C．the publicity	D．Harry Houdini’s success

小题3:It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.

A．in 1894	B．before he married
C．at the age of 17	D．when he was about 24

小题4:Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．A Skeleton Key	B．A Man of Many Secrets
C．World-wild Fame	D．Great Escape

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Mr. Peter Johnson, aged twenty-three, battled for half an hour to escape from his trapped car yesterday when it landed upside down in three feet of water. Mr. Johnson took the only escape route—through the boot(行李箱).
Mr. Johnson’s car had finished up in a ditch(沟渠) at Romney Marsin, Kent after skidding on ice and hitting a bank. “Fortunately, the water began to come in only slowly,” Mr. Johnson said. “I couldn’t force the doors because they were jammed against the walls of the ditch and dared not open the windows because I knew water would come flooding in.”
Mr. Johnson, a sweet salesman of Sitting Home, Kent, first tried to attract the attention of other motorists by sounding the horn and hammering on the roof and boot. Then he began his struggle to escape.
Later he said, “It was really a half penny that saved my life. It was the only coin I had in my pocket and I used it to unscrew the back seat to get into the boot. I hammered desperately with a hammer trying to make someone hear, but no help came.”
It took ten minutes to unscrew the seat, and a further five minutes to clear the sweet samples from the boot. Then Mr. Johnson found a wrench and began to work on the boot lock. Fifteen minutes passed by. “It was the only chance I had. Finally it gave, but as soon as I moved the boot lid, the water and mud poured in. I forced the lid down into the mud and scrambled clear as the car filled up.”
His hands and arms cut and bruised(擦伤), Mr. Johnson got to Beckett Farm nearby, where he was looked after by the farmer’s wife, Mrs. Lucy Bates. Huddled in a blanket, he said, “That thirty minutes seemed like hours.” Only the tips of the car wheels were visible, police said last night. The vehicle had sunk into two feet of mud at the bottom of the ditch.
小题1:What is the best title for this newspaper article?

A．The Story of Mr. Johnson, A Sweet Salesman

B．Car Boot Can Serve As The Best Escape Route

C．Driver Escapes Through Car Boot

D．The Driver Survived A Terrible Car Accident

小题2:Which of the following objects is the most important to Mr. Johnson?

A．The hammer.	B．The coin.
C．The screw.	D．The horn.

小题3:Which statement is true according to the passage?

A．Mr. Johnson’s car stood on its boot as it fell down.

B．Mr. Johnson could not escape from the door because it was full of sweet jam.

C．Mr. Johnson’s car accident was partly due to the slippery road.

D．Mr. Johnson struggled in the pouring mud as he unscrewed the back seat.

小题4:“Finally it gave” (Paragraph 5) means that _______.

A．Luckily the door was torn away in the end

B．At last the wrench went broken

C．The lock came open after all his efforts

D．The chance was lost at the last minute

小题5:It may be inferred from the passage that _______.

A．the ditch was along a quiet country road

B．the accident happened on a clear warm day

C．the police helped Mr. Johnson get out of the ditch

D．Mr. Johnson had a tender wife and was well attended

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