If you have ever gone through a toll booth(收费所), you know that your relationship
题型：不详难度：来源：
If you have ever gone through a toll booth(收费所), you know that your relationship to the person in the booth is not the most intimate you"ll ever have. It is one of life"s frequent affairs: You hand over some money; you might get change; you drive off.
Late one morning in 1984, headed for lunch in San Francisco, I drove toward a booth. I heard loud music. It sounded like a party. I looked around. No other cars with their windows open. No sound trucks. I looked at the toll booth. Inside it, the man was dancing.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I"m having a party," he said.
"What about the rest of the people?" I looked at the other toll booths.
He said, "What do those look like to you?" He pointed down the row of toll booths.
"They look like……toll booths. What do they look like to you?"
He said, "Vertical coffins. At 8:30 every morning, live people get in. Then they die for eight hours. At 4:30, like Lazarus from the dead, they reemerge and go home. For eight hours, brain is on hold, dead on the job. Going through the motions."
I was amazed. This guy had developed a philosophy, a mythology about his job. Sixteen people dead on the job, and the seventeenth, in precisely the same situation, figures out a way to live. I could not help asking the next question: "Why is it different for you? You"re having a good time."
He looked at me. "I knew you were going to ask that. I don"t understand why anybody would think my job is boring. I have a corner office, glass on all sides. I can see the Golden Gate, San Francisco, and the Berkeley hills. Half the Western world vacations here……and I just stroll in every day and practice dancing."
小题1:According to the first paragraph, in most cases, how do you describe the relationship between drivers and toll booth?| A．most intimate | B．very tense | C．pretty ordinary | D．extremely hostile |
小题2:Why did the author go to San Francisco?
A. To attend a party
B. B. To have a meal
C. To dance with the worker in the toll booth
D. To hand in the repair fee of his car
小题3:The underlined name “Lazarus” mentioned in the eighth paragraph probably refers to a person___________.
A. who was very active in his life
B. B. who was dead and revived from death
C. who was going to San Francisco
D. who liked dancing at work
小题4:According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?| A．The author passed by the toll booth every day. | | B．The worker enjoyed his work very much. | | C．Only western people like to spend their holidays in the Berkeley hills. | | D．The dancing worker was getting badly along with his colleagues. |
小题5:After hearing what the worker said, the author would probably_________.| A．go to the worker’s senior to complain about his bad attitude towards job. | | B．go climbing the Golden Gate and the Berkeley hills to have a vacation. | | C．learn to take a positive attitude to job and appreciate valuable things in life. | | D．go back home instead of wasting time traveling to San Francisco. |
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答案
小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:B
小题4:B
小题5:C |
解析
试题分析：本文叙述了作者经过收费战时，看见特别引人瞩目的一个收费站的工作人员，他在工作时还在不断地跳舞，他把他们的工作室收费亭看成直立的棺材，他的同事每早八点半，活的人进去。然后他们死亡八个小时。下午四点半，就像死人中的拉撒路，他们复活回到家中。整整八个小时，头脑思维中断，他们只是呆板地工作，重复着相同的动作。而这位工作人员几乎处于同样的情况，却找到另外一种生活方式。
小题1:细节理解题。根据you know that your relationship to the person in the booth is not the most intimate you"ll ever have.你就会知道你与亭子里的这个人关系不是最亲密的，这是生命中经常出现的非偶遇者。故选C。
小题2:细节理解题。根据Late one morning in 1984, headed for lunch in San Francisco我驱车往旧金山吃午饭，故选B。
小题3:细节理解题。根据Then they die for eight hours. from the dead, they reemerge and go home. 然后他们死亡八个小时。下午四点半，就像死人中的拉撒路，他们复活回到家中。故选B。
小题4:细节理解题。根据I don"t understand why anybody would think my job is boring. I have a corner office, glass on all sides. I can see the Golden Gate, San Francisco, and the Berkeley hills. Half the Western world vacations here……and I just stroll in every day and practice dancing."故选B。
小题5:推理判断题。根据This guy had developed a philosophy, a mythology about his job.这个小伙子发展了一种哲学，创造了一个有关工作的神话，故选C。
点评：推理判断题属于主观题，是层次较高的题目。它包括判断和推理题。这两类题常常相互依存，推理是为了做出正确的判断，正确的判断又依赖于合乎逻辑的推理。该题要求在理解表面文字的基础上做出判断和推论，从而得到文章的隐含意思和深层意思，也就是通过文章中的文字信息，上下逻辑关系及事物的发展变化等已知信息，推断出作者没有直接表达的态度和观点。 |
举一反三
Sarah came running in saying, "Look what l found. " Over the top of the paper I was reading I saw a long object that made me jump. It was a piece of snakeskin that had been shed （脱皮) by one of our garden snakes.
"Isn"t it beautiful?" said my wide-eyed 7~year-old daughter. I stared at the organic wrapper and thought to myself that it really was not that beautiful, but I did not want to disappoint Sarah. Everything children see for the first time is elementary to their sense of beauty and creativity. They see only merit (忧点) and excellence in the world.
"Why does it do this?" Sarah asked. I like to teach my children that there is something else going on besides what they see in front of them. "Snakes shed their skin because they need to renew themselves," I explained.
"Why do they need to renew themselves?" Sarah asked. "We often need to shed our skins, those coatings that we cover ourselves with," I said to my now absorbed daughter. "We outgrow some things and find other stuff unnecessary. This snake no longer needs this skin. It is probably too old, and the snake probably doesn"t think it looks as smart in the skin as it once did. Like buying a new suit. "
Of course, I"m sure this explanation won"t suit naturalists. But Sarah got the point. As we talked, I knew that she began to understand that renewal is part of progress; that we need to take a good look at ourselves, and rooms and schoolwork and creativity, and she began to see what we need to keep and what need to cast off. I was careful to point out that this is a natural process, not one to be forced.
"Snakes don"t peel off their skin when they feel like it," I explained. "lt happens as part of their growth. "
"I see, Dad. " said Sarah. She then jumped off my lap, grabbed the snakeskin, and ran off.
I hoped she would remember this. Often, in order to find our real selves underneath the layers of community and culture we are cloaked (掩饰) in year after year, we need to start examining these layers. We need to gently peel some away, as we recognize them to be worthless, unnecessary, or flawed (有缺陷的); or at best, remember the things we discard（丢掉）to teach us how we can improve.
小题1:When Sarah asked the author whether the snakeskin was beautiful,___________| A．he was shocked and jumped | | B．he tried to understand her point of view | | C．he thought that telling the truth was a merit | | D．he decided to teach her something about the garden |
小题2:How did Sarah feel about the author"s explanation?| A．Confused. | B．Boreci | C．Satisfied. | D．Excited. |
小题3:Which of the following would the author agree with?| A．By reflecting on ourselves, we can better ourselves. | | B．It is necessary to force others to remove some things. | | C．The community and culture force us to change. | | D．It is natural to keep some old clothes. |
小题4:From the text, we can conclude that the author___________.| A．does not like nature much | | B．takes the chilcl"s feelings lightly | | C．is both a logical and thoughtful person | | D．loves to see his daughter excited about animals |
小题5:Which of the following could be the best title for the article?| A．The things we should cast off | B．A shed snakeskin in Sarah"s eyes | | C．A natural part of our growth | D．Renewal for snakes and us |
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In order to tell what I believe, I must briefly introduce some of my personal history.
The turning point of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and study music. My parents, sharing my love of music, _16_____ of it as a profession. This was understandable in view of the family __17____. My grandfather had taught music for nearly forty years and earned barely enough to __18____ for his large family. My father often said it was only the hardheaded thriftiness of my grandmother that helped the family live a life. As a(an) __19___ of this example in the family, my mention of music as a profession carried with it a picture of an existence with __20____ financial rewards. My parents insisted upon college instead of a conservatory of a career of music, and so finally I went to college quite happily.
Before my graduation from Columbia, the family met with severe financial problems and I felt it my duty to __21____ college and take a job. Thus was I started a business career – which I always think of as the wasted years.
Now I do not for a moment mean to disparage business. My whole point I is that it was not for me. I went into it for __22___, and apart from the satisfaction of being able to help the family, money is all I got out of it. It was not enough. I felt that life was passing me by. From being merely dissatisfied I became really ___23___. I knew what I wanted is to save enough to __24____ and go to Europe to study ___25__. I used to get up at dawn to practice before I left for “downtown”, disappointing my poor mother by eating a hurried breakfast at the last minute. I continued to make money, and finally, bit by bit, saved enough to __26____ me to go abroad. And, by now, the family didn’t need my help any longer. I ended my business career, feeling like a man released from prison, and sailed for Europe. I stayed four years, worked harder than ever and ___27___ every minute of it.
“Enjoyed” is too mild a word. I walked on air. I really lived. I was a __28____ man and I was doing what I loved to do and what I was meant to do.
If I had stayed in business, I might be a __29____ man today, but I do not believe I would have made a success of living. I would have given up all those inner satisfactions, which money can never buy.
When I broken away from business, it was against the advice of all my friends and family. Most of us are so accustomed to the association of success with money__30___the thought of giving up a good income for an idea seemed rather crazy. If so, all I can say is “Ah! It’s great to be crazy.”
| 小题1: | | A．thought | B．disapproved | C．agreed | D．disagreed |
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| 小题2: | | A．background | B．experience | C．tradition | D．belief |
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| 小题3: | | A．offer | B．support | C．provide | D．give |
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| 小题4: | | A．expectation | B．intention | C．cause | D．consequence |
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| 小题5: | | A．certain | B．uncertain | C．sure | D．ensured |
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| 小题6: | | A．enter | B．join | C．leave | D．apply |
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| 小题7: | | A．interest | B．dreams | C．money | D．hope |
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| 小题8: | | A．painful | B．excited | C．embarrassed | D．cheerful |
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| 小题9: | | A．drop | B．satisfy | C．live | D．quit |
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| 小题10: | | A．music | B．medicine | C．economy | D．Business |
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| 小题11: | | A．let | B．make | C．encourage | D．enable |
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| 小题12: | | A．spent | B．enjoyed | C．wasted | D．used |
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| 小题13: | | A．free | B．wealthy | C．creative | D．enthusiastic |
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| 小题14: | | A．strong | B．successful | C．wealthy | D．satisfied |
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I’ve often had difficulty remembering names. Proper nouns seldom found easy purchase in my brain unless I consciously repeat them over and over again. Needless to say, when people leave my life their names are often soon forgotten. This can have some embarrassing consequences.
Five or six years after high school graduation, I was reading carefully the shelves of a local auto supply shop when I noticed someone familiar enter the store. I knew him. He was in my graduation class and although he was not a good friend of mine, we had shared many classes and knew each other well. I began to feel an increasing sense of foreboding（预感）and quickly hid behind the nearest shelving unit. I should have known his name. How many times had I heard it during class role call? How many conversations had we had in the hallways?
I easily remembered his surname, “Ricca”. His was a large, well know family in the town of my childhood. I couldn’t have just acknowledged him using his surname. I might as well have admitted forgetting his name, which was not a choice. One’s name is important to every person’s identity. Not remembering an old acquaintance’s name is similar to forgetting your wife’s favourite flower, an embarrassing mistake of the highest order.
I quickly ran through the alphabet (字母表), a strategy I developed for just such an occasion. Abe? No, Adam, Andy, Bob? No, Bill? Yes! Bill sounded right. Of course, his name is Bill. I confidently made my way around the shelves and spoke to him as he was studying some cans of motor oil.
“Bill, how are you doing?”, I said offering him my hand which he took with a friendly shake. We talked a bit, some amusing remarks about our college experiences and such. I took his hand again, said how good it was to see him and gave him a happy wave, calling him by name again, as I left.
I was so pleased that I avoided yet another awkward encounter(相遇) that I could feel a big smile on my face as I paid the cashier and exited the store. As I marched merrily across the parking lot, an awful thought came into my mind. John, his name is John! Where did Bill come from? Was that one of my brothers? The sudden realization of what I did made me stop in my tracks. My head dropped when I realized my mistake. There was no way Mrs. Ricca would name one of her sons “Bill”. “Billerica” was the name of a town just north of Boston.
小题1:Which one can show the charge of the writer’s feelings?
a. guilty b. anxious c. embarrassed d. happy e sure| A．a-d-b-e-c | B．d-e-b-a-c | C．c-b-e-d-a | D．b-c-d-e- |
小题2:According to the passage, which statement is NOT sure?| A．Forgetting your wife’s favourite flower is a very serious mistake. | | B．It is common to call an old acquaintance his given name. | | C．The writer was in his twenties when he met John in the store. | | D．John and the writer studied in the same college. |
小题3:The underlined word “acknowledge” probably means “ ” here.| A．accept | B．greet | C．thank | D．admit |
小题4:We can infer from the passage that _______.| A．The writer must have experienced such embarrassment many times | | B．The writer had difficulty remembering names because he was getting old | | C．Running through the alphabet was always an effective way of remembering an acquaintance’s name for the writer | | D．Mrs. Ricca would have named one of her sons “Bill” if Billerica was not the name of a town north of Boston |
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“Linda, if beating yourself up were an Olympic sport, you’d win a gold medal!”
Annabel, my close friend, stunned（使…震惊）me with that frank observation after I told her how I had mishandled a situation with a student in a third-grade class where I was substituting（代替）. “I should never have let him go to the boy’s room without a pass! It was my fault he got into trouble with the hall monitor! I’m so stupid!”
My friend burst out laughing, and then made her “Olympic” comment. After a brief period of reflection I had to admit that she was right. I did put myself down an awful lot. Why, just during the previous day I had called myself “a slob” for having some papers spread out on my desk, “ugly” when I left the house without makeup and “an idiot” when I left the house for an emergency substitute job without my emergency lesson plan.
In a more reflective tone, Annabel said, “I once took a workshop at church where the woman in charge had us list all the mean things we say about ourselves.”
“How many did you have on your list?” I asked.
“Fifteen,” she confessed. “But then the teacher said, ‘Now turn to the person next to you and say all the items on your list as if you were speaking to that person!’ ”
My jaw dropped，“What did you do?”
“Nothing. Nobody did. We all just sat there, until I said, ‘I could never say these things to anyone else!’ ”
“And our teacher replied, ‘Well, if you can’t say them to anyone else, then don’t ever say them to yourself!’ ”
My friend had a point. I would never insult a child of God---and I’m God’s child, too!
God, today let me be as kind to myself as I would be to another of Your children.
小题1:What does Annabel mean by the first sentence of the passage?| A．The writer is a good athlete. | | B．The writer scolds herself too much. | | C．She is encouraging the writer | | D．A gold medal is not a big deal. |
小题2:What does the writer intends to tell us through the second and third paragraphs?| A．She has low self-esteem over some small things. | | B．She often makes serious mistakes in daily life. | | C．She is a third-grade teacher. | | D．She cares too much about her appearance. |
小题3:We can infer that the underlined word “slob” might be _____.| A．something untidy | B．someone dangerous | C．something dirty | D．someone lazy |
小题4:What can we learn about Annabel?| A．She used to put herself down a lot. | | B．She often goes to church. | | C．She was in charge of a workshop. | | D．She used to be too shy to talk to others. |
小题5:What does the writer mean by the last sentence of the passage?| A．She is ready to turn to God for help. | | B．She will be kind to all children. | | C．She won’t insult(侮辱) herself as well as others. | | D．She is willing to be a child of God. |
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Childhood is a time （1）_____ there are few responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved, whatever he may do. (2)_____ is impossible that he will ever again in his life (3)________(give) so much without having to do anything in return. But a child hashis pains; he is not so free to do (4) _____he wishes to; he is continually being told not to do something, or being punished (5)_____ what he has done wrong.
When the child has become a young man and this young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work on his own if he wants to live (6)________ (comfort). If he spends most of his time (7) ________(play) about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go (8)________ (hunger). If, however, he works hard, (9)________(keep) out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in (10)________ (social). |
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