Question

I began working in journalism(新聞工作) when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.
    With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was supper time, I walked back home.
“How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.
“None.”
“Where did you go?”
“The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”
“What did you do?”
“Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”
“You just stood there?”
“Didn’t sell a single one.”
“My God, Russell!”
    Uncle Allen put in, “Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickel(五分鎳幣). It was the first nickel I earned.
    Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.
    One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.“If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
   My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.
56、 Why did the boy start his job young?

A．He wanted to be famous in the future.   B．The job was quite easy for him.

C．His mother had high hopes for him.     D．The competition for the job was fierce

57、From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.

A．excited

B．interested  C．ashamed  D．disappointed

 58、What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?

A．She forced him to continue.   B．She punished him.

C．She gave him some money.   D．She changed her plan.

59、 What does the underlined phrase “this battle” refer to?

A．The war between the boy’s parents.

B．The arguing between the boy and his mother.

C．The quarrel between the boy and his customers.

D．The fight between the boy and his father.

60、 What is the text mainly about?

A．The early life of a journalist.

B．The early success of a journalist.

C．The happy childhood of the writer.

D．The important role of the writer in his family.

Answer 1

CDABA

【解析】【56】C 推理題。根據文章1,2行She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.說明媽媽希望我成為重要人物，所以希望我很早就開始。故C正確。
【57】D 推理題。根據“You just stood there?”
“Didn’t sell a single one.”
“My God, Russell!”可知媽媽對我一份報紙也沒有賣掉感覺很失望。故D正確。
【58】A 細節題。根據文章倒數4,5行Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember.說明只要我要放棄媽媽就會責備我，迫使我繼續努力。故A正確。
【59】B 推理題。根據文章倒數第4行My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember.可知如果我想放棄，媽媽就會責備我。這是我和媽媽之間的戰斗。故B正確。
【60】A 主旨大意題。本文主要講述的是我在很小的時候就開始了賣報紙的活動，以及媽媽對我的教育。故A正確。