I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in (旁听生） for another l8 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unmarried college graduate student, and she decided to, put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course. " My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers, She only gave in a few months later when my parents promised that would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I artlessly chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and ail of my working class parents" savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn"t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn"t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn"t all romantic. I didn"t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends" rooms, I returned coke bottles for the $ 5 deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.
小题1:From the passage we know that the author . | A．was adopted by a lawyer and his wife | | B．dropped out when he was 17 years old | | C．The author was admitted to Stanford | | D．valued his dropping out |
小题2:The author dropped out mainly because . | A．His academic performance was very poor. | | B．He did not want to waste his parents" money. | | C．His parents were too poor to afford the college tuition. | | D．He didn"t think university could help him to get a well-paid job |
小题3:Why did the author think dropping out was a good decision?| A．He could transfer to Stanford. | | B．He could follow his passion. | | C．He didn"t have to attend classes any more. | | D．He could spend more time in Hare Krishna temple. |
小题4:What can be inferred from this passage ?| A．The author was taking a risk when he made the decision of dropping out. | | B．The author enjoyed the comfort and pleasure of life after he dropped out. | | C．The author"s parents were very angry at his decision. | | D．The author was a very curious person. |
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小题1:D
小题2:B
小题3:B
小题4:A |
试题分析：这是苹果电脑公司(Apple Computer)和皮克斯动画公司(Pixar Animation Studios)首席执行官史蒂夫乔布斯(Steve Jobs)2005年6 月在斯坦福大学的演讲第一部分的内容。乔布斯在那次演讲中讲到了他生活中的三个故事：第一个故事关于如何串连生命中的点滴；第三个故事关于死亡；第二个故事关于爱与失的。三次体验不仅在斯坦福大学的毕业生、也在硅谷乃至其他地方的技术同行中引起了巨大反响。本文讲的是他的第一一个故事：关于如何串连生命中的点滴。
小题1:D 主旨大意题。根据第三段最后几句的描述“So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.所以我决定退学，并且相信没有做错。一开始非常吓人，但回忆起来，这却是我一生中作的最好的决定之一。”以及最后一段“And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.能够遵循自己的好奇和直觉前行后来被证明是多么的珍贵。”归纳出作者是“非常珍惜这次退学”的。根据“so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.一对律师夫妇说好了要领养我，然而最后一秒钟，他们改变了主意，决定要个女孩儿。”可以排除A项；根据“And 17 years later I did go to college. But I artlessly chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford,十七年后，我上大学了，但是我很无知地选了一所差不多和斯坦福一样贵的学校”可以排除B项和C项。
小题2:B 推理判断题。根据“and ail of my working class parents" savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn"t see the value in it.几乎花掉我那蓝领阶层养父母一生的积蓄。六个月后，我觉得不值得。”和“And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out而我却在花销父母一生的积蓄。所以我决定退学”可以推断作者退学主要是不想浪费家长的钱。
小题3:B推理判断题。从第三段最后一句话“The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn"t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.从我退学的那一刻起，我可以停止一切不感兴趣的必修课，开始旁听那些有意思得多的课。”可以推断答案B正确。
小题4:A推理判断题。从第三段“It was pretty scary at the time一开始非常吓人”和最后一段“事情并不那么美好。我没有宿舍可住，睡在朋友房间的地上。为了吃饭，我收集五分一个的旧可乐瓶，每个星期天晚上步行七英里到哈尔-克里什纳庙里改善一下一周的伙食。”我们可以得到答案A。 |
核心考点
试题【I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around a】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
One day I walked down to get to my car, thinking about what I had to accomplish and scolding myself for being late for work, but surprisingly the car was nowhere to be found.
This was at 8 a.m. in the morning. I made trips to all the towing places and police stations, all the time thinking that it was towed (拖走）by cops (巡警).By around 10 a.m., the cops decided that it was actually stolen. After filing a report with them, I finally got to work thinking how my day was completely messed up.
Later in the day I went to pick up a rental car at Enterprise only to realize that my license was missing, too, along with my car. I told the enterprise guy the whole story and he offered to take me to the closest DMV and get a duplicate (副本) license. 1 was totally shocked. I did not know why this complete stranger would want to take some time off his day to help me. He actually took me to DMV, got a duplicate and then rented me a car. I was upset the whole day because of the events happening to me but somehow this simple act of kindness from a complete stranger made it all worth it. It cheered me up and made me forget all the troubles of the day. I was so moved by this kind act that the next day I made sure someone else got a similar surprise. I took some smiley shaped chocolates and left them on some of my colleagues’ desks.
There is still a lot of goodness out there in the world. We just need to take the time to notice it. I hope that this story would inspire many others like me to do more acts of kindness.
小题1:The moment the author found the car missing, he thought ______.| A．it was stolen by a stranger | B．it was towed by the police | | C．he placed it in a wrong place | D．he should rent another one |
小题2:We can infer that DMV is ______.| A．an office for license | B．a towing place | | C．a renting place | D．a parking lot |
小题3:Why did the author put some chocolates on his colleagues’ desks?| A．His colleagues were fond of chocolates. | | B．He wanted to thank his colleagues. | | C．He was touched and hoped to cheer others. | | D．He wanted to do his colleagues a favor. |
小题4:The author writes about his experience ______.| A．to criticize the person stealing his cars | | B．to praise the rental place at Enterprise | | C．to tell us a surprising but moving story | | D．to encourage people to do acts of kindness |
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Which is safer --- staying at home, traveling to work on public transport, or working at the office? Surprisingly, each of these carries the same risk, which is very low．However, what about flying compared to working in the chemical industry? Unfortunately, the former is 65 times riskier than the latter! In fact the accident rate of workers in the chemical industry is less than that of almost any of human activity, and almost as safe as staying at home．
The trouble with the chemical industry is that when things go wrong they often cause death to those living nearby．It is this that makes chemical accidents so newsworthy．Fortunately, they are extremely rare．The most famous ones happened at Texas City （1947）, Flixborough （1974）, Seveso （1976）, Pemex （1984） and Bhopal （1984）．
Some of these are always in the minds of the people even though the loss of life was small．No one died at Seveso, and only 28 workers at Flixborough．The worst accident of all was Bhopal, where up to 3,000 were killed．The Texas City explosion of fertilizer killed 552．The Pemex fire at a storage plant for natural gas in the suburbs of Mexico City took 542 lives, just a month before the unfortunate event at Bhopal．
Some experts have discussed these accidents and used each accident to illustrate a particular danger．Thus the Texas City was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate, which is safe unless stored in a great quantity．The Flixborough fireball was the fault of management, which took risks to keep production going during essential repairs．The Seveso accident shows what happens if the local authorities lack knowledge of the danger on their doorstep．When the poisonous gas drifted over the town , local leaders were incapable of taking effective action．The Pemex fire was made worse by an overloaded site in an overcrowded suburb．The fire set off a chain reaction of exploding storage tanks．Yet, by a miracle, the two largest tanks did not explode．Had these caught fire, then 3,000 strong rescue team and fire fighters would all have died．
小题1:Which of the following statements is TRUE? | A．Working at the office is safer than staying at home． | | B．Travelling to work on public transport is safer than working at the office． | | C．Staying at home is safer than working in the chemical industry． | | D．Working in the chemical industry is safer than traveling by air． |
小题2:Chemical accidents are usually important enough to be reported as news because .| A．they are very rare | | B．they often cause loss of life | | C．they always occur in big cities | | D．they arouse the interest of all the readers |
小题3:According to the passage, the chemical accident that caused by the fault of management happened in_________．| A．Texas city | B．Flixborough | | C．Seveso | D．Mexico City |
小题4:From the passage we know that “ammonium nitrate” is a kind of _____．| A．natural gas, which can easily catch fire | | B．fertilizer, which can"t be stored in a great quantity | | C．poisonous substance, which can"t be used in overcrowded areas | | D．fuel, which is stored in large tanks |
小题5:From the discussion among some experts we may conclude that _____．| A．to avoid any accident we should not repair the facilities in chemical industry | | B．the local authorities should not be concerned with the production of the chemical industry | | C．all these accidents could have been avoided or controlled if effective measures had been taken | | D．natural gas stored in very large tanks is always safe |
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I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren’t something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief(悲伤) at a Chinese funeral.
My editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried piteously at her desk. Somehow we got through the day"s work. The next day was the funeral.
Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: "There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven." Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute(哀悼), weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Me and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man"s mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. At one point, the mother almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral parlor stunned at the outpouring of emotion.
In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more cathartic to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West.
Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting at the funeral had been restrained(克制) by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it"s the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world.
It was our newspaper"s production day. We were bussed back to the office to resume work. No more deadlines for our former colleague, but we had to pull together to put the newspaper to print. The boss invited the team to go out for dinner after work. We relaxed, smiled, joked. There was no mention of the funeral or our poor colleague. Enough sorrow had been shed already. We needed a break.
小题1:The underlined words “stiff upper lip style” mean “ ”.| A．cold-blooded | B．warm-hearted | | C．self-controlled | D．light-hearted |
小题2:At the funeral, .| A．five individuals made speeches | | B．the boss’s speech was best thought of | | C．everyone was crying out loudly | | D．the writer was astonished by the scene |
小题3:According to the writer, people in the West .| A．are not willing to be sad for the dead | | B．prefer to control their sadness in public | | C．cry their eyes out at the public funeral | | D．have better way to express sadness |
小题4:It is implied that .| A．the English might cry noisily for the dead in Dickens’ time | | B．Chinese express their sadness quite unlike other peoples | | C．victims of terrorist bombings should be greatly honored | | D．English funeral culture is more civilized than the others |
小题5:This passage talks mainly about .| A．an editor’s death | B．bad funeral customs | | C．western ways of grief | D．cultural differences |
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The rain was coming down heavily and I was going to be late for an important conference. Dressing up quickly, I called for a taxi, that it would be faster than the subway.
It wasn"t.
After a long wait, I finally got one, but the traffic was heavy. I looked at my from time to time. Just as the traffic started moving, the driver a man up ahead in a wheelchair.
“Wouldn"t he be cold sitting right there!” the driver cried and began to .
I could see there would be another 20 minutes" — him into the cab, folding up his chair and putting it into the taxi"s small , then dropping him off who knows where.
“What are you doing?” I shouted to the driver.
As the came out, I wanted to take them back. The wrongness of my to the driver shocked me. Why did I let out the shout?
The driver me and we continued the journey. Eventually I got out of the taxi and
to the office. As I ran, I understood that, though it wasn"t my duty to take the time to help others, I shouldn"t have the driver"s stopping. I should have been able to see beyond my impatience to notice what was most inerrant (不会错的). Whenever I think of this incident, this is my : I am not a self-centered person, but I still feel
of being self-centered. Living a busy life in a fast-paced big city, do we still need to stop to help those who are in need of help?
| 小题1: | | A．reminding | B．expecting | C．realizing | D．attempting |
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| 小题2: | | A．computer | B．document | C．message | D．watch |
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| 小题3: | | A．witnessed | B．picked | C．spotted | D．observed |
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| 小题4: | | A．pull over | B．take off | C．pass by | D．run away |
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| 小题5: | | A．complaining | B．suffering | C．waiting | D．struggling |
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| 小题6: | | A．indicating | B．recommending | C．lifting | D．urging |
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| 小题7: | | A．trunk | B．box | C．window | D．carriage |
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| 小题8: | | A．anxieties | B．words | C．results | D．comments |
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| 小题9: | | A．reaction | B．request | C．comment | D．suggestion |
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| 小题10: | | A．comforted | B．prevented | C．encouraged | D．ignored |
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| 小题11: | | A．escaped | B．fled | C．settled | D．flooded |
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| 小题12: | | A．excited at | B．thought about | C．made fun of | D．complained about |
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| 小题13: | | A．feeling | B．motto | C．dream | D．determination |
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| 小题14: | | A．skillfully | B．strangely | C．particularly | D．hopefully |
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| 小题15: | | A．proud | B．aware | C．ashamed | D．confident |
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My big moment finally came in the summer of 1998 when I was able to accompany my parents to Europe, where my father was to attend a meeting. We planned to travel to Belgium, Netherlands and West Germany.
I have clear memories even today of going to Mumbai airport at night all excited about finally going abroad. I had heard several great things about Lufthansa till then but now I finally got to experience them first hand, during the flight to Frankfurt. We flew business class and even today I can remember the excellent service by the Lufthansa crew （工作人员）. The flight was really smooth and thoroughly enjoyable, even for someone like me, who is especially afraid of flying.
After spending almost two weeks in Europe, we took the Lufthansa airport express from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt airport, for our return flight. What a journey that was! All along the Rhine (莱茵河), it was simply an unforgettable experience. I had a sombre feeling on the flight back to Mumbai as it marked the end of a wonderful vacation, but the Lufthansa crew members were able to change it into a most enjoyable experience yet again, with the quality of their service.
Being the first airline to take me abroad, Lufthansa will always hold a special place in my heart. Even today，I continue to enjoy flights on Lufthansa and simply cannot dream of choosing any other airline. Flying, in general，for me，has always been a terrible and painful experience．Flying on Lufthansa，however, is something I always have and always will look forward to.
小题1:Which country does the author live in now?| A．India. | B．Canada. | C．Belgium. | D．Germany. |
小题2:What made the author so interested in traveling abroad?| A．Growing up in India. | | B．Once staying in Canada. | | C．Once traveling to Canada with his father. | | D．His father"s stories about his traveling experiences. |
小题3:Which of the following is true about the author"s trip to Europe in 1998?| A．The author traveled with one of his parents. | | B．Both their going and return were by air. | | C．They traveled in spring that year. | | D．They stayed in Europe for nearly two months. |
小题4:It can be inferred from the passage that Lufthansa is ________.| A．a city in India | B．a city in Europe | | C．an airline company | D．a travel agency |
小题5:The underlined word “somber” in the 4th paragraph probably means “________”.| A．happy | B．sad | C．angry | D．enjoyable |
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