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 suppertime, 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. 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.
B. The job was quite easy for him.
C. His mother had high hopes for him.
D. The competition for the job was fierce.
B. interested
C. ashamed
D. disappointed
B. She punished him.
C. She gave him some money.
D. She changed her plan.
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.
B. The early success of a journalist.
C. The happy childhood of the writer.
D. The important role of the writer in his family.
go to the store to get some soft drinks.It was a good time to let my teenage daughter Holly practice her 2 , so I sent her to the store in my truck.At dinner my son talked about how much he liked my 3 .I enjoyed
having it, but I said: "Guy, my heart is not set on that truck.I like it but it is 4 metal and won" t last
forever." After hearing the loud noise, the whole 5 ran outside.My son shouted: "Dad, Dad, Holly
crashed your truck."
My heart sank and my mind was 6 with conflicting thoughts. Was anyone hurt? Who else was
involved? As I ran to the door, I heard a voice in my 7 saying: "Here is a chance to show Holly what
you really 8 .She" 11 never forget it."
The accident had occurred in my own driveway.Holly had crashed my truck into our other car. Holly
was not 9 physically but when I reached her, she was crying and saying: " Oh, Dad, I"m sorry.I know
how much you love this truck." I held her in my arms as she cried.
Later that week a friend 10 by and asked what had happened to my truck.I told her the whole 11 .
Her eyes moistened(润湿) and she said: "That happened to me when I was a girl.I 12 my dad" s car and
ran into a log that had fallen 13 the road.I ruined the car.When I got home my Dad knocked me to the
ground and began to kick me.
Over 40 years later, she still felt the 14 of the night.It was a deep wound on her 15 .
I remember how 16 Holly was on the night she crashed our truck, and how I 17 her.One day,
when Holly thinks 18 in the future, I want her to know that I love her a thousand times more than
anything else.
I repaired the car, but the dent(凹陷)in my truck is 19 there today.Every day it reminds me of what
really 20 in my life.
( )1. A. After ( )2. A. studying ( )3. A. truck ( )4. A. still ( )5. A. brothers ( )6. A. filled ( )7. A. heart ( )8. A. hate ( )9. A. beaten ( )10. A. stood ( )11. A. accident ( )12. A. gave ( )13. A. across ( )14. A. accident ( )15. A. body ( )16. A. angry ( )17. A. blamed ( )18. A. back ( )19. A. already ( )20. A. works | B. Before B. cooking B. family B. just B. friends B. satisfied B. house B. love B. wounded B. ran B. story B. bought B. through B. pain B. head B. surprised B. scolded B. forward B. still B. needs | C. Later C. driving C. neighbor C. also C. neighbors C. surrounded C. neighborhood C. refuse C. hurt C. stopped C. adventure C. rode C. against C. car C. face C. disappointed C. comforted C. up C. never C. matters | D. Earlier D. operating D. house D. always D. family D. confused D. truck D. worry D. worried D. drove D. experience D. borrowed D. over D. sorry D. soul D. sad D. beat D. of D. no longer D. values | |||||||||||||||
阅读理解。 | ||||||||||||||||||
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have given $500,000 to help the town of Joplin -a town near the | ||||||||||||||||||
1. Where did the disaster most probably happen? | ||||||||||||||||||
A. in Britain B. in the USA C. in Australia D. in China | ||||||||||||||||||
2. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie donated $500,000 after the disaster_______. | ||||||||||||||||||
A. by post B. in the flesh C. through a foundation D. through the local Red Cross | ||||||||||||||||||
3. The best title for the passage is______. | ||||||||||||||||||
A. A disaster by a huge tornado in Joplin B. Rebuilding efforts after the disaster C. The Community Foundation of the Ozarks D. A donation from the Pitts | ||||||||||||||||||
完形填空。 | ||||||||||||||||||
School was over and I was both mentally and physically tired, I sat at the very front of the bus because of 1 to get home.Sitting at the front makes you 2 out like a shiny coin in a pile of dull pennies. Janie, the driver, tries to break the uncomfortable atmosphere by striking the match of 3 . I try to mind my manners and 4 listen, but usually I am too busy thinking about my day.On this day, however, her conversation was worth listening to. "My father"s sick," she said to no one in 5 .I could see the anxiety and fear in her eyes.With a sudden change of attitude and interest, I asked, "What"s wrong with him?" With her eyes wet and her voice tight from 6 the tears, she responded, "Heart trouble." Her eyes 7 as she continued."I"ve already lost my mum, so I don"t think I can 8 losing him." I couldn"t respond.I was 9 .My heart ached for her.I sat on the old, smelly seat thinking of the great 10 my own mother was thrown into when my father died. I saw how hard it was, and still is, for her.I wouldn"t like anyone to go through that.Suddenly I realized Janie wasn"t only a bus driver.That was just her job.She had a whole world of family and concerns too. I had never thought of her as anything but a 11 .I suddenly felt very 12 .I realized I had only thought of people as 13 as what their purposes were in my life.I paid no attention to Janie because she was a bus driver.1 had judged her by her job and regarded her as unimportant. For all I know, I"m just another person in someone else"s world, and may not even be important. I should not have been so selfish and self-centered.Everyone 14 a place to go to, people to see and appointments to 15 .Understanding people is an art. | ||||||||||||||||||
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