One summer I was driving from my hometown of Tahoe City，Calif.，to New Orleans.In the middle of the desert, I came upon a young man standing by the roadside. He had his thumb out and held a gas can in his other hand. I drove right by him.There was a time in the country when you"d be considered a jerk if you passed by somebody in need. Now you are a fool for helping. With gangs, drug addicts, murderers, rapists, thieves lurking everywhere, “I don"t want to get involved” has become a national motto.
Several states later I was still thinking about the hitchhiker.Leaving him stranded in the desert did not bother me so much.What bothered me was how easily I had reached the decision.I never even lifted my foot off the accelerator.
Does anyone stop any more? I wondered.I recalled Blanche DuBois"s famous line：“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”. Could anyone rely on the kindness of strangers these days? One way to test this would be for a person to journey from coast to coast without any money, relying solely on the goodwill of his fellow Americans.What kind of Americans would he find? Who would feed him, shelter him，carry him down the road?
The idea intrigued me.
The week I turned 37，I realized that I had never taken a gamble in my life.So I decided to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic without a penny.It would be a cashless journey through the land of the almighty dollar.I would only accept offers of rides, food and a place to rest my head.My final destination would be Cape Fear in North Carolina，a symbol of all the fears I"d have to conquer during the trip.
I rose early on September 6, 1994, and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge with a 50pound pack on my back and a sign displaying my destination to passing vehicles：“America”．
For six weeks I hitched 82 rides and covered 4,223 miles across 14 states.As I traveled, folks were always warning me about someplace else.In Montana they told me to watch out for the cowboys in Wyoming; in Nebraska they said people would not be as nice in Iowa. Yet I was treated with kindness everywhere I went.I was amazed by people"s readiness to help a stranger, even when it seemed to run contrary to their own best interests.
小题1:Why did the author drive past the young man in the desert without stopping?| A．Because he failed to notice this man. | | B．Because he was driving too fast. | | C．Because he thought the young man didn"t need help. | | D．Because he was afraid of being tricked. |
小题2:What was it that made the author upset?| A．Leaving the young man alone in the desert. | | B．Being considered a fool. | | C．Making the decision of not offering help so easily. | | D．Keeping thinking about the young man. |
小题3:The author decided to travel without a penny in order to ________.| A．find out how long he could survive without help | | B．go through the great difficulty in surviving unexpected environment | | C．find out whether strangers would offer help to him | | D．figure out how strangers thought of his plan |
小题4:In the passage，the author described his journey as a gamble because ________.| A．he was not so sure of the outlook of the journey | | B．he had no money to give to strangers | | C．he was sure of the coming sufferings | | D．he wasn"t sure whether to make the journey |
小题5:The following part might probably ________.| A．describe how he fooled strangers | | B．describe how strangers went out of their way to help him | | C．explain why people refused to help strangers | | D．explain how he overcame his difficulties on the way |
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小题1:D
小题2:C
小题3:C
小题4:A
小题5:B |
当今社会，帮助陌生人的人会被当成傻瓜，在这样的导向下，人们是否还会向陌生人伸出援手？作者为了得到答案，亲历了一次“身无分文”的旅行。
小题1:解析 细节理解题。根据文章第一段最后两句可知，如今人们不想因为帮助陌生人而陷入麻烦，作者正是受这种思想的影响，而没有停车。答案 D
小题2:解析 细节理解题。根据文章第二段中的“What bothered me was how easily I had reached the decision.”可知，使作者感到不安的是自己怎么会那么轻易就作出了不伸出援手的决定。答案 C
小题3:解析 细节理解题。根据文章第三段最后三句的内容以及第四段“The idea intrigued me”可知，作者决定进行这次“身无分文”的旅行是想看看是否会有陌生人帮助他，因此选择C。
答案 C
小题4:解析 推理判断题。根据文章的描述可知，由于现在的人们不愿意帮助陌生人，作者不知道他是否会得到帮助，因此作者把这次旅行当成是一次冒险，说明他对这次旅行的前景不乐观，因此选择A。答案 A
小题5:解析 篇章结构题。根据最后一段的描述可知，作者无论到哪儿都会得到帮助，甚至一些人宁愿违背自己的利益，也会去帮助他，因此下文作者会具体说明人们是如何尽力帮助他的。答案 B。 |
核心考点
试题【One summer I was driving from my hometown of Tahoe City，Calif.，to New Orleans.In】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
Some people think that success is only for those with talent or those who grow up in the right family，and others believe that success mostly comes down to luck.I"m not going to say luck，talent，and circumstances don"t come into play because they do.Some people are born into the right family while others are born with great intelligence，and that"s just the reality of how life is.
However，to succeed in life，one first needs to set a goal and then gradually make it more practical.And，in addition to that，in order to get really good at something，one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practising.To become great at certain things，it"ll require even more time，time that most people won"t put in.
However，to succeed in life，one first needs to set a goal and then gradually make it more practical.And，in addition to that，in order to get really good at something，one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practising.To become great at certain things，it"ll require even more time，time that most people won"t put in.
This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love. If you don"t enjoy what you do，it is going to feel like unbearable pain and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.
This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love. If you don"t enjoy what you do，it is going to feel like unbearable pain and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.
When you see people exhibiting some great skills or having achieved great success，you know that they have put in a huge part of their life to get there at a huge cost.It"s sometimes easy to think they got lucky or they were born with some rare talent，but thinking that way does you no good，and there"s a huge chance that you"re wrong anyway.
Whatever you do，if you want to become great at it, you need to work day in and day out，almost to the point of addiction，and over a long period of time.If you"re not willing to put in the time and work，don"t expect to receive any rewards.Consistent, hard work won"t guarantee you the level of success you may want, but it will guarantee that you will become really good at whatever it is you put all that work into.
小题1:Paragraph 1 mainly talks about ________.| A．the reasons for success | | B．the meaning of success | | C．the standards of success | | D．the importance of success |
小题2:Successful people suggest doing what one loves because ________.| A．work makes one feel pain | | B．one tends to enjoy his work | | C．one gives up his work easily | | D．it takes a lot of time to succeed |
小题3:What can we infer from Paragraph 4?| A．Successful people like to show their great skills. | | B．People sometimes succeed without luck or talent. | | C．People need to achieve success at the cost of life. | | D．It helps to think that luck or talent leads to success. |
小题4:What is the main theme of the passage?| A．Having a goal is vital to success. | | B．Being good is different from being great. | | C．One cannot succeed without time and practice. | | D．Luck，talent and family help to achieve success. |
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Whenever I felt disappointed I often thought of what my mother had said to me，“Everything happens for the best.If you____，one day something good will happen.And you"ll realize that it wouldn"t have happened if not for that previous____．”
As it____，mother was right.In 1932，I ended my college life.____ that，I had decided to try for a job in radio，and then could work my way up to sports ___．I went to Chicago and knocked on the door of every____－and got turned down every time.In one station，a ____ lady told me that big stations couldn"t risk hiring a person who lacked ____．“Go to ____ town and find a little station that"ll give you a chance，” she said.I then ____ to Dixon.While there was no radioannouncing jobs in Dixon，my father said Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted an athlete to ____ its sports department.Since Dixon was where I had played high school football，I ____．The job sounded just right for me.But I wasn"t ____．
My disappointment must have ___．“Everything happens for the best，” Mom ____ me.Dad ____ me one car for me to job hunt.I ____ WOC Radio in Davenport.The program ___，a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur，told me they had already ___ a contract with another announcer.
I often ____ what direction my life might have taken if I"d gotten the job at Montgomery Ward and if I didn"t persist.
| 小题1: | | A．go on | B．hold up | C．look on | D．stay up |
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| 小题2: | | A．successes | B．disappointments | C．lives | D．results |
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| 小题3: | | A．carried out | B．looked out | C．figured out | D．turned out |
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| 小题4: | | A．Since | B．After | C．Before | D．During |
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| 小题5: | | A．announcer | B．athlete | C．hostess | D．performer |
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| 小题6: | | A．firm | B．station | C．store | D．school |
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| 小题7: | | A．beautiful | B．kind | C．strict | D．cruel |
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| 小题8: | | A．money | B．knowledge | C．appearance | D．experience |
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| 小题9: | | A．down | B．small | C．big | D．faraway |
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| 小题10: | | A．walked | B．saw | C．added | D．turned |
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| 小题12: | | A．refused | B．applied | C．managed | D．yelled |
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| 小题13: | | A．fired | B．employed | C．fitted | D．satisfied |
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| 小题14: | | A．disappeared | B．fallen | C．shown | D．responded |
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| 小题15: | | A．reminded | B．persuaded | C．advised | D．recited |
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| 小题16: | | A．lent | B．offered | C．sold | D．promised |
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| 小题17: | | A．visited | B．tried | C．passed | D．poured |
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| 小题18: | | A．boss | B．singer | C．photographer | D．director |
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| 小题19: | | A．signed | B．assigned | C．designed | D．resigned |
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| 小题20: | | A．doubted | B．wondered | C．intended | D．expected |
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There was once a lonely girl who longed so much for love.One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving songbirds.She took them home and put them in a small cage，caring them with love.Luckily，the birds grew strong little by little.Every morning they greeted her with a wonderful song.The girl felt great love for the birds.
One day the girl left the door to the cage open accidentally.The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage.The girl was so frightened that he would fly away so as he flew close，she grasped him wildly.Her heart felt glad at her success in capturing him.Suddenly，she felt the bird go limp，so she opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird.It was her desperate love that had killed him.
She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage.She could feel his strong desire－needing to fly into the clear，blue sky.Unwillingly，she lifted him from the cage and tossed him softly into the air.The lucky bird circled once，twice，three times.
The girl watched delightedly at the bird.Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss.What she wanted to see was that the bird could fly happily.Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder.It sang the sweetest tune that she had ever heard.
Remember，the fastest way to lose love is to hold on it too tight；the best way to keep love is to give it wings!
小题1:After the girl found the two birds，she________．| A．became delighted at once | | B．treated them for a long time | | C．took them to their home | | D．fed them and raised them |
小题2:Why did the girl grasp the stronger bird wildly?| A．Because the girl disliked the bird any longer. | | B．Because the bird wanted to fly alone. | | C．Because the girl loved the bird deeply. | | D．Because the bird intended to found some food. |
小题3:The underlined word “tossed” in the passage means________．| A．throw someting with slightly force | | B．give up something happily | | C．hold something fast | | D．cast something without patient |
小题4:What can we learn from the passage?| A．Catch what you can catch on your way to success. | | B．Going too far is as bad as not going far enough. | | C．The best things come when you least expect them to. | | D．A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. |
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Some people think that success is only for those with talent or those who grow up in the right family，and others believe that success mostly comes down to luck.I’m not going to say luck，talent，and circumstances don’t come into play because they do.Some people are born into the right family while others are born with great intelligence，and that’s just the reality of how life is.
However，to succeed in life，one first needs to set a goal and then gradually make it more practical.And，in addition to that，in order to get really good at something，one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practising.To become great at certain things，it’ll require even more time，time that most people won’t put in.
This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love.If you don’t enjoy what you do，it is going to feel like unbearable pain and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.
When you see people exhibiting some great skills or having achieved great success，you know that they have put in a huge part of their life to get there at a huge cost.It’s sometimes easy to think they got lucky or they were born with some rare talent，but thinking that way does you no good，and there’s a huge chance that you’re wrong anyway.
Whatever you do，if you want to become great at it，you need to work day in and day out，almost to the point of addiction，and over a long period of time.If you’re not willing to put in the time and work，don’t expect to receive any rewards.Consistent，hard work won’t guarantee you the level of success you may want，but it will guarantee that you will become really good at whatever it is you put all that work into.
小题1:Paragraph 1 mainly talks about________.| A．the reasons for success | | B．the meaning of success | | C．the standards of success | | D．the importance of success |
小题2:In Paragraph 2，the underlined word that refers to________.| A．being good at something | | B．setting a practical goal | | C．putting in more time | | D．succeeding in life |
小题3:Successful people suggest doing what one loves because________.| A．work makes one feel pain | | B．one tends to enjoy his work | | C．one gives up his work easily | | D．it takes a lot of time to succeed |
小题4:What can we infer from Paragraph 4?| A．Successful people like to show their great skills. | | B．People sometimes succeed without luck or talent. | | C．People need to achieve success at the cost of life. | | D．It helps to think that luck or talent leads to success. |
小题5:What is the main theme of the passage?| A．Having a goal is vital to success. | | B．Being good is different from being great. | | C．One cannot succeed without time and practice. | | D．Luck，talent and family help to achieve success. |
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Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia(怀旧)．It’s fun to come home.It looks the same.It smells the same.You’ll realize what’s changed is you.Home is where we can remember pain，love，and some other experiences：We parted here；My parents met here；I won three championships here.
If I close my eyes，I can still have a clear picture in mind of my first home.I walk in the door and see a brown sofa surrounding a low glasstop wooden table.To the right of the living room is my first bedroom.It’s empty，but it’s where my earliest memories are.
There is the dining room table where I celebrated birthdays，and where I cried on Halloween－when I didn’t want to wear the skirt my mother made for me.I always liked standing on that table because it made me feel tall and strong.If I sit at this table，I can see my favorite room in the house，my parents’ room.It is simple：a brown wooden dresser lines the right side of the wall next to a television and a couple of photos of my grandparents on each side.Their bed is my safe zone.I can jump on it anytime－waking up my parents if I am scared or if I have an important announcement that cannot wait until the morning.
I’m lucky because I know my first home still exists.It exists in my mind and heart，on a physical property(住宅) on West 64th street on the western edge of Los Angeles.It is proof I lived，I grew，and I learned.
Sometimes when I feel lost，I lie down and shut my eyes，and I go home.I know it’s where I’ll find my family，my dogs，and my belongings.I purposely leave the window open at night because I know I’ll be blamed by Mom.But I don’t mind，because I want to hear her say my name，which reminds me I’m home.
小题1:Why does the author call her parents’ bed her “safe zone”(Paragraph 3)?| A．It is her favorite place to play. | | B．Her needs can be satisfied there. | | C．Her grandparents’ photos are lined on each side. | | D．Her parents always play together with her there. |
小题2:What can be learned from the passage?| A．The old furniture is still in the author’s first bedroom. | | B．The author can still visit her first physical home in Los Angeles. | | C．The author’s favorite room in her first home is the dining room. | | D．Many people of the author’s age can still find their first physical homes. |
小题3:Sometimes when she feels lost，the author will________.| A．open the window at night | | B．lie down in bed to have a dream | | C．try to bring back a sense of home | | D．go to Los Angeles to visit her mom |
小题4:What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?| A．To express how much she is attached to her home. | | B．To declare how much she loves her first house. | | C．To describe the state of her family. | | D．To look back on her childhood. |
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