Question

John H. Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas City in 1981. His father died in an accident when John was six. He was reaching the high school age, but his hometown offered no high school for blacks.

Fortunately he had a strong—willed caring mother. John remembered that his mother told him many times, “Son, you can be anything you want really to be if you just believe.” She told him not to depend on others, including his mother. “You have to learn success” she said. “All the people who work hard don’t succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard.”

These words, came from a woman with less than a third grade education. She also knew that believing and hard work don’t mean everything. So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son, who was then 15, to Chicago.

Chicago in 1933 was not the promised land that black southerners were looking for. John’s mother and stepfather could not find work. But here John could go to school, and here he learned the power of words--as an editor of the newspaper and yearbook at Du Sable High School. His wish was to publish www..coma magazine for blacks.

While others discouraged him, John’s mother offered him more words to live by “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” She also let him pawn（典當） her furniture to get the $ 500 he needed to start the Negro magazine.  

It is natural that difficulties and failures followed john closely until he become very successful. He always keeps his mother’s words in mind:” Son, failure is not in your vocabulary!” Now John H. Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America--worth  $150 million.

What does the story mainly want to show us?

A. The key to success for blacks. 

B. The mental support John’s mother gave him.

C. The importance of a good education.

D. How John H. Johnson became successful.

Why did John’s mother decide to move to Chicago?

  A. Because his father died when John was very young.

  B. Because life was too hard for them to stay on in their hometown.

  C. Because John needed more education badly.

  D. Because there were no schools for Negroes in their hometown.

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

  A. John’s mother didn’t believe in or depend on others.

  B. John’s mother believed one would succeed without working hard.

  C. John’s mother thought one could be whatever one wanted to be.

  D. John’s mother thought no one could succeed without working hard.

What does the underlined sentence “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” in Passage 5 mean?

  A. No failure can be beaten unless you try.

  B. If you try, you would succeed.

  C. A try is always followed by a failure.

  D. A failure is difficult to beat, even if you try. 

Answer 1

【小題1】B

【小題2】C

【小題3】D

【小題4】B

解析:

【小題1】 本篇文章給我們塑造了一個倔強的黑人媽媽的形象，不幸的男孩出生在一個幸福的家庭，但幸運的是有一個堅強的媽媽，讓其有自信心，讓其受教育，帶其離開家到他鄉求發展，在其事業中鼎立相助。文章最后的話揭示了中心。

【小題2】他媽媽決定去芝加哥，不是因為生活對他來說太艱苦了而無法生存，從第三段最后一句話可以看出，他媽媽當廚師并努力掙錢是因為他需要上學，而當地不允許黑人上學，這才是主要原因。

【小題3】本題是細節判斷題。第二段最后一句話說：努力的人并非都能成功，但成功人士都很努力。作者用了一個“only” 作了界定。

【小題4】 A是字面意思。結合當時的場景，他母親說的應該是鼓勵他嘗試的話，故選B。