Question

Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice．Gifts are easy—they’re given after a11．Choicecan be hard．

I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago．Icame across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2300 percent per year．I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast，andtheidea of building all online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old，and I’d been married for a year．I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’tand I wasn’t sure what to expect．MacKenzie told me I should go for it．As a young boy，I’dbeen a garageinventor．I’d always wanted to be all inventor，and she wanted me to follow my passion．

I was working at a financial firm in New York Citywith a bunch of very smart peopleand Ihad a brilliant boss that I much admired．I went to my boss and toldhim I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet．He took me on a longwalk in Central Park，listened carefully to me，and finally said，“That sounds like a really good ides，but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job．”That 1ogic made some sense to me，and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision．Seenin that light．it really wasa difficult choice，but ultimately，I decided I had to give it a shot．I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing．And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.

After much consideration，I took the less safe path to follow my passion，and I’m proud ofthat choice．For all ofus，in the end，we are our choice．

1.What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?

A．His dream of being an inventor．

B．The support of his wife．

C．The greatly increasing usage of the Internet．

D．Millions of exciting titles,

2.Which of the following is closest in meaningto the underlinedentence?

A．The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him．

B．He would be very excited if he tried it out．

C．Be would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try．

D．The decision to not try the online bookstore would terrify him．

3.We can know from the passage that_______．

A．the boss thought the idea was suitable for the author

B．the author wanted someone else to try the idea

C．the author might not regret if he failed the idea

D．the author might go back to his boss if he failed

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Cleverness and Kindness

B．The Starting of Amazon

C．Following My Passion

D．We Are What We Choose

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.C

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：文章讲述的是亚马逊网站创始人的故事。才智是与生俱来的，而善良是后天可以选择的。天赋易得，选择难做。在贝佐斯16岁的时候，他惊叹于互联网的迅速发展，于是萌发了建立网上书店的想法。在得到妻子的支持以后，他辞去了待遇很好的工作，虽然老板曾试图留住他，但贝佐斯最终决定把自己的想法付诸实践。

1.C细节理解题；根据第二段“I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me.”可知，互联网的迅速发展让作者感到吃惊，也让作者萌生了创建一个网络书店的想法，故选C。

2.A细节理解题；根据第三段段意和“I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.”可知，老板想说服作者留下来，作者有些动摇，但经过思考之后，作者决定辞职建网站，作者不害怕尝试和失败，但会因为想法没有付诸实践而愧疚。故选A。

3.C推理判断题；根据第三段“I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing.”可知，作者认为自己将不会为尝试和失败感到后悔。故选C。

4.D主旨概括题；根据最后一段“After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I’m proud of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.”可知，作者把自己的热情付诸了实践，并且获得了成功。是我们的选择才成就了我们每一个人。故选D。

考点：考查人物自传类阅读

【名师点睛】

人物传记类文章的阅读策略和解题技巧：

1.把握文体特征，注意写作手法如前文所述，人物传记是记叙文体的一种，因此在阅读时要把握好时间、地点、人物和事件这四大要素。

其次，还应该注意人物传记类文章的结构多按时间顺序排列，一般采用倒叙的写作手法，有时也采用插叙和补叙等手段。弄清楚人物传记类文章的特征和写作手法，能帮助考生在阅读和回答问题时做到高效省时、准确无误。

2.抓住题干关键词，采用寻读的方法查找细节描述事实细节题是人物传记类文章的主要题型，一般常见以下几种类型：

(1)对号入座题：

这种题的答案一般在原文中可以直接找到，只要读懂文章，掌握文章中的事实，如时间、地点、事件等细节问题，就能选对正确答案。 如第21题根据第二段“I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me.”可知，互联网的迅速发展让作者感到吃惊，也让作者萌生了创建一个网络书店的想法，

(2)词义转换题：

这种题常常是原文有关词语和句子的转换，而不能在原文中直接找到。它要求考生能理解原文中某个短语或句子的含义，从而找到与答案意思相同的词语和句子。如第22题，根据第三段段意和“I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.”可知，老板想说服作者留下来，作者有些动摇，但经过思考之后，作者决定辞职建网站，作者不害怕尝试和失败，但会因为想法没有付诸实践而愧疚。这道题是需要在多个地方仔细找的。

(3)是非题：

该题型俗称“三缺一”题型，即题目四个选项中有三个符合文章内容，剩下一个不符合。题干多为：Which of the following isTRUE?或者三个不符合文章内容，剩下一个符合，题干多为：Which of the following…isNOTtrue?或All the following are true EXCEPT

(4)排序题：

这种题要求考生根据动作发生的先后顺序和句子之间的逻辑关系，找出事件发生的正确顺序。可采用“首尾定位法”，即先找出第一个动作和最后一个动作，迅速缩小选择范围，从而快速选出正确答案。