Question

“Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy—they’re given after all. Choices can be hard.”

—Jeff Bezos

I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. 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. 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’t, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. MacKenzie told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I’d been a garage inventor. I’d always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.

I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job.” That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but finally, 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 not to try at all.

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.

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. Millions of exciting titles.

D. The greatly increasing usage of the Internet.

2.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?

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

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

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

D. The decision not to 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 might not regret if he failed the idea

C. the author wanted someone else to try 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. We Are What We Choose

D. Following My Passion

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.B

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：文章讲述的是亚马逊网站创始人贝索斯的故事。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，并且最终决定把自己的想法付诸实践。他认为正是选择塑造了每个人。

1.D 细节理解题。根据第二段第二、三句“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贝索斯感到吃惊，也让他萌生了创建一个网络书店的想法。故选D。

2. 句意理解题。根据第三段最后两句“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B。

3.B 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B。

4. 主旨大意题。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C。

【名师点睛】

英语阅读理解中人物传记是一个主要类型，它主要涉及某人的生平事迹、趣闻铁事、生活背景、个性特征、成长和奋斗历程等。特点是以时间先后或事件的发展为主线，脉络清楚，可读性较强。因此，阅读这类文章的英语阅读理解技巧是应该抓住时间线索来获取有关信息，即主人翁在某个时间做过什么。然后通过分析推理、综合归纳的方法进行解题。本篇人物传记的线索是：主人公发现了商机——主人公最终把想法付诸行动并不畏惧失败和困难。由此容易得出本文的主旨内容。

考点：考查人生感悟类阅读