“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 ultimately (最后), 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 of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.
【小題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. 
【小題2】Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?
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．He would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try. 
D．The decision to not try the online bookstore would terrify him. 
【小題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 
【小題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 


【小題1】C
【小題2】A
【小題3】C
【小題4】D

解析試題分析：文章講述的是亞馬遜網(wǎng)站創(chuàng)始人的故事。才智是與生俱來(lái)的，而善良是后天可以選擇的。天賦易得，選擇難做。在貝佐斯16歲的時(shí)候，他驚嘆于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的迅速發(fā)展，于是萌發(fā)了建立網(wǎng)上書(shū)店的想法。在得到妻子的支持以后，他辭去了待遇很好的工作，雖然老板曾試圖留住他，但貝佐斯最終決定把自己的想法付諸實(shí)踐。
【小題1】根據(jù)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，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的迅速發(fā)展讓作者感到吃驚，也讓作者萌生了創(chuàng)建一個(gè)網(wǎng)絡(luò)書(shū)店的想法，故選C。
【小題2】根據(jù)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，老板想說(shuō)服作者留下來(lái)，作者有些動(dòng)搖，但經(jīng)過(guò)思考之后，作者決定辭職建網(wǎng)站，作者不害怕嘗試和失敗，但會(huì)因?yàn)橄敕](méi)有付諸實(shí)踐而愧疚。故選A。
【小題3】根據(jù)第三段“I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing.”可知，作者認(rèn)為自己將不會(huì)為嘗試和失敗感到后悔。故選C。
【小題4】根據(jù)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，作者把自己的熱情付諸了實(shí)踐，并且獲得了成功。是我們的選擇才成就了我們每一個(gè)人。故選D。
考點(diǎn)：人物類短文閱讀

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

Not many years ago, a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy – five, he gave $ 60,000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children’s ground.
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A．doing business B．making whisky C．cheating D．buying and selling land
【小題2】The gift of money to the school suggests that Johnson _______.
A．had many children in the school B．was a strange old man
C．was very fond of children D．was very kind
【小題3】Many people wrote to Johnson to find out _______.
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【小題4】When Johnson said he had an injection in his neck each evening, he really meant that _______.
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

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There is much more.Twain's mystery novel Pudd'nhead Wilson stood as a challenge to the racial beliefs of even many of the liberals of his day.Written at a time when the accepted wisdom held Negroes to be inferior(低等的)to whites，especially in intelligence，Twain's tale centered in part around two babies switched at birth.A slave gave birth to her master's baby and，for fear that the child should be sold South，switched him for the master's baby by his wife.The slave's lightskinned child was taken to be white and grew up with both the attitudes and the education of the slave­holding class.The master's wife's baby was taken for black and grew up with the attitudes and intonations of the slave.
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A．Twain was more willng to deal with racism.
B．Twain's attack on racism was much less open.
C．Twain's themes seemed to agree with plots.
D．Twain was openly concerned with racism.
【小題2】Recent criticism of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn arose partly from its________.
A．target readers at the bottom
B．a(chǎn)nti­slavery attitude
C．rather impolite language
D．frequent use of “nigger”
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B．The slave's voice was first heard in American novels.
C．Jim grew up into a man and a father in the white culture.
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【小題5】What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 7 refer to?
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【小題6】What does the author mainly argue for?
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B．Twain was an admirable figure comparable to Abraham Lincoln.
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

(2013·高考湖北卷，B)Mothers and daughters go through so much－yet when was the last time a mother and daughter sat down to write a book together about it all? Perri Klass and her mother，Sheila Solomon Klass，both gifted professional writers，prove to be ideal co­writers as they examine their decades of motherhood，daughterhood，and the wonderful ways their lives have overlapped (重疊)．
Perri notes with amazement how closely her own life has mirrored her mother’s：both have full­time careers；both have published books，articles，and stories；each has three children；they both love to read.They also love to travel－in fact，they often take trips together.But in truth，the harder they look at their lives，the more they acknowledge their big differences in circumstance and basic nature.
A child of the Depression (大蕭條)，Sheila was raised in Brooklyn by parents who considered education a luxury for girls.Starting with her college education，she has fought for everything she’s ever accomplished.Perri，on the other hand，grew up privileged in the New Jersey suburbs of the 1960s and 1970s.For Sheila，wasting time or money is a crime，and luxury is unthinkable while Perri enjoys the occasional small luxury，but has not been successful at trying to persuade her mother into enjoying even the tiniest thing she likes.
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【小題1】Why does Perri think that her own life has mirrored her mother’s?

A．They both have gone through difficult times.
B．They have strong emotional ties with each other.
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D．They both have experiences as daughter，mother and writer.
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A．something rare but not pleasant
B．something that cannot be imagined
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D．something that can only be enjoyed by boys
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B．The purpose of the book.
C．The influence of the book.
D．The writing style of the book.
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

(2013·高考重慶卷，D)Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean，an S­shaped body of water covering 33 million square miles.The Atlantic has，in a sense，replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization.Unlike real inland seas，which seem strangely still，the Atlantic is rich in oceanic liveliness.It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets.
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When the wind is from the west
All the waves that cannot rest
To the east must thunder on
Where the bright tree of the sun
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As the poem suggests，the Atlantic is never dead and dull.It is an ocean that moves，impressively and endlessly.It makes all kinds of noise—it is forever thundering，boiling，crashing，and whistling.
It is easy to imagine the Atlantic trying to draw breath－perhaps not so noticeably out in mid­ocean，but where it meets land，its waters bathing up and down a sandy beach.It mimics(模仿)nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature.It is filled with symbiotic existences，too：unimaginable quantities of creatures，little and large alike，mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony，giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat，a kind of sub­ocean vitality.And it has a psychology.It has personalities：sometimes peaceful and pleasant，on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking.
【小題1】Unlike real inland seas，the Atlantic Ocean is________.

A．a(chǎn)lways energetic
B．lacking in liveliness
C．shaped like a square
D．favored by ancient poets
【小題2】What is the purpose of using the poem “Storm at Sea” in the passage?
A．To describe the movement of the waves.
B．To show the strength of the storm.
C．To represent the power of the ocean.
D．To prove the vastness of the sea.
【小題3】What does the underlined word “symbiotic” mean?
A．Living together.
B．Growing fast.
C．Moving harmoniously.
D．Breathing peacefully.
【小題4】In the last paragraph，the Atlantic is compared to________.
A．a(chǎn) beautiful and poetic place
B．a(chǎn) flesh and blood person
C．a(chǎn) wonderful world
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

A year ago August, Dave Fuss lost his job driving a truck for a small company in west Michigan. His wife, Gerrie, was still working in the local school cafeteria, but work for Dave was scarce, and the price of everything was rising. The Fusses were at risk of joining the millions of Americans who have lost their homes in recent years. Then Dave and Gerrie received a timely gift--＄7,000, a legacy  (遺產(chǎn))  from their neighbors Ish and Arlene Hatch who died in an accident. “It really made a difference when we were going under financially,” says Dave.
But the Fusses weren’t the only folks in Alto and the neighboring town of Lowell to receive unexpected legacy from the Hatches. Dozens of other families were touched by the Hatches’ generosity. In some cases, it was a few thousand dollars; in others, it was more than ＄100,000.
It surprised nearly everyone that the Hatches had so much money, more than ＄3 million--they were an elderly couple who lived in an old house on what was left of the family farm.
Children of the Great Depression, Ish and Arlene were known for their habit of saving. They liked comparison shopping and would routinely go from store to store, checking prices before making a new purchase.
Through the years, the Hatches paid for local children to attend summer camp when their parents couldn’t afford it. “Ish and Arlene never asked if you needed anything.” says their friend Sandy Van Weelden. “They could see things they could do to make you happier, and they would do them.”
Even more extraordinary was that the Hatches had their farmland distributed. It was the Hatches’ wish that their legacy, a legacy of kindness as much as one of dollars and cents, should enrich the whole community and last for generations to come.
Neighbors helping neighbors -- that was Ish and Arlene Hatch’s story.
【小題1】According to the text, the Fusses_________.

A．were employed by a truck company
B．were in financial difficulty
C．worked in a school cafeteria
D．lost their home
【小題2】Which of the following is true of the Hatches?
A．They had their children during the Great Depression.
B．They left the family farm to live in an old house.
C．They gave away their possessions to their neighbors.
D．They helped their neighbors to find jobs
【小題3】Why would the Hatches routinely go from store to store?
A．They decided to open a store. ks5u
B．They wanted to save money.
C．They couldn’t afford expensive things.
D．They wanted to buy gifts for local kids.
【小題4】According to Sandy Van Weelden, the Hatches were ________.
A．understanding B．optimistic C．childlike D．curious
【小題5】What can we learn from the text?
A．The community of Alto was poor.
B．The summer camp was attractive to the parents.
C．Sandy Van Weelden got a legacy from the Hatches
D．The Hatches would like the neighbors to follow their example.

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