4、      By the time the Montgomery Improvement Association chose the 26-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr as its leader, the hours-old bus boycott by the black citizens of Montgomery, Alabama, was already a great success．King would later write that his unexpected call to leadership "happened so quickly that I did not have time to think it through．" "It is likely that if I had, I would have turned down the nomination（提名）．"

      Although press reports at the time paid much attention to his public speaking skills, King was actually an unwilling leader of a movement started by others．His later writings and private letters show that he doubted the movement at that time．In the early days of his taking part, King was troubled by telephone threats, disagreement within the black community and Montgomery's "get tough" policy．One night, as he considered ways to "move out of the picture without appearing a coward（懦夫）," he began to pray aloud and, at that moment, "experienced the presence of the God as I had never experienced him before．"

      He would later admit that when the boycott began, he didn't firmly believe in Gandhian（甘地）principles．Although he had been introduced to those in college, he had remained doubtful．"I thought the only way we could solve our problem of segregation（種族隔離 ）was an armed revolution," he recalled．

      Only after his home was bombed in late January did King reconsider his views on violence．（At the time, he was looking for a gun permit and was protected by armed bodyguards．）Competing with each other to influence King were two pacifists（和平主義者）: Bayard Rustin and the Rev．Glenn E．Smiley．Rustin was shocked to discover a gun in King's house, while Smiley told fellow pacifists that King's home was "an arsenal（軍火庫(kù)）"．

      By the time the Supreme Court（最高法院）said that the bus company was wrong to separate blacks from whites in November 1956, King had been permanently changed．

      "Living through the real experience of the protest, non-violence became more than a method to which I gave intellectual assent（同意）," he would later explain．"It became a commitment（約束）to a way of life．"

      After the boycott, King allowed himself to think deeply about his growing fame and his own self doubts．"To be honest, I'm worried to death," he said．"A man who succeeds at 27 has a difficult job ahead．People will be expecting me to pull rabbits out of the hat for the rest of my life．"

1．What did King think of his nomination as leader of the Montgomery Boycott?

    A．He hadn't expected it．         B．He had to think about it carefully．

    C．He would refuse to accept it．    D．He was prepared to accept it．

2．Which of the following was the immediate cause that made King change his view on violence?

   A.The education he received in college． B. His belief in the Gandhian principles．

   C．The attack on his home．           D.The influence of two active non-violence men．

3．What happened to King after he successfully led the boycott against the bus company?

    A．He was worried to death．          B．He knew he would be murdered．

    C．He firmly believed in non-violence．   D．He was proud of being famous at an early age．

4．What did King mean by the sentence "People will be expecting me to pull rabbits out of the hat for the rest of my life"?

    A．His dream was to become a magician．

    B．Many people were admiring his great success．

    C．More and more people began to trust him．

    D．People would expect him always to succeed．