阅读理解

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从下列各题所给的四个选项中，选出一个最佳答案。

　　Computer programmer David Jones makes $35,000 a year designing (设计) new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a credit card (信用卡). Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18.

　　The 16-year-old boy works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David's firm (公司) puts two new games on the home market each month. But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money. In spite of his salary (薪水), made by inventing new programs within quite a short period of time, with bonus payments (奖金) and profit-sharing (分红), he cannot drive a car, get some money from a bank to buy a house, or get credit cards.

　　He lives with his parents in their house in Liverpool, where his father is a bus driver. His firm has to pay $150 a month in taxi fares to get him the five miles to work and back every day because David cannot drive. David got his job with the firm a year after leaving school with six 0-levels and working for a time in a computer shop.“I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs,”he said.

　　“I suppose (认为) $35,000 sounds a lot but actually (实际上) that's not good enough. I hope it will come to more than that this year.”He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother $20 a week. But most of his spare time is spent on working.

　　“Unfortunately (不幸的是), computing was not part of our studies at school,”he said.“But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway.”

　　David added, “I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement (退休) is a possibility (可能性). You never know when the market will disappear.”

1．Why is David different from other young people of his age?

[　　]

A．He earns a very high salary.

B．He has no job.

C．He does not go out much.

D．He lives at home with his parents.

2．David's greatest problem is ________.

[　　]

A．making the banks treat him as a grown-up

B．inventing computer games

C．spending his salary

D．learning to drive

3．He was hired by the firm because ________.

[　　]

A．he had worked in a computer shop

B．he had written some computer programs

C．he works very hard

D．he had learnt to use computers at school

4．He left school after taking six 0-levels because ________.

[　　]

A．he did not enjoy school

B．he wanted to work with computers and staying at school did not help him

C．he was afraid of getting too old to use a computer

D．he wanted to earn a lot money

5．Why does David think he might retire early?

[　　]

A．Because one has to be young to write computer programs.

B．Because a million dollars is enough for him to live a happy life.

C．Because he thinks computer games might not always sell so well.

D．Because he thinks his firm might go bad.

Peter came from a poor family. His father died when he was five. His mother had no money to send him to school. His mother’s best friend, Mrs Smith, felt that the boy was 　41 , and decided to give him some money so he 　42 　go to school. When the boy finished high school, he found a job in the city.

　43 soon Mrs Smith had a serious illness. As she was dying(即将死亡的)，she asked Peter to look after her daughter. A few years later, Peter married the girl. He loved her so much that he tried to make her　 44 every day. He cooked lots of delicious food and bought all kinds of beautiful clothes for her. So she became very fat and found 　 45 hard to walk.

　 One day, she felt uncomfortable. She went to the hospital. The doctor 　46 and told her not to eat meat, sugar, chocolate and things like that. She was afraid she might 　47 the doctor’s words, so she wrote all the names of the foods on a piece of paper. When she got home, she put the 　48 on the table and went out. When she returned home, she found all kinds of meat, sugar and chocolate in the kitchen. Peter was busy 49 . As soon as he saw her, he said 　50 ,“I’ve bought all the foods you wanted, dear!”

41. A. lazy　　　　　B. clever　　　　　　　　　 C. funny　　　　　 D. interesting

42. A. would　　　　　　　　　 B. must　　　　　　　　　 C. had to　　　　　　　　　 D. could

43. A. Though　　　　　　　 B. So C. But D. Or

44. A. outgoing　　　　　　　 B. lovely　　　　　　　　 C. active　　　　　 D. happy

45. A. it B. its C. that D. this

46. A. looked her up B. looked her over C. looked for her D. looked at her　　　　

47. A. forget B. catch C. remember　　　　　　　 D. follow

48. A. notice　　　　　　　　　　 B. name　　　　　　 C. words　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. list

49. A. eating B. drinking C. cooking D. having

50. A. sadly　　　　　　　　 B. excitedly　　　　　 C. anxiously　　　　 D. angrily

A

It is very important to be able to control yourself. Losing control may bring things that would never want to see. We can learn something from the following story.

Once a boy often made trouble. His mother gave him many nails （钉子）. She told him to hammer （锤，钉） one in the garden fence （栅栏）, every time he lost his patience （耐心） and fought with someone. The first day he hammered 27 nails. In the following weeks he learned how to control himself better and the number of the nails he hammered became smaller and smaller. He learned it was easier to control himself than to hammer nails.

The day finally came when he didn’t hammer any nails. He went to tell his mother about it. Then his mother told him to pull off a nail from the fence each time he didn’t lose his patience. After some days he told his mother that all the nails had been pulled off. Thus, she took him to the fence and said to him, “You’ve behaved（表现） well, but look at all the holes in the fence. The fence will never be again like it was before. When you fight with someone, you leave wounds（伤口） in him like these. The trouble may be over, but the wounds will always be there.”

So, learn to control yourself before you hammer the nails in the fence. Try not to leave any holes in your past.

（   ） 1. Losing control may bring you ________.

A. good luck         B. trouble             C. nails                   D. a hammer

（   ） 2. The boy used to _______.

A. be polite           B. do wrong         C. be careless          D. be friendly to others

（   ） 3. Why did the mother give her son nails?

A. To put the garden fence right.        B. To put them away.

C. To help him understand something. D. To make him lose patience.

（   ） 4. In what condition （条件） could the boy pull off a nail?

A. He could control himself.              B. He fought with others.

C. He wanted to do so.                      D. His mother asked him to do so.

（   ） 5. The writer wants us to ______.

A. praise the clever mother                B. correct our mistakes

C. learn to control ourselves              D. know hammering nails is useful

B

    A man once had a dream about the Black Forest In Germany. In his dream he was walking in the forest when two men ran out and tried to throw him to the ground. He ran off as fast as he could, but they followed him. He reached a place where he saw two roads in front of him, one to the right and the other to the left. Which road should he take? He heard the two men behind him, getting nearer, and at the same time he heard a voice in his ear. It told him to go to the right, and he did so. He ran on and soon came to a small hotel. He was received there kindly and given a room, and he was saved from the two men. That was the dream.

    Twenty years later he was really in the Black Forest and, as happened in the dream long ago, two men ran out and tried to throw him down. He ran off, and came to a place with two roads, like in the dream. He remembered the dream and took the road to the right. He soon reached a small hotel, was taken in, and so was safe. His dream of twenty years before had saved him.

（    ） 6. The Black Forest is ______.

         A. a place in Germany                          B. not a real place

         C. invented by the writer                       D. a place in Britain

（    ） 7. When he was walking in the forest, _______ ran after him.

         A. two dogs           B. two tigers           C. two men             D. two women

（    ） 8. At last he came to _______.

         A. a forest              B. another road        C. another dream      D. a small hotel

（    ） 9. It was ______ that saved the man’s life 20 years later.

         A. a voice     B the dream     C. someone else    D. God

（    ） 10. The story tells us that ______.

A. a dream may come true some time later

B. a dream is always a dream

C. people should not believe their dreams

D. people should always believe their dreams