Question

It all began with a stop at a red light.

Kevin Salwen was driving his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, back from a sleepover in 2006 . While waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes Coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other.

“Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal.”Hannah protested. The light changed and they drove on, but Hannah was too young to be reasonable. She pestered （糾纏）her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something.

“What do you want to do?” her mom responded. “Sell our house?”

Warning! Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager. Hannah seized upon the idea of selling the luxurious family home and donating half the proceeds to charity, while using the other half to buy a more modest replacement home.

Eventually, that’s what the family did. The project —crazy, impetuous（魯莽的）and utterly inspiring — is written down in detail in a book by father and daughter scheduled to be published next month: “The Power of Half.” It’s a book that, frankly, I’d be nervous about leaving around where my own teenage kids might find it. An impressionable child reads this, and the next thing you know your whole family is out on the street.

At a time of enormous needs in Haiti and elsewhere, when so many Americans are trying to help Haitians by sending everything from text messages to shoes, the Salwens offer an example of a family that came together to make a difference — for themselves as much as the people they were trying to help. In a column a week ago, it described neurological evidence from brain scans that unselfishness lights up parts of the brain normally associated with more primary satisfaction. The Salwens’ experience confirms the selfish pleasures of selflessness.

Mr. Salwen and his wife, Joan, had always assumed that their kids would be better off in a bigger house. But after they downsized, there was much less space to retreat to, so the family members spent more time around each other. A smaller house unexpectedly turned out to be a more family-friendly house.

1.The best title for the passage should be “______”.

A. The Less, the Better

B. An Expected Satisfaction

C. Something We Can Live Without

D. Somewhat Crazy but Inspiring

2.What does the underlined word “inequity” most probably mean in Paragraph 3?

A. Unfairness. B. Satisfaction.

C. Personal attitude. D. Reasonable statement.

3.What does the underlined sentence “Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager.” mean? ______

A. Never give a quick answer to an idealistic teenager.

B. Unless a child is realistic, never give an answer immediately.

C. Give an answer if the child is reasonable.

D. Don’t respond to a child's demands firmly without consideration.

4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A. The Salwens regretted selling their house.

B. The relationship between the family members of the Salwens is much closer.

C. Small houses can bring happiness.

D. The Salwens intend to buy another big house.

5.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Mercedes Coupe is only an ordinary car which is quite cheap.

B. Unselfishness has nothing to do with people’s primary satisfaction.

C. Hannah asked her parents to do something charitable and they sold their house.

D. The writer’s children asked him to sell their house.

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.A

3.D

4.B

5.C

【解析】

試題分析：“一半的力量”，用我們生活的部分來幫助他人，既有助于他人，或許從某種程度上會幫到自己。本文講得是the Salwens在女兒的要求下，賣了房子，換了小的，剩下的錢，用來幫助有需要的人，而他們自己的家庭成員間的關(guān)系也更加親密了。

1.D主旨大意題。通讀全文可知，the Salwens賣了房子，換了小的，剩下的錢，用來幫助有需要的人，而他們自己的家庭成員間的關(guān)系也更加親密了。正如文章第六段所說“The project —crazy, impetuous（魯莽的）and utterly inspiring…”，他們的慈善活動很瘋狂——給房子都賣了，但很鼓舞人心，給其他人樹立了很好的榜樣。故標(biāo)題應(yīng)選D.Somewhat Crazy but Inspiring.

2.A詞義推測題。A. Unfairness.“不平等”; B. Satisfaction.“滿意，滿足”; C. Personal attitude. “個人態(tài)度”; D. Reasonable statement.“合理的說法”，該詞指代上文他們所見的事情，而根據(jù)文章第二段“they saw a black Mercedes Coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other.”（他們看到一邊是輛黑色的奔馳車，另一邊是一個無家可歸的人在乞討食物。），這顯然是種不平等，故該詞正確答案為A.

3.D句意推測題。根據(jù)前后語境“… insisting that she wanted to do something.（漢娜堅持說她想（為此）做些事情。）What do you want to do?” her mom responded. “Sell our house?”（母親說道“要把我們的房子賣了嗎？”）Hannah seized upon the idea of selling the luxurious family home and donating half the proceeds to charity, while using the other half to buy a more modest replacement home.（漢娜就抓住這個主意不放了——把家里豪華的大房子賣掉，一半的錢捐給慈善事業(yè)，一半再買了簡樸點的房子。）”，所以“Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager.” 的句意應(yīng)為：“不要給一個理想主意的孩子一個這么大方的建議�！�，即不要不加思索地回應(yīng)一個孩子的要求。故正確答案為D.

4.B推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章最后一段中“ But after they downsized, there was much less space to retreat to, so the family members spent more time around each other. A smaller house unexpectedly turned out to be a more family-friendly house.”可推知，the Salwens家庭成員間更加親密了。故正確答案為B.

5.C細節(jié)推理題。根據(jù)文章第六段中“Eventually, that’s what the family did. The project —crazy, impetuous（魯莽的）and utterly inspiring — is written down in detail in a book by father and daughter scheduled to be published next month: ‘The Power of Half.’”可知漢娜讓父母做慈善的事情，最終他們把房子給賣了。故該題正確答案為C.

考點：故事類文章的閱讀