“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 pany 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.
【小题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.【小题2】Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?A．The idea of not trying would keep ing 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.【小题3】We can know from the passage that .A．the boss thought the idea was suitable for the authorB．the author wanted someone else to try the ideaC．the author might not regret if he failed the ideaD．the author might go back to his boss if he failed【小题4】Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?A．Cleverness and KindnessB．The Starting of AmazonC．Following My PassionD．We Are What We ChooseC
网友回答
(答案→)C
解析：文章讲述的是亚马逊网站创始人的故事。才智是与生俱来的，而善良是后天可以选择的。天赋易得，选择难做。在贝佐斯16岁的时候，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。在得到妻子的支持以后，他辞去了待遇很好的工作，虽然老板曾试图留住他，但贝佐斯最终决定把自己的想法付诸实践。
【小题1】根据第二段“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，互联网的迅速发展让作者感到吃惊，也让作者萌生了创建一个网络书店的想法，故选C。
【小题2】根据第三段段意和“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A。
【小题3】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C。
【小题4】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D。