阅读理解。
Nate suffered a hard blow when he lost his job. His boss had spoken rudely, "Your services are no longer
needed." Nate left the building filled with despair. By the time he reached home, he was in a deep depression.
When he entered his house, he blurted out to his wife Sophia, "I lost my job. I am a complete, absolutely
failure." A tense silence followed. Then a smile crept across Sophia's face. "What great news!" she responded,
"Now you can write the book you have always wanted to write."
"But I have no job and no prospect of a job," he objected, completely without hope. "If I struggle to be an
author, then what will we live on? Where will the money come from?" Sophia took her husband by the hand
and led him to the kitchen. Opening a drawer, she took out a box that was full of cash. "Where on earth did
you get this?" Nate gasped."To whom does it belong?"
"It's ours!" Sophia replied. "I always know that one day you would become a great writer only if you
were given the chance. From the money you gave me for housekeeping every week, I have saved as much
as I could so you would have your chance. Now there is enough to last us a whole year."
What a surprise! What encouragement! What a wife! The unemployed husband did concentrate on writing
that year, and the novel he wrote became a literary masterpiece (杰作). The book is The Scarlet Letter. Sophia
had an even greater achievement, and she turned Nathaniel Hawthorne from a poor clerk into a world famous
master.
1. Which of the following can be inferred from the first paragraph? [ ]
A. Sophia was very disappointed to hear the news.
B. Nate was too sad to speak any more.
C. Sophia was thinking of how to encourage Nate.
D. Neither husband nor wife had any idea of what to do.
2. Sophia saved money because _____. [ ]
A. she knew her husband would lose his job one day
B. she knew their life would be in difficulty
C. she was very careful with money
D. she was trying to help her husband in every possible way
3. From the passage we can know that Sophia was _____. [ ]
A. kind and brave
B. careful and encouraging
C. friendly and warm-hearted
D. honest and determined
4. What would be the best title for the passage? [ ]
A. Sophia's Achievement
B. A Great Writer's Struggle to Success
C. Great Encouragement in Hard Times
D. Failure is the Mother of Success
