Question

One man tells of driving on a long and lonely road, the last 65 miles of it unpaved, in order to watch Indian dances in the state of Arizona. After the dances, he returned to his car only to find that it had a flat tire. He put on the spare and drove to the only service station in that town.
“Do you fix flats?” he inquired of the attendant.
“Yes,” came the answer.
“How much do you charge?” he asked.
With a twinkle in his eye, the man replied, “What difference does it make?”
This is what has been called a “Hobson’s choice”. A Hobson’s choice is a situation that forces a person to accept whatever is offered or go without.
According to Barbara Berliner, the phrase was inspired by sixteenth-century entrepreneur (企业家) Thomas Hobson. There was no choice by the customer — it was strictly Hobson’s choice.
But often we really have a choice, and the choice does make a difference. We may not always believe it. We may feel as if we have no choice, but almost always there is a choice in the matter. And when we realize that we do most things by choice, then we are taking control of our own lives.
Someone challenged me to try an experiment that completely changed my perspective. “For the next seven days,” he said, “eliminate the words ‘I have to’ from your vocabulary and say ‘I choose to’. Don’t say, ‘I have to work late tonight’. Instead, say, ‘I choose to work late’. When you choose to do it, you take control of your life. Instead of saying, ‘I have to stay home’, try ‘I choose to stay home’. The way you spend your time is your choice. You are responsible. You have control.”
In just seven days I was no longer saying “I have to” and I felt better about my decisions. I learned that there is very little in my life I actually have to do. You and I decide to do certain things because we believe that it will be for the best. When we eliminate “I have to” from our vocabularies, we take control.
Try it for a week and you see what happens. I think you’ll see it’s a change for the better.
【小题1】 What did the attendant mean by saying “What difference does it make”?

A．The man didn’t need to pay for the work.

B．It was unnecessary for the man to ask about the price.

C．There was no need for the man to have the tire fixed.

D．The man should keep silent.

【小题2】The author learnt from the experiment that he      .

A．could become more challenging

B．could spend more time relaxing himself

C．should take pleasure in helping others

D．actually changed his attitudes towards life

【小题3】What does the underlined word “eliminate” mean?

A．Remember.

B．Repeat.

C．Remove.

D．Recite.

【小题4】What is the situation where we have a “Hobson’s choice”?

A．We have no choice but to follow.

B．We should often change our choice.

C．We should make preparations before a journey.

D．We should think twice before taking action.

【小题5】 The purpose of writing this text is to            .

A．advise us to become active in life

B．explain what Hobson’s choice is

C．tell an interesting story about the author

D．accept others’ advice modestly

Answer 1

【小题1】B
【小题1】D
【小题1】C
【小题1】A
【小题1】A

解析【小题1】B 理解推断题。询问服务员的话的意思，从上文可以看出主人公车胎坏了，无论如何都必须要付钱修轮胎，所以他根本没有必要询问价格，故选择B
【小题1】D 主旨大意题。作者描述最后三段讲述的实验时说道Someone challenged me to try an experiment that completely changed my perspective.说明实验改变了作者的态度，故选择D
【小题1】C 词义理解题。联系上下文，这个动词后面的句意大概是不要使用I have to而要用I choose to，说明eliminate的意思是去掉，故选择C
【小题1】A 分析推断题。文章中对Hobson’s choice的描述是There was no choice by the customer — it was strictly Hobson’s choice.说明在毫无选择只得服从时便被称为Hobson’s choice故选择A
【小题1】A 主旨大意题。作者写这篇文章的主要目的可以从一句话里看出：When we eliminate “I have to” from our vocabularies, we take control.即告诉我们要积极地去控制自己的生活，故选择A