－We'd better do the job ________.

－Don't you think it is ________ time?

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In early autumn I applied for admission to college. I wanted to go nowhere but to Cornell University, but my mother fought strongly against it. When she saw me studying a photograph of my father on the sports ground of Cornell, she tore it up.

“You can’t say it’s not a great university, just because Papa went there.”

“That’s not it at all. And it is a top university.” She was still holding the pieces in her hand. “But we can’t afford to send you to college.”

“I wouldn’t dream of asking you for money. Do you want me to get a job to help support you and Papa? Things aren’t that bad, are they?”

“No,” she said. “I don’t expect you to help support us.”

Father borrowed money from his rich cousins to start a small jewellery shop, His chief customers were his old college friends. To get new customers, my mother had to help. She picked up a long-forgotten membership in the local league of women, so that she could get to know more people. Whether those people would turn into customers was another question. I knew that my parents had to wait for quite a long time before their small investment could show returns. What’s more , they had not wanted enough to be rich and successful；otherwise they could not possibly have managed their lives so badly.

I was torn between the desire to help them and change their lives, and the determination not to repeat their mistakes. I had a strong belief in my power to go what I wanted. After months of hard study, I won a full college scholarship .My father could hardly contain his pride in me, and my mother eventually gave in before my success.

1.The author was not allowed to go to Cornell University mainly because___________

A.his father graduated from the university

B.his mother did not think it a great university

C.his parents needed him to help support the family

D.his parents did not have enough money for him

2.The father started his small shop with the money from___________

A. local league                  B. his university

C. his relatives                  D. his college friends

3.Why did the mother renew her membership in the league?

A. To help with her husband’s business

B. To raise money for her son

C. To meet her long-forgotten friends

D. To better manage her life

4.According to the text, what was the author determined to do in that autumn? 

A. To get a well-paid job for himself

B. To improve relations with his mother

C. To go to his dream university

D. To carry on with his father’s business

“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity,” said the American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. I’ve never watched her show, but when a self-made billionaire gives life advice it’s probably worth listening to.
Her point is that blind luck is very rare. You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you. If you’re a Chinese, you may already be familiar with the tale of a farmer waiting by a tree stump(树桩) for a rabbit to run out and break its neck.
A book by the UK psychologist Richard Wiseman, called The Luck Factor, argues we can all make ourselves luckier. It’s not about going to a temple to burn some incense(香) hopes that the gods will give you good fortune; it’s practical advice you can follow each day.
Wiseman conducted an experiment as part of his studies. First he divided volunteers into two groups; those who said they were lucky in life and those who said they were not. He gave everyone a newspaper and asked them to look through it to count how many photographs it had inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs while the lucky people took just seconds. Why? On the second page of the newspaper, a command, “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper,” was written in big letters. The unlucky people mostly did not spot the message.
It’s easy to compare this situation to a young person looking for jobs in a local paper. They might search so hard for one type of position that they miss an even better opportunity. People who are “lucky”, in fact, keep an open mind and don’t go through the same routine every day.
I first came to China in 2002 when it was considered a rather strange thing to do. Like many foreigners, my plan was to teach English for one year. Seven years later, and still here, I’ve had many great opportunities such as writing for newspapers and magazines. I did not dream these would have been possible. I’ve also never been sick, had an accident, got into a fight or had problems with the police. Coincidence? After reading about Professor Wiseman’s studies I think not.
As Wiseman advises, I usually trust my own judgment. Your friends and parents may give you advice based on rational thinking, but it’s important to consider how you feel about each choice you make. Your feeling acts as a warning for a potential problem.
Finally, try to turn bad luck into good. Even if you do fall down and break a leg, the time spent at home can be used wisely to study English.
【小题1】Which of the following proverbs most agrees with the writer’s point?