“Get yourself up and make something of yourself,buddy!”Though my mother has passed away,her words are as clear in my head today as when I was a boy.
“Christ!”I said,“I have made something of myself. I want to sleep late as I like.”
“If there’s one thing I can’t stand,it’s a quitter.”Her voice in my head is more powerful than my will to refuse,so I pull myself from bed.
Before I was out of primary school,mother could see I lacked the gifts for either making millions or winning the love of crowds.So she began pushing me toward working with words.Words ran in her family.There seemed to be a word gene that passed down from her mother’s grandfather·
The greatest proof was my mother’s first cousin Edwin.He was the managing editor of the New York Times and had gained a name in his career.
In 1947 1 graduated from Johns Hopkins and applied for a job with the Baltimore Sun as a police reporter.It paid$30 a week .When I complained the wage was shameful for a learned man,mother refused to sympathize.“If you work hard at this job,”she said,“maybe you can make something of it.”
After a while,I was asked to cover diplomats(外交官)at various African embassies. Then,
seven years later I was arranged by the Sun to cover the White House,a task that was as close to heaven as a journalist could get.However,whatever achievement of mine only seemed insignificant in her eyes.Uncle Edwin’s success was really annoying during my early years as a reporter.What a thrill,I thought.
Then,out of my wildest childhood fantasy,the Times came knocking.It was sad that Uncle Edwin had passed away by this time.In 1979 I won the Pulitzer Prize.Unfortunately,my mother’s brain and health broke down the year before,leaving her in a nursing home,out of touch with life forevermore .She never knew of my Pulitzer.
I can probably guess how she’d have responded.“ That’s nice,buddy.It shows if you work hand,you’11 be able to make something of yourself one day,”
The first three paragraphs are intended to______
A.draw readers’attention to the author’s success |
B.remind readers that the road to success is rough |
C.serve as an introduction to the author’s mother |
D.explain why the author’s mother kept blaming him |
The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 probably means that tier families____
A.were gifted at language | B.never broke their promise |
C.were fond of reading | D.stuck to their family belief |
What can we learn about the author
A.He got a good salary working as a police reporter. |
B.He lived a rich life with his mother in his childhood. |
C.It was proud of her mother to see his winning the Pulitzer Prize. |
D.It was beyond his wildest dream that he could work for the Times. |
The author regards Uncle Edwin’s success as a thrill because______.
A.he himself was less smart than Uncle Edwin |
B.his mother’s family thought Uncle Edwin to be a good reporter |
C.few reporters can become the managing editor of the New York Times |
D.Uncle Edwin spared no effort to get the Pulitzer Prize at the cost of his life |