I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in (旁听生） for another l8 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unmarried college graduate student, and she decided to, put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course. " My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers, She only gave in a few months later when my parents promised that would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I artlessly chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and ail of my working class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the $ 5 deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.
小题1:From the passage we know that the author
.
A．was adopted by a lawyer and his wife
B．dropped out when he was 17 years old
C．The author was admitted to Stanford
D．valued his dropping out
小题2:The author dropped out mainly because
.
A．His academic performance was very poor.
B．He did not want to waste his parents' money.
C．His parents were too poor to afford the college tuition.
D．He didn't think university could help him to get a well-paid job
小题3:Why did the author think dropping out was a good decision?
A．He could transfer to Stanford.
B．He could follow his passion.
C．He didn't have to attend classes any more.
D．He could spend more time in Hare Krishna temple.
小题4:What can be inferred from this passage ?
A．The author was taking a risk when he made the decision of dropping out.
B．The author enjoyed the comfort and pleasure of life after he dropped out.
C．The author's parents were very angry at his decision.
D．The author was a very curious person.
答案
小题1:D
小题2:B
小题3:B
小题4:A
试题分析：
这是苹果电脑公司(Apple Computer)和皮克斯动画公司(Pixar Animation Studios)首席执行官史蒂夫乔布斯(Steve Jobs)2005年6 月在斯坦福大学的演讲第一部分的内容。乔布斯在那次演讲中讲到了他生活中的三个故事：第一个故事关于如何串连生命中的点滴；第三个故事关于死亡；第二个故事关于爱与失的。三次体验不仅在斯坦福大学的毕业生、也在硅谷乃至其他地方的技术同行中引起了巨大反响。本文讲的是他的第一一个故事：关于如何串连生命中的点滴。
小题1:D 主旨大意题。根据第三段最后几句的描述“So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.所以我决定退学，并且相信没有做错。一开始非常吓人，但回忆起来，这却是我一生中作的最好的决定之一。”以及最后一段“And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.能够遵循自己的好奇和直觉前行后来被证明是多么的珍贵。”归纳出作者是“非常珍惜这次退学”的。根据“so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.一对律师夫妇说好了要领养我，然而最后一秒钟，他们改变了主意，决定要个女孩儿。”可以排除A项；根据“And 17 years later I did go to college. But I artlessly chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford,十七年后，我上大学了，但是我很无知地选了一所差不多和斯坦福一样贵的学校”可以排除B项和C项。
小题2:B 推理判断题。根据“and ail of my working class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it.几乎花掉我那蓝领阶层养父母一生的积蓄。六个月后，我觉得不值得。”和“And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out而我却在花销父母一生的积蓄。所以我决定退学”可以推断作者退学主要是不想浪费家长的钱。
小题3:B推理判断题。从第三段最后一句话“The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.从我退学的那一刻起，我可以停止一切不感兴趣的必修课，开始旁听那些有意思得多的课。”可以推断答案B正确。
小题4:A推理判断题。从第三段“It was pretty scary at the time一开始非常吓人”和最后一段“事情并不那么美好。我没有宿舍可住，睡在朋友房间的地上。为了吃饭，我收集五分一个的旧可乐瓶，每个星期天晚上步行七英里到哈尔-克里什纳庙里改善一下一周的伙食。”我们可以得到答案A。
知识点
人物传记类文章的文体特征：
人物传记是记叙文体的一种，主要描写某人的生平事迹、趣闻轶事、生活背景、个性特征、成长奋斗历程等，包含记叙文的时间、地点、人物、事件等要素。其特点是以时间的先后或事件的发展为主线，空间或逻辑线索贯穿文章始终，脉络清楚，可读性较强。