1 . John H. Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas City in 1918. His father died in an accident when John was six. He was reaching high school age, but his hometown offered no high school for blacks.
Fortunately he had a strong-willed, caring mother. John remembers that his mother told him many times, “Son, you can be anything you really want to be if you just believe.” She told him not to be dependent on others, including his mother. “You have to earn success,” said she. “All the people who work hard don’t succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard.”
These words came from a woman less than a third grade education. She also knew that believing and hard work don’t mean everything. So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son — then 15 — to Chicago.
Chicago in 1933 was not the promised land that black southerners were looking for, John’s mother and stepfather could not find work. But there John could go to school, and there he learned the power of words — as editor of the newspaper and yearbook of Du Stable High School. His wish was to publish a magazine for blacks.
While others discouraged him, John’s mother offered him more words to live by: “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” She also let him pawn (典当) her furniture to get the $500 he needed to start the Negro magazine.
It is natural the difficulties and failures followed John closely until he became very successful. He always keeps his mother’s words in mind. “Son, failure is not in your vocabulary.”
Now John H. Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America — worth $150 million.
1. Why did John’s mother decide to move to Chicago? Because ________.| A．John’s father died in his hometown when he was very young |
| B．life was too hard for them to stay on in their hometown, while life in Chicago would be better for blacks |
| C．there were no schools for blacks in their hometown |
| D．John needed more education and he could go to school there |
| A．Chicago was the promised land for black southerners in 1933. |
| B．John’s mother worked hard as a cook to make their life better. |
| C．With the help of his mother, John got the money to start the Negro magazine. |
| D．Now John is the richest man in America. |
| A．strong woman with much knowledge |
| B．woman who would do anything for her son |
| C．woman with little school education but knew a lot about life |
| D．loving mother with different kinds of experience in life |
| A．if you try, you will succeed in the end |
| B．a failure is difficult to beat, even if you try |
| C．a try is always followed by a failure |
| D．nothing but a try can help you out of failure |
| A．How John H. Johnson became somebody. |
| B．The mental support John’s mother gave him. |
| C．The importance of a good education. |
| D．The key to success for blacks. |
