II.认真阅读下面两篇短文，每篇短文后有五个问题。根据短文的内容从四个选项中选择一个最佳答案，并将正确答案写在答题纸上。(本大题共10小题。每小题2分，共20分)
Passage 1Don Lucas grew up in poverty. His father died when Don was eight. His mother, with three small children and limited education, was on welfare and had no job prospects. She packed the three kids into an old car and set out from Indiana to California where she had obtained a job as a supermarket checker. Don enrolled in a high school in a tough part of town. He describes his town as the spot where drive-by shootings were invented. Few of his classmates ever went to college, and Don did not think about college until his senior year. He had been working from 4 to 9 pm daily at a gas station helping his family to make ends meet.
Don recalled, “One day this great-looking girl walked in. She said she had run out of gas and asked if I could help her. I told her I couldn’t leave the station, but I gave her a gas can. She came back later to return the can, driving her brother’s old car, a classic Ford 3-window coupe.”
Don and the girl, Sally, became friends. Sally planned to go to college and urged Don to do the same, “Had I not met her, maybe I would not have gone on.” But with Sally’s encouragement Don enrolled in a community college.
In his first semester he earned eighteen units of straight “F” grades. He had enrolled in a heavy load of courses, was working long hours, had to commute for two hours every day, and forgot to withdraw from some of his classes.
Despite this mistake, another college, closer to home, admitted him on probation. “I worked hard on my grades, took the college prep classes, went to summer school to keep up, and Sally made sure I attended my classes.”
“I had to get a job. The only real job I’d had to that point was working in gas stations. I knew cars pretty well, so I tried to get a job selling used cars.” He got the job and sold cars between and after classes. He enjoyed the work so much that after a year he got his own used-car dealer’s license. He and Sally began buying old cars, fixing them up inside and out, and selling them for a profit. Thus began Don Lucas Automobiles. Don is now founder and CEO of the Lucas Dealership Group, one of the top fifty multiple-franchise car dealerships in the country. He and Sally have been married for over fifty years.
21. The story tells us ________.
A. why Lucas loves Sally
B. how Lucas made old cars useful
C. how Lucas has become successful
D. why Lucas has remained poor all his life
22. In Paragraph 1, “tough part of town” refers to a(n) ________ place.
A. quiet B. clean
C. dangerous D. unpleasant
23. Don’s grades in the community college are ________.
A. average B. very good
C. rather poor D. remarkable
24. At the second college, Don ________.
A. was studying diligently
B. did better than his classmates
C. didn’t go to school in summer
D. made a mistake in choosing the courses
25. Don and Sally’s marriage turned out to be ________.
A. so-so B. stable
C. unhappy D. unsuccessful
