四、阅读理解
Another person's enthusiasm—the strong wish and interest to do everything, was what set me moving towards the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother.
I was nine years old when she entered our home in the countryside of Virginia. My father introduced me to her with these words, “I would like you to meet the fellow who is well known for being the worst boy in this town and will probably start throwing rocks at you no later than tomorrow morning.”
My stepmother walked over to me, raised my head slightly upward, and looked at me right into my eyes. Then she looked at my father and replied, “You are wrong. This is not the worst boy at all, but the smartest one who hasn’t yet found a way to give out his enthusiasm.”
That statement began a friendship between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbours had built me up in my mind as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that.
She changed many things. She persuaded（说服）my father to go to a dental school, from which he graduated with honours. She moved our family into the town centre, where my father’s career could be more successful and my brother and I could be better educated.
When I turned fourteen, she bought me a second-hand typewriter and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, and I saw how it had already improved our lives. I accepted her belief and began to write for local newspapers and finally reached the goal she set for me. I wasn’t the only beneficiary. My father became the wealthiest man in the town. My brother and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.
（）1. Which of the following is TRUE before the writer’s stepmother came into his life?
A. People had noticed his cleverness. B. He did nothing every day.
C. He liked to throw rocks at others. D. His father had a low opinion of him.
（）2. The writer writes paragraphs 3-5 mainly to show .
A. the friendship between mother and son B. changes in the family relationship
C. reasons for receiving education D. stepmother’s influence on the family
（）3. What does the writer mean by saying “I wasn’t the only beneficiary”?
A. There were other boys who behaved as badly as he did.
B. His stepmother bought typewriters for other family members too.
C. Not only he but also his family gained from his stepmother’s enthusiasm.
D. Other family members’ enthusiasm has great influence on his stepmother.