Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy—they're given after all. Choices can be hard.—Jeff Bezos

I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2，300 per cent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I'd been married for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most start-ups don't, and I wasn't sure what to expect. MacKenzie told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventor. I'd always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.

I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job.” That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately(最后地), I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And_I_suspected_I_would_always_be_haunted_by_a_decision_to_not_try_at_all.

After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I'm proud of that c

hoice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.

16.What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?

A.His dream of being an inventor.

B.The support of his wife.

C.The greatly increasing usage of the Internet.

D.Millions of exciting titles.

17.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?

A.The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him.

B.He would be very excited if he tried it out.

C.He would be always having a doubt if he didn't try.

D.The decision to not try the online bookstore would terrify him.

18.We can know from the passage that ________.

A.the boss thought the idea was suitable for the author

B.the author wanted someone else to try the idea

C.the author might not regret if he failed the idea

D.the author might go back to his boss if he failed

19.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A.Cleverness and kindness

B.The starting of Amazon

C.Following my passion

D.We are what we choose

【文章大意】 本文是一篇夹叙夹议的文章。天赋固然重要，然而后天的选择更重要，它决定了你会成为什么样的人、取得什么样的成就。

16.C　细节理解题。根据文章第二段中的“I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2，300 per cent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me.”可知，作者发现网络的广泛使用，从而激发了他创建网上书库的想法，故选C项。

17.A　句意理解题。根据倒数第二段的倒数第二句“I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing.”可知，作者并不后悔尝试，甚至失败。同样地，不尝试反而使作者后悔，故选A项。

18.C　推理判断题。根据倒数第二段的倒数第二句“I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing.”可知，作者即使失败了也有可能不后悔，毕竟尝试过了，尽力了，故选C项。

19.D　主旨大意题。根据文章第一段“Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy—they're given after all. Choices can be hard. —Jeff Bezos”并结合对全文的整体理解，尤其是最后一句“For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.”可知，本文主要讲的是选择的重要性。选择成为什么样的人，我们就会成为什么样的人，故选D项。