My bike was a three-speed English “racer”, purchased during my second year in college in November 1964 for $44. Most of the money was earned by myself in my spare time, but I had to get my mother to help me out a little. At that time, bikes were rare on a college campus. My reason for getting a bicycle was a little strange. A friend of mine convinced me to take a summer job selling door-to-door and suggested that I should use a bicycle to travel between houses. The job didn’t work out, but the idea was in my brain.
That fall, I borrowed another student’s bike and rode 45 miles on the first day, but his bike soon had a flat(瘪了的轮胎) which he didn’t like fixing. So I had to buy one. I immediately started using mine almost every day. Before getting the bike, I sometimes walked 28 miles to my parents’ house. Now the bike gave me a quicker method, but my first trip took four hours due to strong headwinds that had me fight for every foot. Once I made a trip of 100 miles in one day. I decided to use the bike to go camping in the Smokies. During the trip, I recognized the need for handlebars and more gears, so I bought a ten-speed after just one year though I loved this bike.
The first bike “hung around” for a couple of years, and then I gave it to my sister’s kids who let it become part of their lives.
小题1:What can we learn from the passage?
A．His mother gave him some money when he bought the first bike.
B．The first bike was a gift from his mother.
C．He bought the first bike for racing.
D．He wanted to buy a bike because all his classmates had one.小题2:We can infer that besides studying at college the writer ____.
A．often helped his friend do business
B．also worked in a factory
C．had part-time jobs in his spare time
D．had to make money to pay for his tuition小题3:The underlined phrase “the idea” in the first paragraph refers to “____”.
A．selling door-to-door
B．buying a bike of his own
C．borrowing a bike from others
D．earning money by working小题4:According to the passage, we can learn that the first bike was ____ for him.
A．unnecessary
B．very useful
C．a lifelong tool
D．too troublesome
