“Get yourself up and make something of yourself，buddy！”Though my mother has passed
away，her words are as clear in my head today as when I was a boy．
“Christ！”I said，“I have made something of myself. I want to sleep late as I like．”
“If there’s one thing I can’t stand，it’s a quitter．”Her voice in my head is more powerful
than my will to refuse，so I pull myself from bed．
Before I was out of primary school，mother could see I lacked the gifts for either making
millions or winning the love of crowds．So she began pushing me toward working with words．Wods
ran in her family．There seemed to be a word gene that passed down from her mother’s grandfather·
The greatest proof was my mother’s first cousin Edwin．He was the managing editor of the New York
一Times and had gained a name in his career．
In 1947 1 graduated from Johns Hopkins and applied for a job with the Baltimore Sun as a
police reporter．It paid＄30 a week ．When I complained the wage was shameful for a learned man，
mother refused to sympathize．“If you work hard at this job，”she said，“maybe you can make
something of it．”
After a while，I was asked to cover diplomats（外交官）at various African embassies. Then，
seven years later I was arranged by the Sun to cover the White House，a task that was as close to
heaven as a journalist could get．However，whatever achievement of mine only seemed insignificant
in her eyes．Uncle Edwin’s success was really annoying during my early years as a reporter．What
a thrill，I thought．
Then，out of my wildest childhood fantasy，the Times came knocking．It was sad that Uncle
Edwin had passed away by this time．In 1979 I won the Pulitzer Prize．Unfortunately，my mother’s
brain and health broke down the year before，leaving her in a nursing home，out of touch with life
forevermore ．She never knew of my Pulitzer．
I can probably guess how she’d have responded．“ That’s nice，buddy．It shows if you work
hand，you’11 be able to make something of yourself one day，”
56 ．The first three paragraphs are intended to＿＿＿＿＿＿
A ．draw readers’attention to the author’s success
B ．remind readers that the road to success is rough
C ．serve as an introduction to the author’s mother
D ．explain why the author’s mother kept blaming him
57 ．The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 probably means that tier families＿＿＿＿
A. were gifted at language B ．never broke their promise
C. were fond of reading D. stuck to their family belief
58．What can we learn about the author
A ．He got a good salary working as a police reporter．
B ．He lived a rich life with his mother in his childhood．
C ．It was proud of her mother to see his winning the Pulitzer Prize．
D ．It was beyond his wildest dream that he could work for the Times．
59 ．The author regards Uncle Edwin’s success as a thrill because＿＿＿＿＿＿．
A ．he himself was less smart than Uncle Edwin
B ．his mother’s family thought Uncle Edwin to be a good reporter
C ．few reporters can become the managing editor of the New York Times
D ．Uncle Edwin spared no effort to get the Pulitzer Prize at the cost of his life