问题详情：
During the early 1980S，I was a sales manager for a large training company. One of my responsibilities was to train people on how to sell
My mother lived near me for nearly 30 years，who has just had a third-grade education. The population in our area grew sufficiently and the committee members think about Building a new church in our neighborhood. They decided to raise the initial capital by selling lottery (*）tickets. My mother jumped at the chance to participate. She had no formal training in the art of selling，but that never entered her mind. Her plan was simple: talk to as many people as possible about buying tickets and make them feel guilty if they didn’t.
That’s where I came into the picture. She said I was a big shot and that I must know a lot of people. She gave me 10 booklets of 10 tickets， each one worth one dollar， adding up to a grand total of $ 100. A week later，I showed up with only half of the tickets sold.
“ If only I had more time，I would have been able to sell all these tickets you gave me，” I said to my mother. “I simply didn’t have the time. ”
“ What a load of nonsense! You either do something or you have all the excuses why not，，’ my mother shot back. “You made time to go out to dinner ，watch TV ，jog ，go to the movies. What does time have to do with it? Nothing! ” After that blast of the truth，she started to cry. I was defeated. I quickly agreed to buy the rest of my tickets myself. She stopped crying instantly and said，“ When you want something ，then you do whatever it takes to get the job done ，even cry. ” With a smile she said，“I knew that crying would work with you，and for being so weak with your excuses，here are 10 more books. Now ，go and sell them all. ’，As a sales manager，I paled(苍白)by comparison.
My mother went on to demonstrate that by not making excuses， she could produce outstanding results. She managed to out-sell every other volunteer，14 to 1. She sold 7000 tickets. Her closest challenge came from a neighbor who sold 500.
I learned a new level of distinction between time and results. I had always wanted to have my own business but had kept saying that it wasn’t the right time and I didn’t have the money. But I kept hearing my mother’s voice in my mind ： “You either do something that you want or you have all the reasons why you can ’ t. ”
Six months later，I quit my job and started my own business，training people in time management.
author ’ s mother sold tickets to_______.
A. to keep her from being lonely
B. to practice the skills of selling
C. to help her daughter start a busines
D. to collect money for building a church
author’s mother suddenly cried because_______.
A. she was defeated by others
B. she was sad at the bad news
C. she was eager to get her job done
D. she was disappointed with her daughter
is implied in the underlined words in the passage_______.
A. success can only be achieved by action
B. experience is the best teacher
C. one is never too old to learn
D. all is well that ends well
54. What’s the theme of the passage?
A. Practice makes perfect.
B. Rome was not built in a day.
C. Where there is a will， there is a way.
D. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
【回答】
DCAC
知识点：阅读理解
题型：阅读理解
