阅读理解 Bill Gates was 20 years old. Steve Jobs was 21. Warren Buffett was 26. Ralph Lauren was 28. Estee Lauder was 29.
These now iconic names were all 20-somethings when they started their companies that would throw them, and their enterprises, into some of the biggest successes ever known. Consider this: many of the truly remarkable innovations of the latest generation—a list that includes Google, Face-book and Twitter—were all founded by people under 30. The number of people in their mid-20s disrupting entire industries, taking on jobs usually reserved for people twice their age and doing it in the glare of millions of social media "followers" seems to be growing very rapidly.
So what is it about that youthful decade after those awkward teenage years that inspires such shoot-for-the-moon success? Does age really have something to do with it? It does. Young people bring fresh eyes to confronting problems and challenges that others have given up on. 20-something entrepreneurs see no boundaries and see no limits. And they can make change happen. Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, has another, colder theory that may explain it: Ultimately, it's about money.
In other words, it's the young people who have nothing to lose, with no mortgage and, frankly, with nothing to do on a Friday night except work, who are the ones often willing to take the biggest risks. Sure, they are talented. But it's their persistence and zeal, the desire to stay up until 6 a.m. chugging Red Bull, that is the difference between being a salaried employee and an entrepreneur.
That's not to say that most 20-somethings are finding success. They're not. The latest crop of uber-successful young entrepreneurs, designers and authors are far, far from the norm. In truth, unemployment for workers age 16 to 24 is double the national average.
One of the biggest challenges facing this next generation—and one that may prevent more visionary entrepreneurs from succeeding—is the staggering rise in the level of debt college students have been left with. If Peter Thiel' s theory is right, it is going to be harder and harder for young people to take big risks because they will be crushed with obligations before they even begin.
If you're over 29 years old and still haven't made your world-changing mark, don't despair. Some older people have had big breakthroughs, too. Thomas Edison didn't invent the phonograph until he was 30.
单选题 31.The first paragraph is used to show______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】推断题。根据题干关键词定位到第一段。该段指出了比尔-盖茨、史蒂夫-乔布斯等人当时的年龄，具体是何时还需要借助第二段首句的信息，该句句意为“这些如今的偶像都在20多岁的时候创立了自己的公司，一举成名，他们的企业也均获得了前所未有的巨大成功”，所以D项“20多岁年轻人的成功”表述准确，为正确答案。A项“各种名人”和B项“创立者的年龄”均是表面信息。C项“事业的成功”属于过度推断，故排除。
单选题 32.Which of the following statements cannot explain the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第三段。第三段谈论20多岁的年轻人获得成功的原因，第二句提到“年龄真的和这一切有关吗?当然有关”。C项“20多岁的企业家不需要担心钱”说法不符合文意，故正确答案为C。A项“20多岁的企业家能够推动变革”是对本段倒数第二句And they can make change happen的同义改写，B项“20多岁的企业家有新鲜的视角”是对本段倒数第四句Young people bring fresh eyes的同义改写，D项“20多岁的企业家相信没有不能跨越的障碍”是对本段倒数第三句20-something entrepreneurs see no boundaries and see no limits的同义改写。三项说法均正确，故排除。
单选题 33.All of the following are differences between being salaried employees and entrepreneurs EXCEPT______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第四段。第四段中的But是解题的关键，通常But后的内容是考查的重点。该转折词引导的句子指出“但他们的坚持和激情，靠猛灌红牛熬通宵干到早上6点的意愿，才是领薪水的雇员和企业家之间的差别”，因此A、C、D三项均为文中正确信息，非题干要求的答案，B项“他们的天分”并非他们的区别，为本题要求的正确答案。
单选题 34.The biggest challenge that may stop more visionary entrepreneurs from succeeding is that______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第六段。第六段首句中有插入语，插入语对应的是题干内容。首句指出“新一代面临的最大挑战之一——这可能也是妨碍更多有远见的企业家成功的原因——就是大学生们面对不断提高的负债”，故A项“他们面临不断增长的债务”符合题意，为正确答案。B项“他们的债务惊人地增长，并非常不稳定”通过very unsteadily和staggering意思相近形成干扰，不符合题意。C项“他们比大学生有更多的分期贷款”和D项“与父母在相同的年龄时相比，他们拥有更少的财产”均属于无中生有，故排除。
单选题 35.With regard to 20-somethings' success, we can learn from the text that______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推断题。根据题干关键词需纵观全文。第五段首句提到“并不是大多数20多岁的人们都获得了成功”，C项“在大多数年轻人中，这并不是普遍现象”与此句一致，故C项为正确答案。第四段指出，因为年轻人一无所有才愿冒最大风险，故A项“他们成功因为有钱”错误。第七段第二句说明“有些岁数大的人仍能取得突破”，故B项“岁数大的人很难突破”与该句意思不符。D项“在信息科学和技术领域很普遍”属于过度推断，故排除。