Passage1OprahWinfreyhascomealo-名校题库网

Passage 1

Oprah Winfrey has come a long way from her poor childhood home in a small Mississippi town. She was an unwanted child whose parents never married. She was brought up on her grandmother′s farm. The possibil-ity that she would become rich and famous was slim.

Oprah′s mother left her child in her mother′s care, so she could go to work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a strict and difficult life for Oprah. But it also led the way for her future.

She was a highly intelligent child. By the age of three, she had learned to read and write. She also made her first public appearance at that age. Oprah′s intelligence was resented (憎恨) by other children of her age. They called her unkind names and pushed her away. Oprah felt very isolated and unwanted. It made her feel worse that she didn′t live with her mother and father. She felt that no one loved her. This made her angry and rebellious (叛逆的). These feelings brought her much trouble as she was growing up. She often behaved badly, causing her grandmother to punish her. By the age of seven, she was too much for her grandmother to discipline.

Then Oprah went to live with her mother, Vernita, who worked very hard as a housekeeper in Milwaukee. It was hard for her to work and take care of her bright, troublesome child. They lived in poverty in a small apartment. Oprah took out all her angry feelings on her mother. When Oprah was eight, Vernita sent her to live with her father and stepmother in Nashville, Tennessee.

But she moved again a few months later when Vernita married a man with two children. Vernita wanted Oprah to be with her and her new family. Unfortunately, she felt she didn′t belong with them. She believed she wasn′t loved by anyone. Her angry and frustration grew stronger. She struck back by misbehaving and running away from home. Her parents found her impossible to discipline. When she was 14,they tried to send her to a special center for troubled girls.

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