When her five daughters were young, Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity (团结). To show this, she held up one chopstick, representing one person. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next, she tied several chopsticks together, representing a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chopsticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.

Helene An and her family own a large restaurant business in California. However, when Helene and her husband Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975, they didn't have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Danny's mother, Diana, who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon afterwards, Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However, Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.

Eventually the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves, but one by one, the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other, they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elisabeth explains, “Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity, and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family, there is no business．”

Their expanding business became a large corporation in 1996, with three generations of Ans working together. Now the Ans' corporation makes more than $20 million each year. Although they began with a small restaurant, they had big dreams, and they worked together. Now they are a big success.

1.Helene tied several chopsticks together to show ______.

A the strength of family unity

B the difficulty of growing up

C the advantage of chopsticks

D the best way of giving a lesson

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。第一段Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity与B项意思相近。句意：海琳把几支筷子绑在一起来显示家庭团结的力量。注意抓关键词unity。

2.We can learn from Paragraph 2 that the An family ______.

A started a business in 1975

B left Vietnam without much money

C bought a restaurant in San Francisco

D opened a sandwich shop in Los Angeles

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。文中when Helen and her husband Danny left …they didn't have much money可知，离开时他们没有太多的钱。

3.What can we infer about the An daughters?

A They did not finish their college education.

B They could not bear to work in the family business.

C They were influenced by what Helene taught them.

D They were troubled by disagreement among family members.

解析：选C。C 推理判断题。由第三段Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity可知。其它错误选项也可通过本段内容排除。

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A How to Run a Corporation

B Strength Comes from Peace

C How to Achieve a Big Dream

D Family Unity Builds Success

解析：选D。D 主旨大意题。由文章最后一段可知文章主要讲的是家庭团结对取得成功的重要性。文章没有讲怎样经营一家大型公司，也没有提到怎样实现伟大梦想。标题的选择一定要抓住文章的关键词。