An Unlucky Young Man

Sam is twenty-seven now．He's tall and strong．He works hard in the small field．He's known a girl called Mabel for three years，who lives in another village．He hopes she could marry him soon．But she doesn't marry him until he builds a new house．He hasn't enough money．Of course it's difficult for him to do so．

Winter's come and the fields are covered with thick snow．Sam has nothing to do at home．Mabel told him to find some temporary employment（臨時(shí)工作）in the town．He thought she was right and came to Mr. White's factory where he carried stones from the hill to the workplaces．It was hard work but he was paid more．At the end of the month Mr. White paid the young man nearly two thousand dollars．He was very happy．He hurried to the post office，but it was closed．He had a look at the clock on the wall，it was half past five and he was told to go there the next morning．He had to return to the factory．He felt hungry and went into a restaurant（飯館）and ate something．He didn't see a thief following him and as soon as he sat at table，the man sat down next to him and asked him to drink a cup with him．He agreed and drank a lot．And when he woke up two hours later，his money was stolen（偷）．He was sad of it and cried for a long time．

The following day Mr. White saw the young man's eyes were red and asked what had happened to him．He told him about it and at last he said，“I worked for the thief last month!”

1．Mabel doesn't marry Sam because _________．

A．he's a poor farmer                        B．he has a Small field

C．he lives in an old house                     D．she's very young

2．Mabel told Sam to _________．

A．get some money in the town                      B．borrow some money from his friends

C．spend the winter in the town                      D．build a new house in the town

3．Mr. White paid Sam much because _________．

A．he was very rich                         B．the young man was very poor

C．he was ready to help the poor                       D．the young man worked very hard

4．Sam went to the post office to _________．

A．ring up Mabel          B．post the money        C．buy some food       D．post a letter

5．The money was stolen when _________．

A．Sam left the factory．                                 B．Sam went to the restaurant

C．Sam ate something in the restaurant                     D．the thief had got Sam drunk（灌醉）

One day Mr. Jackson took Paul to his favorite restaurant．It was a French restaurant．The waiter was from France．But he didn’t speak to them in French．“Would you like to see the menu?”he asked in a kind way．“Yes，please，”Mr. Jackson said．

The waiter gave them a menu each．They studied them．  “You can spend only twenty—five dollars．”Mr. Jackson told his son．The waiter asked Paul，“What would you like，young man?”

“How much is the tomato soup?”Paul asked．

“Six dollars．”the waiter said．“It’s very good．”

“How much is the duck with orange?”Paul asked next．

“Fifteen dollars，”the waiter said．

“How much is the chocolate ice cream?”

“Six dollars，”the waiter said．

Paul added（加）it up quickly．Six plus fifteen plus six is twenty-seven．He thought he could have the duck and the soup，or the duck and the ice cream．“I’ll have the duck and the chocolate ice cream，please，”he said to the waiter．

Paul said to his father．“My meal will cost only twenty-one dollars．Can I keep the other four dollars?”His father laughed，“No，Paul，”he said．“Leave it for the waiter．”

（    ）1．How did the waiter speak to Paul and Mr. Jackson?

    A．In a rough way．    B．In a friendly way．  C．In French．     D．Slowly

（    ）2．What did Paul have for dinner?

    A．The soup and the duck．                                B．The duck and the ice cream．

    C．The duck．the soup and the ice cream．      D．The soup and the ice cream．

（    ）3．How much did Paul’s meal cost?

    A．$21．                  B．$24．                  C．$25．                     D．$27．

（    ）4．What did Mr. Jackson tell Paul to do with the other$4?

    A．Keep it．                                                B．Give it back to him．

    C．Spend it on something else．                       D．Give it to the waiter．

（    ）5．What does this passage tell us?

    A．Paul and his father hate eating in restaurants．

    B．Mr. Jackson favorite food is English food．

C．Paul was careful not to spend more than$25 in the restaurant．

D．Paul didn’t know what to choose from the menu．

Most children in the United States are returning to school after the summer holiday．Public education for children in the United Sates is free．But parents still have to buy things such as new clothes，bags and other supplies for their children before every new school year．

8，000 Americans took part in a study．It said that this year American parents would spend almost 15 billion dollars preparing their children for school．

The study also found that 93 percent of families with school age children plan to buy clothes，shoes and school supplies．Each family will spend almost 500 dollars on those things．This is 7 percent more than last year．Almost half of questioned parents also said they planned to spend about 100 dollars on electronics(電子產(chǎn)品) and computers．

Half of the parents in the study said their children would use their own money to buy some things for school．Teenaged children arc expected to spend about 85 dollars each for supplies．23 percent of parents said that even their younger children would buy some things for themselves．

To help shoppers save money，several cities let people buy some goods without paying sales tax．Washington，D．C．，is such a city．It has a ten—day sales tax holiday in August．At that time，people can buy clothing，shoes or school supplies that cost less than 100 dollars without paying sales tax．

1．How many children plan to use their own money to buy school needs?

A．Seven percent of them．      B．Twenty—three percent of them．

C．Ninty—three percent of them． D．None of the above．

2．How much did each family spend last year on children’s school supplies?

A．535 dollars．    B．465 dollars．    C．565 dollars．   D．435 dollars．

3．Shoppers can save money            ．

A．in special days    B．in all big cities

C．during holidays   D．when the things cost $100

4．We can learn from the study that         

A．8，000 parents will spend about 15 billion dollars for their children’s school life．

B．93％ of the American families have school children．

C．500 dollars on children’s clothes，shoes and school supplies is necessary for a family．

D．7％ of the families want to spend 100 dollars on computers and electronics．

5．The best title of the text would be“             ”

A．Children’s Costs in the United States．

B．Children’s Study Plants for the New Year．

C．Public Education in the United States．

D．New School Year，New Supplies and Costs

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