When Ben delivered milk to my home one morning before Christmas, he wasn’t his usual sunny self. He told me a customer had left without paying the bill $79, nor leaving her new address. So it meant that he had to cover the loss.
“She was a pretty woman,” he said, “With six children and another on the way, she was always saying, ‘I’m going to pay you soon when my husband gets a second job.’ I believed her, but she left. Isn’t it annoying?”
“Give her the milk. Make it a Christmas present to the kids who need it.” I said.
The holidays came and went. On a sunny January morning two weeks later, Ben was rushing to deliver milk when he saw a woman running down the street, waving money. He recognized her immediately-the woman who didn’t pay her bill.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I really have been meaning to pay you.”
She explained that her husband had come home one night and announced he’d found cheaper apartment. He’d also got a new job. With all that happened, she’d forgotten to leave the new address. “But I’ve been saving,” she said. “Here’s $20 toward the bill.”
“That’ s all right,” Ben replied. “It’s been paid.”
“Paid!” she exclaimed(惊叫). “What do you mean? Who paid it?”
“I did,” Ben said, “It went to the children as a Christmas present!”
1. Ben was upset one morning because ________.| A．a customer left without paying the bill | B．he lost $ 79 on the way of the delivery |
| C．he had to buy a present for the children | D．he was going to lose his job |
| A．a Christmas present | B．the debtor’s new address |
| C．some money to cover the loss | D．a suggestion to cheer him up |
| A．cheated to raise her children | B．moved to escape paying back the debts |
| C．was a person with honesty | D．wanted to give her children a Christmas gift |
| A．An Unhappy Christmas | B．An Unusual Present |
| C．A Poor Couple’s Life | D．A Helpful Customer |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】“If you’re Italian and Swedish, and Daddy’s Italian and Polish,” my 7-year-old daughter asked, “does that mean I’m part Swedish, Polish and Italian?”
“Well, not exactly...” I tried to think on my feet. Clearly it was time to explain some complicated things.
My daughter arrived by using a donated egg (卵子). I carried her to term, but she carries all her genes from my husband and the donor. Any similarities we share are a result of nurture rather than nature. I often experienced a sense of shame, as if I had cheated nature. I also feared that my daughter would feel disconnected or pull away from me once she knew everything.
However, we didn’t want the information to come from anyone but us. I had referred to many related researches and results showing such families have better outcomes when parents tell kids about their special arrival early on, ideally by the time they’re 7 years old. On the day when she asked the question, I bought a book You Began as a Wish by Kim Bergman, which talks about all the different ways kids come.
After reading together, we talked a little longer about the different kinds of families we knew. I could see recognition in her warm brown eyes. “Could I be French? I love the Eiffel Tower and croissant (羊角面包)”, she asked expectantly. I thought back to the information of the donor application.” “Actually, I think you are a little bit French.”
“Yes!” She pumped her fist in the air.
I know this is only the very beginning of these conversations, and things may be more complicated for my family from now on. But we get to work through whatever complications’ arise together, without secrecy or shame.
1. What does the underlined phrase “think on my feet” possibly mean?| A．Lie easily. | B．Respond carefully. | C．Treat it casually. | D．Run away quickly. |
| A．Her misfortune. | B．Her plan. | C．Her upset. | D．Her regret. |
| A．Discussing openly. | B．Reading widely. |
| C．Waiting patiently. | D．Thinking wisely. |
| A．Open and trustful. | B．Happy and hardworking. |
| C．Rich and caring. | D．Brave and humorous. |
【推荐2】As a child, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of winding stone walls, the house and field provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me.
Since my first visit to the farm, I had wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stone walls surrounding the houses. My parents would never agree because the walls were so old that some stones were loose and falling. However, my idea to climb across those walls grew so strong that finally I had all my courage to enter the living room, where the adults had gathered after Sunday dinner.
“I want to climb the stone walls.” I said. “Heavens, no! You’ll hurt yourself!” The response was just as I’d expected. But before I left the room, I was stopped by my grandfather’s loud voice. “Now hold on just a minute.” I heard him say. “Let the boy climb the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself.”
“Go,” he said to me, “and come and see me when you get back.” For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old walls—and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventures. I’ll never forget what he said. “Fred,” he said, smiling, “you made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there’s only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are.”
Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years, but one thing remains the same: my message to children at the end of almost every visit. “There’s only one person in this whole world like you,” the kids will hear me say, “and people can like you exactly as you are.”
1. Why did the writer enjoy his visits to the farm?| A．He missed his grandfather. | B．There were old stone houses. |
| C．He could experience new fun there. | D．He was allowed to climb the stone walls. |
| A．The writer didn’t know the possible danger of the stone walls. |
| B．The writer’s grandfather backed him up to follow his own heart. |
| C．The writer became a TV program host due to his grandfather’s influence. |
| D．The writer didn’t expect his parents’ disagreement with his climbing the walls. |
| A．Adventurous. | B．Open-minded. | C．Tricky. | D．Humorous. |
| A．Just Be Yourself. | B．Unforgettable Childhood. |
| C．Do Whatever You Like. | D．Like Grandfather, Like Grandson. |
【推荐3】Eleven-year-old Angela was stricken with a terrible disease. She was unable to walk and she moved only in other ways. The doctors thought she'd spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair, for few, if any, were able to come back to normal after getting this disease. The little girl was brave. There, lying in her hospital bed, she would promise to anyone who'd listen that she was going to be walking again someday,
She was moved to a special hospital. Many ways were used to treat her disease. The doctors there were moved by her undefeatable spirit They taught her about imagining seeing herself walking. If it would do nothing else, it would at least give her hope and something positive（积极的）to do in the long waking hours in her bed. Angela would work as hard as possible in exercise period. But she worked just as hard lying there faithfully imagining herself moving!
One day, as she was trying with all her might to imagine her legs moving again, it seemed as though a wonder happened: the bed moved! It began to move around the room! She shouted out, “Look what I’m doing! I can do it! I moved!”
Of course, at this very moment everyone else in the hospital was shouting, too. Many things were falling and glass breaking. It was an earthquake. But she believed that she made it. And now only a few years later, she's back in school. On her own two legs. No wheelchair. You see, anyone who can shake the earth between San Francisco and Oakland can defeat an unimportant little disease, can’t they?
1. What did the doctors do with Angela's disease?| A．They held out little hope of curing it. |
| B．They were sure and confident to cure her. |
| C．They gave up ways of helping her. |
| D．They sent her home with a wheelchair. |
| A．help her to recover from the disease |
| B．give her encouragement and hope |
| C．praise her for her undefeatable spirit |
| D．cure her illness in a special way |
| A．Her undefeatable spirit and hard work. |
| B．Crutches (拐杖)and a wheelchair. |
| C．The earthquake in San Francisco. |
| D．An advanced medical operation. |
| A．Angela's imagining walking |
| B．other patients' help |
| C．an unexpected earthquake |
| D．Angela’s recovering |
【推荐1】The memory of one particular summer evening is still burned in my brain as if it were yesterday. There was nothing but wide-open fields for miles and miles around our rural Minnesota home. We never saw strangers not ever and here on this hot evening was a real live one walking up our driveway.
A young man, a slightly-built hitchhiker (搭便车的人) approached our door. He knew there was a storm coming, and he desperately needed shelter. Not wanting to intrude on our home and family, he asked my dad if he could sleep in our basement for the night for protection from the rain. Instead of saying yes, my dad loaded us all up in the 1959 Chevrolet: five kids, my mum, and the man.
Our family consisted of three older children whose father had died young and three more children from the union of my mother and father. Our older brother Jerry was in the Navy, on a ship somewhere overseas. Our mum and dad worried about him.
We drove him 10 miles to the next town, where Dad bought the man a room for the night along with a hot evening meal. In the car after we dropped off the stranger, I heard my dad say to my mum, “I just hope that if Jerry ever needs anything, this kindness will be returned to him.”
Weeks later, Dad told my uncle about the young man. My uncle suggested that perhaps my dad shouldn’t have taken the risk of having a stranger in our car. My dad replied, “You are absolutely right. I should have invited him into our home.”
1. What does the underlined phrase “intrude on” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Disturb. | B．Scare. | C．Embarrass. | D．Upset. |
| A．By providing a bed for him in the basement. |
| B．By letting him stay for the night in the car. |
| C．By taking him to a hotel in another town. |
| D．By cooking a hot evening meal for him. |
| A．The family had five children in total. |
| B．Jerry was serving in the army in the USA. |
| C．They had no spare room for the hitchhiker. |
| D．Dad wished his elder son to be treated kindly. |
| A．Worthwhile. | B．Inappropriate. | C．Inspiring. | D．Unbelievable. |
【推荐2】"Get up, get up, Jim. It's time to get up!" my mother said while she was pushing me. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. "Oh dear! It's a quarter to eight already. I'll be late for school again," I thought. I jumped out of the bed, washed my face, then hurried to the bus stop without breakfast. As soon as I got on the bus, it started running. "I'm sure I can get to the school on time," I said to myself. Suddenly the bus stopped. The bus driver got off the bus, then got on the bus again and said, "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. There's something wrong with the bus. Please get off the bus and wait for another one." "I couldn't wait. The school is not far. I'd better run to the school," I thought, and then I began to run. But before I got to the school, it began to rain hard.
I reached the classroom but I was wet shivering with cold. The physics teacher had already begun his lesson. It was Mr. Smith. He was about fifty years old. All the students were a little afraid of him and so was I. I liked neither him nor his physics lessons. I hesitated for a moment and then I opened the door. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Smith. I'm late again," I said with a red face.
"It's you again, Jim," Mr. smith said angrily. "I've told you not be late, but you…" he suddenly stopped and looked at my wet clothes. He turned to the class and said, "I'm very sorry, my boys and girls." With these words he quickly took off his own jacket and handed it to me. "Now take off your wet coat and put this one or you'll catch cold," he said kindly.
I went to my seat with Mr. Smith's jacket on. It was a bit large for me but I felt very warm in it. I found, for the first time, physics was so interesting and how well I could understand it!
1. Jim was late for school because _______.| A．he got up too late | B．there was something wrong with the bus |
| C．it rained heavily | D．he had to wait for the bus |
| A．felt sad | B．looked kind |
| C．looked worried | D．was unhappy |
| A．the jacket was large enough to keep him warm |
| B．Mr. Smith took good care of him |
| C．he understood what Mr. Smith said all the time |
| D．physics is easy if you like the physics teachers |
| A．students can't be late for school |
| B．students can learn better if teachers love them |
| C．physics is easy if you like the physics teachers |
| D．you'll catch cold if your clothes are wet |
【推荐3】Some say everyday miracles are predestined (注定的) -- All that’s necessary is readiness, the right circumstance for the appointed meeting. And it can happen anywhere.
In 1999, 11-year-old Kevin Stephan was a bat boy for his younger brother’s Little League team in Lancaster, New York. It was an early evening in late July. Kevin was standing on the grass away from the plate, where another youngster was warming up for the next game. Swinging his bat back and forth, and giving it all the power an elementary school kid could give, the boy brought the bat back hard and hit Kevin in the chest. His heart stopped.
When Kevin fell to the ground, the mother of one of the players rushed out of the stands to his aid. Penny Brown hadn’t planned to be there that day, but at the last minute, she changed her shift (轮班) at the hospital, and she was given the night off. Penny bent over the senseless boy, his face already starting to turn blue, and giving CPR, breathing into his mouth and giving chest compressions (按压). And he came to life.
After his recovery, he became a volunteer junior firefighter, learning some of the emergency first-aid techniques that had saved his life. He studied hard in school and was saving money for college by working as a dishwasher in a local restaurant in his spare time.
Kevin, now 17, was working in the kitchen when he heard people screaming, customers in confusion, employees rushing toward a table. He hurried into the main room and saw a woman there, her face turning blue, her hands at her throat. She was choking (哽住).
Quickly Kevin stepped behind her, wrapped his arms around her and clasped his hands. Then, using skills he’d first learned in Scouts, the food that was trapped in the woman’s throat was freed. The color began to return to her face.
“The food was stuck. I couldn’t breathe,” she said. She thought she was dying. “I was very frightened.”
Who was the woman?
Penny Brown.
1. Kevin Stephan fell to the ground and fainted probably because ________.| A．he was too excited when watching the game |
| B．he suffered heart attack all of a sudden |
| C．he stood close to the boy who was swinging his bat |
| D．he swung the bat too hard to keep his balance |
| A．He worked part-time in a local restaurant to save money for college |
| B．He was hit on the face by a boy and almost lost his life |
| C．He was a volunteer junior firefighter, teaching the players first-aid skills |
| D．He saved Penny Brown though he didn’t really know how to deal with food choke |
| A．She was there to give her son directions |
| B．She came to watch her son’s game and cheered him |
| C．She was a little worried about his son’s safety |
| D．She volunteered to give medical services |
| A．working part-time is a good way to save money for college. |
| B．when Penny Brown knew it was Kevin who had saved her, she would probably feel sad. |
| C．if Kevin didn’t learn the first-aid techniques, the miracle wouldn’t have happened. |
| D．Kevin’s parents would not be worried about his safety any longer. |
