There was a young painter who made a living by painting portraits (肖像). One day, a rich man asked him to paint a portrait for him and promised to pay him 10,000 dollars.
After a week, the rich man came to take the painting, but he was not pleased with it. He told the young painter, “I will only pay 3,000 dollars for this painting.”
The young painter was angry. He argued (争吵) with the rich man, hoping the rich man would keep his word.
The rich man thought, “The man in the painting is me. If I don’t buy this painting, no one else will buy it.” So he said, “I will ask you one last time: will you sell it for 3,000 dollars?”
The young painter said firmly (坚定地), “No. I would prefer not to sell it, rather than be humiliated by you. Someday, you will pay 20 times the cost for breaking your promise.”
After that, the painter worked hard night and day. Finally, he became well-known in the art world.
The rich man forgot about the artist and what he had told him. But one day, some friends told him, “There is a painting selling for 200,000 dollars and the man in the painting looks exactly like you. The painting is titled ‘Thief’ (贼)”.
Then, the rich man remembered the artist. He quickly went to apologise and paid 200,000 dollars to buy the portrait. The young painter made the rich man bow his head in the end.
36. Why would the rich man only pay 3,000 dollars for the painting?
A.Because he wasn’t very satisfied with it. |
B.Because he thought others would buy it. |
C.Because he didn’t have 10,000 dollars. |
37. What made the rich man break his promise?
A.He wanted to humiliated the young painter. |
B.He thought no one else would buy his portrait. |
C.He didn’t have enough money to buy the portrait. |
38. What does the underlined word “humiliated” mean in Chinese?
39. Who is the man in the painting with the name “Thief”?
A.The rich man. | B.The artist. | C.The rich man’s friend. |
40. What can we learn from the story?
A.Portraits can be very expensive. |
B.People shouldn’t break their promises. |
C.We should work hard to become better. |