Question

    Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it repaired, as there are a lot of antique (古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.

The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth--so I decided that my way must be wrong.

I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing.”

Everything was going according to my plan and l was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you repair this chair for me?’” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’II repair this for you. Shall we say for five pounds?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer              .

A.was rather impolite B.was warmly received

C.asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair D.asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

2.The expression "the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper              .

A.changed his mind B.accepted the offer

C.saw the writer’s purpose D.decided to help the writer

3.How much did the writer pay?

A.￡5. B.￡7. C.￡20. D.￡27.

4.From the text, we can learn that the writer was              .

A.careful B.honest C.funny D.smart

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.D

【解析】

短文大意：本文是记叙文，作者想要古董店修一下椅子腿，结果连续四家店都不修理；因此到第五家店时，他想了一个巧妙的方法，先假装向店主卖椅子看他们是否能修理椅子腿，结果店主说能修理，于是作者又想买回椅子。最后，作者花了5美元修理了椅子腿。

1.
考查细节理解。根据“So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception一天早上，我带着这把椅子离开了家。我走进第一家商店，期待着受到友好的接待”，可知希望让店主修理他的椅子，asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair（要求店主修理他的椅子）符合题意，故选D。

2.题意：最后一段中的“The penny dropped”表示店主看到了作者的意图。
考查词义理解。changed his mind改变了主意；accepted the offer接受了提议；saw the writer’s purpose明白了作者的目的；decided to help the writer决定帮助作者。根据“I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair我知道你想要什么。你想让我修理你的椅子”，可知第五家店的店主知道作者的目的了，故选C。

3.
考查细节理解。根据“But I'II repair this for you. Shall we say for five pounds但我会帮你修的。我们订五英镑好吗”，可知选A。

4.
考查推理判断。careful 细心的；honest诚实的；funny滑稽的；smart聪明的。根据短文内容，作者想了一个巧妙的方法，通过想卖椅子来试探他们是否会修椅子，最终椅子修好了，可知他是一个聪明的人，故选D。