Question

My wife and I have always been friendly with the clerks at the local convenience store. I don’t think many people appreciate what a difficult job these folks have. They work for a little over minimum wage and I often wonder how they make ends meet.

One of the clerks, Charlie, was always wearing his glasses but he didn’t one day. I asked him about it and he said they’d been out of order and that he couldn’t afford a new pair. His family needed money. It was obvious that he was having a difficult time.

We wanted to help him, so we turned to our own eye doctor for assistance with a plan. We had his secretary contact him, asking him to come in for an eye exam for free. We told the doctor to let him order whatever glasses he wanted and that we would pay for them. Although Charlie questioned what was going on, the doctor just told him that someone had offered the money for his new glasses. When we went in to pay the bill, the doctor told us he was so touched by our idea that he waived the exam fee and only charged us for half the price of the glasses!

It was so wonderful to see Charlie in her new glasses and he enjoyed telling all the regular customers how the gift came about. I’m sure that upon hearing her story, ideas of kindness may have emerged in the minds of many.

1.Why didn’t the clerk Charlie wear glasses one day?

A. It was very warm and fine.

B. His old glasses were broken.

C. His glasses were missing.

D. He forgot to wear his glasses.

2.From the passage, we can infer that ________.

A. Charlie was a young man with skills

B. Charlie knew who paid the money for the new glasses

C. Charlie didn’t support his family with enough money

D. Charlie entirely accepted the money for the new glasses

3.The underlined word “waived” in the third paragraph can be replaced by ________.

A. gave up   B. took up         C. cut down     D. put off

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

A. The Wonderful Feeling of Helping others

B. Customers’ Gift to an Employee

C. A Friendly Clerk — Charlie

D. A New Pair of Glasses

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.B

【解析】

1.根据题干关键词the clerk Charlie wear glasses one day找到文章第二段的he said they’d been out of order and that he couldn’t afford a new pair与B项对应。故选B。

2.根据文章第二段的His family needed money. It was obvious that he was having a difficult time推断是Charlie没有足够的钱养活家人。故选C。

3.A. gave up放弃；B. took up开始做某事，从事；C. cut down砍下，缩减；D. put off推迟。根据文章第三段最后一句话中的the exam fee and only charged us for half the price of the glasses和前文的the doctor was touched by our idea推断应是医生被作者夫妇的主意所感动，免去了检查费也眼睛的价格只收一半。故选A。

4.A. The Wonderful Feeling of Helping others帮助别人的美妙感觉；B. Customers’ Gift to an Employee顾客给雇工的礼物；C. A Friendly Clerk — Charlie一个友好的员工----Charlie；A New Pair of Glasses一双新眼镜。通读全文，并根据文章最后一段中的关键词gift判断选B。