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. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.

The second shop, though a little more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth. I realized that my approach must be wrong so I decided to try another way. 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? Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK. I’ll give you twenty pounds for it,” he said. “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I added. “Yes, I saw that. It’s nothing,” the shopkeeper replied.

Everything was going according to the plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell after the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,” the man asked in surprise. “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. He shouted, “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said, “And what would you have said if I had walked in and asked you to repair my chair?” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it. We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll repair this for you. Five pounds will be the cost,” the man answered. He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1.What happened to the writer in the first shop?

A. He broke his leg.

B. His chair was repaired.

C. He was refused impolitely.

D. The shopkeeper bought his chair.

2.What does the underlined phrase “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph mean?

A. The shopkeeper changed his mind.

B. The shopkeeper accepted the price.

C. The shopkeeper decided to help the writer.

D. The shopkeeper found out the writer’s purpose.

3. How much did the writer pay the shopkeeper at last?

A. 5 pounds. B. 7 pounds.

C. 20 pounds. D. 27 pounds.

4. From the passage, we can learn that the writer was__________.

A. honest B. smart

C. careful D. crazy

5.Which of the following statements is true?

A. The writer wanted to sell his chair for 20 pounds.

B. It was very easy to repair the writer’s broken chair.

C. The writer succeeded in getting his chair repaired at last.

D. The man in the first shop thought the chair was too old to repair.

Answer 1