Question

18．Many years ago，when I was a young man in my twenties，I worked as a salesman for a St．Louis piano company．We sold our pianos all over the state by advertising in small town newspapers and then，when we had received sufficient replies，we would load our little trucks，and drive into the area and sell the pianos to those who had replied．
   Every time we would advertise in the cotton country of Southeast Missouri，we would receive a reply on a postcard which said，"Please bring me a new piano for my little granddaughter．It must be red mahogany（红木）．I can pay $10 a month with my egg money．"The old lady had scrawled on and on until she filled up the postcard，then turned it over and even wrote on the front-around and around the edges until she filled up there was barely room for the address．
   No finance company would carry a contract with payments that small，so we ignored her postcards．One day，however，I happened to be in that area calling on other replies，and out of curiosity I decided to look the old lady up．I found pretty much what I expected：The old lady lived in a one-room sharecroppers cabin in the middle of a cotton field．
The cabin had a dirt floor and there were chickens in the house．Obviously，the old lady could not have qualified to purchase anything on credit--no car，no phone，no real job，nothing but a roof over her head and not a very good one．I could see daylight through it in several places．Her little granddaughter was about 10，barefoot and wearing a feedsack dress．
56．According to the passage，the writerC
A．was told to visit the old lady    
B．was asked to pay a visit by the old lady
C．got to that area by accident    
D．had a close friend in that area
57．The underlined word"scrawled"in the second paragraph meansC．
A．cried                      B．begged
C．written                    D．called
58．After the writer explained to her，the old ladyB．
A．accepted the writer's advice
B．didn't listen to the writer
C．reported the writer to the boss 
D．told her granddaughter to write postcards
59．What do you expect to be continued？A
A．The writer helped the old lady．
B．The old lady gave up writing postcards．
C．The local government tried to help．
D．The writer lost his business．

Answer 1

分析 作者通过登报纸在小城镇卖钢琴的，收到一个老人的明信片，她想给自己的孙女买一架钢琴，可是她没有很多钱，最后作者拜访了这位老人，了解了她的具体情况．

解答 CCBA
56  C   细节题．根据文章第三 段，I happened to be in that area calling on other replies 可知作者碰巧来到这个地方，故选C．作者没有被告知或要求来拜访这个老人，这里也没有好朋友，因此ABD不符合文意．
57  C    猜测词义题．  根据文章第二 段Please bring me a new piano for my little granddaughter．It must be red mahogany（红木）．I can pay $10 a month with my egg money．"可知这位老人继续写直到没有空去写地址，故选C．
58   B    细节题．根据文章第三 段so we ignored her postcards 可知我们忽视了她的明信片，但是这位老人也没有放弃，不听从作者的建议，故选B．
59   A   推理判断题．  根据文章最后一段Her little granddaughter was about 10，barefoot and wearing a feedsack dress． 可知作者知道老人的情况后可能帮助这位老人，故选A．

点评 学生需要认真阅读原文，把握文章大意，对文章脉络有整体的了解，能仔细查找文中细节，并能根据文章内容进行合理的推测判断．