The repairman told me, “No charge, Professor Pan! We’re friends. ” “I’d rather pay,” I replied. “If it’s free, I can’t afford it!”
Chinese often refuse payment for professional services, insisting, “We’re friends now!” But then they show up later to ask me to tutor them in English, or get them into an American university, and I wish I’d have just paid the 30 yuan I owed them in the first place!
According to the Americans, “There’s no free lunch,” meaning that there’s a price for everything, and I’m always looking around to figure out what this means.
Many of our neighbors have given us fruit or flowers or costly teas, never asking anything in return. For years, a bicycle repairman has repeatedly refused to let me pay him. “Wait until you have something major to fix!” he insists.
I mentioned to a peasant friend that I wished I had a stone mill to grind (磨) flour for bread. A month later he showed up with a beautiful mill that he’d had his uncle in the countryside carve from a solid block of granite (花岗石).
Chinese generosity (慷慨) is a real education for Americans like me, who would rather avoid social entanglements (纠纷) and just hand over the money. But cash can’t compensate (补偿) for the greatest gift friendship.
When an American saw some of my friends sitting on bamboo stools under the trees, sipping (呷) tea, he said, “They must have nothing better to do.” “Actually,” I said, “they are professors, with plenty to do. But probably you’re right in saying that, at this moment, they have nothing better to do. And neither do I!”
And I joined the group. We chatted about tea and Chinese cooking and how much my boys have grown since we arrived. One man said, “They were pocket-sized when you came here. Now they’re taller than you. How time flies!”
How life flies. And Chinese are smart enough to share what they know they cannot keep. They freely give of their time, never too busy to help a friend. And they are teaching me, slowly, to both give and receive. So the next time someone says, “No charge. We’re friends!” I will thank them heartily. But if they show up later asking me to tutor them in English, I’ll make sure they tutor my son in Chinese as well, because there’s still no free lunch.
60. The author insisted on paying repairman while he was offered free repairs because he ____.
A. was an honest man B. didn’t know the repairman
C. thought it natural to pay for others’ service D. didn’t want to help others in return
61. Generally, the author thinks that Chinese are ____.
A. generous and always ready to help their friends B. good at exchange of equal values
C. free enough to drink tea and chat with their friends D. helpful but don’t treasure time
62. The best title for the passage should be “____”.
A. Learn to Both Give And Receive B. A Good Lesson from Chinese
C. True Help or Not D. Still No Free Lunch
63. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The Chinese would rather not take the money to avoid problems in social communication.
B. When a peasant knew the author needed a mill, he made one for the author himself.
C. The author thinks that Chinese are wise enough to enjoy the limited life.
D. The author thinks little of Chinese way of life.
阅读快车系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：
It is easy to do the repair. _________you need is a hammer and some nails.
A.Something B.All C.Both D.Everything?
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科目：高中英语 来源：2011-2012学年云南省景洪市第一中学高二上学期期末考试英语试卷（带解析） 题型：阅读理解
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 mended , as there were a whole lot of antique 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 slightly more polite , was just the same , and the third, and the fourth—so I decided that my approach must be wrong ．
I went into 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 plan and I 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’m 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 mend 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’ll mend this for you , shall we say for a five?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused （感到有趣） by the whole thing ．
【小题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 |
| A．changed his mind | B．accepted the offer |
| C．saw the writer’s purpose | D．decided to help the writer |
| A．£5． | B．£7 | C．£20． | D．£27． |
| A．honest | B．careful | C．smart | D．funny |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2013-2014学年浙江省湖州市八校高三上学期第二次联考英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
I met him first in 1936. I rushed into his ugly little shop to have the heels of my shoes repaired. I waited when he did it. He greeted me with a cheerful smile. “You’re new in this neighborbood, aren’t you?”
I said I was. I had moved into a house at the end of the street only a week before.
“This is a fine neighborhood,” he said. “You’ll be happy here.” He looked at the leather covering the heel sadly. It was worn through because I had failed to have the repair done a month before. I grew impatient, for I was rushing to meet a friend. “Please hurry,” I begged.
He looked at me over his spectacles. “Now, lady, we won’t be long. I want to do a good job. You see, I have a tradition to live up to.”
A tradition? In this ugly little shop that was no different from so many other shoe repair shops on the side streets of New York?
He must have felt my surprise, for he smiled as he went on. “Yes, lady, I inherited a tradition. My father and my grandfather were shoemakers in Italy, and they were the best. My father always told me, ‘Son, do the best job on every shoe that comes into the shop, and be proud of your fine work. Do that always, and you’ll have both happiness and money enough to live on.’”
As he handed me the finished shoes, he said: “These will last a long time. I’ve used good leather.”
I left in a hurry. But I had a warm and grateful feeling. On my way home I passed the little shop again. There he was, still working. He saw me, and to my surprise he waved and smiled. This was the beginning of our friendship. It was a friendship that came to mean more and more to me as time passed.
Every day I passed his shop, we waved to each other in friendly greeting. At first I went in only when I had repair work to be done. Then I found myself going in every few days just to talk with him.
He was the happiest man I’ve ever known. Often, as he stood in his shopwindow, working at a pair of shoes, he sang in a high, clear Italian voice. The Italians in our neighborhood called him la luce alla finestra—“the light in the window”.
One day I was disappointed and angry because of poor jobs some painters had done for me. I went into his shop for comfort. He let me go on talking angrily about the poor work and carelessness of present-day workmen. “They had no pride in their work,” I said. “They just wanted to collect their money for doing nothing.”
He agreed. “There’s a lot of that kind around, but maybe we should not blame them. Maybe their fathers had no pride in their work. That’s hard on a boy. It keeps him from learning something important.” He waited a minute and said “Every man or woman who hasn’t inherited a prideful tradition must start building one.”
“In this country, our freedom lets each of us make his own contribution. We must make it a good contribution. No matter what sort of work a man does, if he gives it his best each day, he’s starting a tradition for his children to live up to. And he is making lots of happiness for himself.”
I went to Europe for a few months. When I returned, there was no “light in the window”. The door was closed. There was a little sign: “Call for shoes at shop next door.” I learned the old man had suddenly got sick and died two weeks before
I went away with a heavy heart. I would miss him. But he had left me something—an important piece of wisdom I shall always remember: “If you inherited a prideful tradition, you must carry it on; if you haven’t, start building one now.”
1.The shoemaker looked sadly at the shoes because __________
A. they were of poor quality.
B. he didn’t have the right kind of leather
C. he thought they were too worn to be repaired
D. the author hadn’t taken good care of them.
2.The author was surprised when she heard that the shop had a tradition because the shop ________.
A. looked no different from other shoe repair shops
B. had a light in the window
C. was at the end of a street
D. was quite an ugly and dirty one
3.What does the underlined word “inherit” mean in paragraph 6 mean?
A. develop B. receive C. learn D. appreciate
4.The author later frequently went into the little shop __________.
A. to repair her worn shoes
B. only to chat with the shoemaker
C. to look at the new shoes there
D. only to get comfort from the shoemaker
5.Why was the shoemaker called “the light in the window” by his neighbors?
A. Because he always worked late at night.
B. Because he always put a light in the window.
C. Because he was always guiding the others.
D. Because he was always happy and cheerful.
6.What’s the best title of this passage?
A. A Proud Shoemaker B. A Prideful Tradition
C. The Light in the Window D. Treasure Your Shoes
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科目：高中英语 来源：2014届广东省东莞市高二3月月考英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
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 mended, as there are a whole 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 slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth—so I decided that my approach 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 plan and I 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 mend 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'll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver(五英镑钞票)?” 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 underlined word “approach” in the second paragraph means _________.
A．plan for dealing with things B．decision to sell things
C．idea of repairing things D．way of doing things
3.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
4.How much did the writer pay?
A．￡5. B．￡7. C．￡20. D．￡27.
5.From the text, we can learn that the writer was _________.
A．honest B．careful C．smart D．funny
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科目：高中英语 来源：【新课标】2010高一下学期单元测试四（英语） 题型：阅读理解
American scientists have developed the first material that repairs itself. The material is a form of plastic that has been engineered to fill breaks in its surface.
Plastics are used today in everything from airplane wings to hundreds of object found in the home. Scientists wanted to find a way to make objects made of plastic last longer. The researchers hope their new discovery can be used to make objects that are difficult or impossible to replace.
The surface of plastic objects breaks over time. Very small breaks develop every time a plastic object is used. The researchers wanted to find out how to stop plastic from developing small breaks that weaken and destroy it. They found the answer in the chemical structure（构造）of plastic itself.
Plastic is made of monomers（单体）. These monomers link together to form polymers（聚合物）. Polymers give plastic its ability to be shaped and its strength. The research team found a way to make plastic that contains very small balloons filled with monomer liquid（液体）. When the new plastic cracks（裂开）, the monomer liquid is let out and flows into the crack. Thus the break is repaired. The repaired plastic has seventy – five percent of the strength of undamaged plastic.
The new self – repairing plastic is not yet ready for production. But it has several possible uses. One could be in space vehicles where parts cannot be repaired or replaced. Another possible use might be in bridges. And it could be used in people, to replace bone joints that have become broken or damaged.
72．Which of the following can be the best title for the article?
A．Ever-Lasting Material Invented.
B．The Chemical Structure of Plastic.
C．Plastic that Repairs Itself.
D．Small Balloons that Makes Plastic Stronger.
73．We know from the passage that the repair is done as .
A．the cracked plastic parts are changed
B．the plastic is made
C．the liquid is put into the plastic cracks
D．the plastic cracks
74．The scientist are planning to use the new material in space vehicles, bridges and people because .
A．the plastic parts in them are required to last longer
B．the plastic parts in them are easily broken or damaged
C．the new material cannot be used elsewhere
D．they want to experiment in these places first
75．What can we know about the new material mentioned in the passage?
A．It is a kind of liquid that is commonly used.
B．It is more difficult to make than common plastics.
C．Its surface does not crack so easily as other ones.
D．It makes it difficult or impossible to replace plastic objects.
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