In spite of the instructions he had been given，Tommy did not hurry straight round to Mrs. Blakey’s house with the note．Reaching the toy shop window with its decorated Christmas tree．he could not tear himself away from it until he had spent ten minutes staring at the gift he most wanted．Where the road began to run downhill to Mrs. Blakey’s house，he met some of his friends who were throwing snowballs．He joined in the fight，and by the time it finished．another twenty minutes had gone by．Ten more minutes were lost looking for the note for Mrs. Blakey，which had somehow dropped from his pocket during the fight．When he finally found it, it was not only very wet，but he found that part of it was torn away and missing That meant a further search，but without results So Tommy reached Mrs. Blakey’s house nearly an hour late．carrying a dirty piece of paper that contained only the words：

    —for tea this afternoon—important to talk

    about—u．If it is convenient，— tell Tommy：

    otherwise．—Hr house at；four o’clock—

Yours sincerely．

Al ice Hendry

    Mrs. Blakey puzzled over the note for a while，then，imagining she knew what the missing words were，told Tommy to tell his mother it would be all right

    Tommy arrived home not long before four o’clock，only to find his mother very angry and already putting her hat on．“You naughty boy, where have you been?”she cried, and without waiting for all answer,“What did Mrs. Blakey say?”

    Tommy told her．

    “All right, you’d better come with me，”Mrs. Hendry said．And so once again Tommy found himself oil the downhill road to Mrs. Blakey’s．

    At about the same moment that Mrs. Hendry and her son Tommy reached Mrs. Blakey’s door, Mrs. Blakey herself, having taken a different road，was waiting outside the Hendry’s home．wondering why there was no answer to her knock．Who could blame her for thinking that the torn note was all invitation to tea at the Hendry’s，instead of which Mrs. Hendry had in fact been asking herself out to tea with Mrs. Blakey’s．

1．Tommy’s mother told him __________．

    A．not to drop the note on his way to Mrs. Blakey’s house

    B．to look at the toy-shop window．

    C．to hurry straight round to Mrs. Blakey’s house with the note，

    D．to look for the note

2．Which of the following notes did Mrs. Hendry send to Mrs. Blakey?

    A．Dear Mrs. Blakey，

       Will it be all right if l visit you for tea this afternoon? I have something important to talk about with you If it is inconvenient，tell Tommy；otherwise，I shall come to see you at your house at four o’clock．

Yours sincerely,

Alice Hendry

    B．Dear Mrs. Blakey，

       I should be very glad if you would come here for tea this afternoon I have something important to talk about with you，If it is inconvenient，tell Tommy；otherwise I shall expect to see you at our house at four o’clock．

Yours sincerely，

Alice Hendry

    C．Dear Mrs. Blakey，

      Tommy would be glad if you could come here for tea this afternoon．There is a gun that he thinks is important to talk about with you If it is inconvenient，tell Tommy；otherwise we shall expect to see you at our house at four o’clock

Yours sincerely，

Alice Hendry

    D．Dear Mrs. Blakey，

    I should be grateful if Tommy could stay with you for tea this afternoon．I want to go out as I have something to talk about with Mrs. Morris．If it is inconvenient，tell Tommy；otherwise，I will send him to your house at four o’clock．

Yours sincerely,

Alice Hendry

3．When Tommy returned home，his mother was very angry because ________．

    A．she was worried that it was too late for them to reach Mrs. Blakey’s house

    B．the naughty boy was an hour late for supper．

    C．He lost the note on his way to Mrs. Blakey’s house

    D．He came home without a reply from Mrs. Blakey

4．Which of the following is Not true according to the story．

    A．After giving the note to Mrs. Blakey, Tommy hurried straight home．

    B．Tommy looked for the missing part of the note but failed in finding it．

    C．Mrs. Blakey inferred correctly what the incomplete note meant

    D．Mrs. Blakey expected to find Mrs. Hendry at home at four o’clock