5. The next morning the young man would find the trousers were _______.

A. two inches shorter　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. four inches shorter

C. six inches shorter　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. eight inches shorter

[答案及解析]

4. His elder sister shortened the trousers ________.

A. after finished washing　　　　　　　　　　 B. before she went to bed

C. when she came back from the cinema　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. after having supper

3. His mother and sisters ________.

A. agreed to do that　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. didn’t want to do that

C. said nothing to him　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. said something to him

2. He asked _______ to shorten his new trousers.

A. his mother and sisters　　　　　　　　　　 B. his two sisters

C. his elder sister　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. his mother and one of his sisters

1. The young man bought the new trousers _______ his size.

A. as long as　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. two inches longer than

C. as big as　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. two inches shorter than

5. 此题在原文中都可找到答案，而C答案与作者的观点Machines do not ask for more money and longer holiday.不一致，所以选C。

[实例二]

A young man once went into town and bought himself a pair of trousers. When he got home, he went upstairs to his bedroom and put them on. He found that they were about two inches too long.

He came downstairs, where his mother and his two sisters were washing up tea things in the kitchen. “These new trousers are too long.” He said. “ They need shortening (缩短)by about two inches. Would one of you mind doing this for me, please?” His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything.

But as soon as his mother had finished washing up, she went quietly upstairs to her son’s bedroom and shortened the trousers by two inches. She came downstairs without saying anything to her daughters.

Later on, after supper, the elder sister remembered her brother’s trousers. She was a kind-hearted girl, so she went quietly upstairs without saying anything to anyone, and shortened the trousers by two inches.

The younger sister went to the cinema, but when she came back, she , too, remembered what her brother had said. So she ran upstairs and took two inches off the legs of the new trousers.

4. 此题根据原文的最后一句话可直接得出答案为D。

3. 由短文的倒数第二句话One machine can often do the work of forty people.可知此题的正确答案为C。

2. 由短文的第二句话The economy of the world needs to grow by 4% each year just to keep the old number of jobs for the people. 准确地理解了这一句话的意思就能得出正确答案为B。

1. 由短文的第一句话It has become more difficult in today’s world to find work for everyone. 可知现在找工作比以前更困难，即以前找工作比现在容易得多。所以答案选D。