I met the old man at a cafe. “Did you hear the radio news yesterday?” he asked me. “No,” I replied. “Anything exciting?”“Exciting? NO! Something very sad. A group of hungry dogs killed and ate my best friend.”
“Oh, dear!” I cried. “How did it happen?”“He was working on the hillside when the dogs attacked him. When he didn't return, I went to the hillside and found…”“His body?” I asked. The old fellow drank half of his coffee. “No. I told you they were hungry dogs, didn't I? The big bones were lying every where. But they found this.” He pushed open a match box he was holding in his hand. In it was a man's thumb, lying on some white bloody material.
“This is my friend's right thumb. The dogs ate the rest of him”. The old man began to cry. He finished his coffee quickly and left the cafe. I drank mine and called the waiter. “I'll pay the gentleman's bill. His poor friend—how terrible!”“You've heard the news?” The waiter laughed. “Sure. There's a hole in the bottom of the match box. He put his own thumb through the hole. The blood is red ink, I believe. Is the story worth a cup of coffee, sir?”“But he held the box in his right hand.”“Yes, but listeners look into the box. They just can't take their sight off that terrible thing.”“And when he tells the story, he gets free cup of coffee!” I said, laughing. “Yes, sir, but only from strangers who come to this town, and, of course, he does us no harm!”
小题1: We can learn from this passage ________.
A．the writer came to the cafe for the first time
B．the old man made a living by telling jokes in the cafe
C．the writer had known about the old man before
D．what had happened to his best friend made the old man mad小题2: Having heard the old man's story, the writer _______ .
A．couldn't help laughing immediately
B．showed great mercy upon him
C．didn't believe him at all
D．bought the old man another cup of coffee小题3: It turned out that the thumb in the match box was actually __________.
A．the right thumb of his best friend
B．the thumb he stole from the dead body of an unknown person
C．something made of bloody white materials
D．his own right thumb小题4:The waiter hadn't let out the truth of the old man's story earlier because _______ .
A．he was nobody but the best friend of the old man
B．the old man wouldn't pay for his coffee if he did
C．the waiter hadn't seen through the old man's trick
D．the old man helped the cafe in some way小题5: As suggested by the passage, what might happen in the end?
A．The writer refused to pay the old man's bill.
B．The writer decided to make the trick known to the public.
C．More strangers would hear the old man's story.
D．The old man wouldn't visit the cafe any more.
