Not many people know that U.S. President Calvin Coolidge did not always live in the White House. Sometimes he lived in the nearby Willard Hotel.
Once, in the middle of a night, the President awoke to see a thief searching his clothes. Coolidge calmy spoke up from the darkness, “I wish you wouldn’t take that watch.”
“Why?” asked the shocked man.
Coolidged answered, “Take it near the window and read what is engraved on the back of it.”
The man read, “Presented to Calvin Coolidged, Speaker of the House, by the Massachusetts General Court.” He was very surprised!
“Are you President Coolidge?” he asked. He had never thought he would find the president sleeping in a hotel!
“Yes, I am” Coolidge said. Then he asked, “Why are you doing this,Son?”
The young man explained that he and a friend traveled to Washington during their college vacation. They spent all of their money and had no money to pay the hotel bill and the train tickets back to school.
Coolidge added up those fees. It came to $32. That may not sound like much now, but it was a big sum then. “I’ll give you the $32 as a loan,” the President said, “And I expect you to pay me back.”
The youth thanked him. Coolidge left him with this warning: “Son, you are a nice boy, you are better than you are acting. You are starting down the wrong road. Just remember who you are.”
It wasn’t until after the death
of Mr.Coolidge that this story was allowed to come out. It was first published in the Los Angeles Times. And the most interesting of all is that the President’s notes show that the young man was indeed better than he was acting. He repaid the $32 loan in full.
小题1:.The president stopped the youth from stealing the watch because
A．It was his favorite watch.
B．He wanted to give some money to the youth
C．He wanted to help the young man from getting into trouble
D．He used it for work and daily life小题2: It can be inferred from the passage that
A．the youth’s family was in financial difficulty
B．hotel fees were rather expensive at that time
C．the youth never connected with the president again
D．the youth learned a lesson from his experience with the president小题3: How did people first get to know the story of the president with the youth?
A．From the president himself
B．From a newspaper
C．From the youth’s notes
D．From the youth himself小题4: We can learn from the passage that
A．possessions can be given up when necessary
B．generosity should be encouraged in some cases
C．people can benefit from their unforgettable experiences
D．an act of kindness may change a person’s life
