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 (接待). 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?" "20 pounds," I said, "OK," he said, "I will give you 20 pounds." "It's got a slightly broken leg,"
I said. "Yes, I saw that, it's nothing."
Everything was going according to the 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 will buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You have just
sold it to me," he said. "Yes, I know. But I have changed my mind. I am sorry; I will give you 27 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 are 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 will mend this for you, shall we say for a five?" 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. "Then, suddenly 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
3. How much did the writer pay for the mending? [ ]
A. ￡5
B. ￡7
C. ￡20
D. ￡27
4. From the text, we can learn that the writer was _____. [ ]
A. honest
B. smart
C. careful
D. kind
