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 lot of antique 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. 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 entered 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. How much do you want for it, sir?" "Twenty pounds,"I said, "OK,"he said. "I'll give you twenty pounds." "It's got a slightly broken leg,"I said. "Yes, I saw that, it's nothing." Everything was going according to 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'11 buy it." I said. "What do you mean?" "You've just sold it to me." he said. "Yes, I know but I've changed my mind. I am sorry. I'll give you twenty-seven 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're 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'll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing. Why didn't the shops want to repair the chair? A) It's too difficult to repair. B) The writer didn't want to offer enough money. C) No one in the shops could mend it. D) There was too much trouble and too few profits in mending a chair.
D
I got my first driver's license in 1953 by taking driver education in my first year at Central High School in Charlotte,North Carolina.Four years later when it was time to renew my license I was a married woman.Henry and I were living in Baltimore,Maryland.Two weeks before my 20th birthday,Henry drove me to the motor vehicle office on a hot July afternoon.When I got to the office and showed to the man behind the counter my North Carolina driver's license,ready to renew,the man told me that I was under age by Maryland law since I was not yet 21."Mr. Henry Smith,your husband,will have to sign for you," he said. I argued,pointing to a very large belly of mine,"I am married.I am having a baby.Why should I have to have someone sign for me to drive?"He answered coldly."It's the law,madam." Henry encouraged me to calm down,just go ahead and get the license and be done with it."No,"I said.I refused to have him sign for me.So I left without a Maryland license. I called the North Carolina Motor Vehicle office and renewed my NC license by mail--using my name Susan Brown.And thus it was for the next twelve years.Since Henry was in the army I could drive under my home state license.By the time Henry left the army we were once again living in Maryland,and I had to take the Maryland driver's exam.Since then I just go in and renew every four years--sign the name Susan Brown,have my new picture taken, and walk out with a license to drive. Susan failed to renew her license the first time in Maryland because _ . A) she was forbidden to drive by Maryland law B) she lacked driving experience in Maryland C) she was to give birth to a baby soon D) she insisted on signing for herself
D
Q: We started out in a great morning and were heading over the mountain range to Ellensburg. We stopped at Snoqualmie summit for a quick rest. About a mile from there, we heard a loud sound and thought we might hit a rock. However, we were wrong. As we were turning into the rest area, we heard a loud banging sound again, and all I could do was get this car pulled over and stopped. Once we got stopped, and tire pulled off, we found that the bolt ,which is necessary for the brake to work, had been missing. Had I hit the brake with any more speed, I am sure the car would have turned over and we could have all been killed. The first thing we needed to do was get a new bolt, so my husband went to get a cup of coffee and to ask whether there would be an auto parts store. They told him where, and then he came back to find we had no way to get there. _ One of the coffee volunteers was getting off her shift and offered to take him to the auto parts store. So this angel took him to Ellensburg to get the part, only to find out that it was the wrong part. So she came back to see if everything fit and sure enough, she offered to take him to the hardware store in town to see if they could find this bolt! She spent well over 4 hours with us, driving us around to help fix our car and protect us until we were safe. She even followed us for a short time on the freeway until she knew we were well on our way safely. We were blessed that day, and when I told her she was an angel she just said we would do the same thing, and she was right, I would and I will again! What is the best title for the passage? A) An angel in the mountains! B) A terrible accident in the mountains! C) An unusual situation in the mountains! D) An unbelievable sound in the mountains!
A: A
*Question*
Riding was the favourite activity of Thomas Jefferson, who was the third President of the United States. He usually rode good horses. One day, he was riding outside Washington, when a jockey came near. He did not know the President, but his professional eye was attracted by Mr. Jefferson's horse. He stopped and said that he wanted to buy the horse, but Mr. Jefferson politely refused his offer. The jockey offered more money for the horse, because the closer he looked at the horse, the more he liked it. All of his offers were refused, which made him angry. He then became rude, but his rudeness left as little an impression as his money, for Jefferson had a very good temper. At last, he hit Mr. Jefferson's horse with his whip, getting it to run suddenly. This would have thrown a less skillful rider to the ground, but Jefferson stayed on his seat, and controlled his horse well. The jockey then gave up. He rode with Mr. Jefferson side by side and began to talk with him about politics. Jefferson joined in the conversation. When they got into the city and came close to the gate of the presidential mansion , Mr. Jefferson stopped, and politely invited the man to enter. The jockey was surprised and asked, "Why? Do you live here?" "Yes" was the simple reply. "Why, stranger, what's your name?" "My name is Thomas Jefferson." Embarrassed, the man quickly left, while the President looked at him with a smile and then rode through the gate. According to the passage, which of the following statement is true? A) The President of the US is fond of riding. B) The jockey managed to buy the horse from Mr. Jefferson. C) Mr. Jefferson, the third President of the United States, was a man of good manners. D) All the presidents of the US have expensive horses.
**Answer**
C