Question

A few days ago I asked my sons’ governess（女家庭教師）Julia to come into my study. “Be seated, Julia, ” I said, “Let’s settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you’re too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month...”

? “Forty.”

? “No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, um, you’ve been here two months, so...”

? “Two months and five days.”

? “Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... you know you didn’t work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... ”Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word.

? “Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct?”

? Julia’s left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but-still not a word.

? “Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but- forget it. When didn’t I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect（疏忽）, Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket; take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick’s shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave ten dollars.”

? “You didn’t. ”sobbed Julia.

? “But I made a note of it.”

? “Well... if you say so.”

? “Take twenty seven from forty one -that leaves fourteen.”

? Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl!

? “Only once was I given any money,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more.”

? “Really? You see now, and I didn’t know that! Take three from fourteen.. leaves eleven. Here’s your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Here it is!”

? I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them.

? “Merci（法語: 謝謝）,” she whispered.

? I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger. “For what, this - ‘merci’?” I asked.

? “For the money.”

? “But you know I’ve cheated you - robbed you! I have actually stolen from you! Why this‘merci’?”

? “In my other places they didn’t give me anything at all.”

? “They didn’t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... I m going to give you all the eighty dollars! Here they are in the envelope all ready for you... Is it really possible to be so spineless（懦弱）? Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws（爪）-to be such a fool?”

? Embarrassed, she smiled. And I could read her expression,“It is possible.”

? I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little“merci”several times and went out. I looked after her and thought,“How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”

1.While talking to Julia, the writer expected from her________.

A. a protest　　　B. gratitude　? C. obedience　　 D. an explanation

2.What shocked the writer was Julia’s ________.

A. nervousness in front of her boss???????

B. acceptance of injustice

C. shyness when talking about money?????

D. unwillingness to express herself

3.The writer said, “Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws?” He was actually telling the governess ________.

A. to be more aggressive??????? B. to be more careful in her work

C. to protect her right?????????? D. to live independently

4.At the end of the story, the writer said,“ How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!” to show ________.

A. his understanding of Julia’s anxiety

B. his worry about Julia’s future

C. his concern on the living condition of working-class people

D. his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited

5.From the story, we can tell that Julia’s employer was________.

A. greedy but honest????? 　 B. ill-tempered but warm-hearted

C. strict but forgiving??????? D. none of the above

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

2.B

3.C

4.D

5.D

【解析】

試題分析：文章透過一件小事告訴我們：每個人都應該為自己的權(quán)利進行抗爭，不要做一個接受不公平待遇的弱者。作者從家庭教師60美元工資里扣掉了將近50美元，女教師并沒有為自己爭取而是選擇了沉默。作者對女教師表現(xiàn)出來的懦弱感到生氣，他想教會女教師要為自己爭取應得的利益。

1.根據(jù)倒數(shù)第三段“I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... Is it really possible to be so spineless（懦弱）? Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent?”可知，作者這樣做是想教那個家庭教師要學會為應得的東西進行反抗，故選A。

2.根據(jù)“I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger. But you know I’ve cheated you - robbed you! I have actually stolen from you! Why this‘merci’?””可知，作者在跟女家庭教師開玩笑，并未扣她的工資，家庭教師對不公平的接受態(tài)度讓作者感到生氣和吃驚，故選B。

3.根據(jù)倒數(shù)第三段“Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent?”可知，作者認為，女家庭教師不應該選擇沉默，而應該為了自己的權(quán)利站起來反抗，故選C。

4.“How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”作者感嘆道，在這個世界上，壓榨弱者是那么的容易。這體現(xiàn)出了作者對被剝削者的同情，故選D。

5.A貪婪但真誠；B脾氣壞但熱心腸；C嚴厲但大度。作者跟家庭教師算了一筆賬，克扣了她的大部分工資，但這其實是一個玩笑，作者想讓女教師學會為自己的權(quán)利進行反抗。A、B、C三項都沒有全面描述作者的性格特點，故選D。

考點：故事類短文閱讀