Our village carpenter(木匠), John Hill, came one day and made a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I got home that evening, John was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill for the job.
My wife said to me quietly, “It’s his ninth cup of tea today.” But she said in a loud voice, “It is a beautiful table, dear, isn’t it?”
“I will decide about that when I see the bill, ” I read:
One dining table, 10 November, 1989.
Cost of wood: ＄17.00
Paint: ＄1.50
Work: 8 hours (＄1 an hour) ＄8.00
Total: ＄36.50
When I was looking at the bill, John said, “It’s been a fine day, hasn’t it? Quite sunny.” “Yes,” I said, “I’m glad it is only the 10th of November.”
“Me, too,” said John. “You wait. It’ll be a lot colder by the end of the month.”
“Yes, colder…. And more expensive! Dining tables will be ＄20 more expensive on November 30th, won’t they, John?” John looked hard at me for half a minute. Was there a little smile in his two blue eyes? I gave his bill back to him.
“If it isn’t too much trouble, John,” I said, “Please add it up again and you can forget the date.”
I paid him ＄26.50and he was happy to get it.
小题1:Why did John talk about the weather when the writer was looking at the bill?_______
A．Because he didn’t want the writer to go through the bill carefully.
B．Because it was really a fine day.
C．Because he wanted the writer to check the bill carefully.
D．Because he wanted to tell the writer what the weather was like.小题2:Why did the writer say that dining table would be＄ 20 more expensive on November 30th ?__________
A．Because it was difficult to make dining tables in cold weather.
B．Because paint would be more expensive.
C．Because the cost of wood would be more expensive.
D．Because he thought John would certainly add to the cost of the dining table.小题3:From the story we know that _____________
A．John made a mistake in the bill.
B．John tried to fool the writer in order to get more money for his work
C．John had written out the bill before the writer got home.
D．John still wanted to get ＄36.50 for his work in the end.
