Our village carpenter (木匠) , John, came one day and made a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size for 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,“That’s his ninth cup of tea today. ”But she said, in a loud voice,“It’s a beautiful table, dear, isn’t it？”
“I’ll decide about that when I see the bill. ”I said.
John laughed and gave me his bill for the work. I read:
One dining table 10 November, 1998
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 nice day, hasn’t it？Quite sunny. ”
“Yes. ”I said. “ I’m glad it’s only the tenth 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! A dining table will be $20 more expensive on November 30, won’t it, 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 there isn’t too much trouble, John,” I said,“please add it up again. You can forget the date…”
I paid him $26. 50 and 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:The writer thought John would ask for _______ if he made a dining table on the last day of November.
A．$20. 00
B．$46. 50
C．$56. 50
D．$26. 50小题3:When the writer gave John the money, he was happy because _______.
A．he got what he should get for his work
B．he got much more money for his work
C．he got the money easily
D．he didn’t have to add up the costs again小题4: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小题5:What do you think of the writer？ He is ______.
A．honest
B．clever
C．foolish
D．afraid
小题1:A
小题2:C
小题3:A
小题4:B
小题5:B
题目分析：短文大意：这篇短文主要讲述了木匠约翰把日期当做花费，跟作者多要了10美元，但是作者发现了这个问题，最后按照实际价格付了账单。
小题1:推理判断题。阅读短文可知，约翰把日期当做花费加在了一起，他和作者谈论天气的目的就是想分散作者的注意力，故选A。
小题2:细节理解题。根据A dining table will be $20 more expensive on November 30, won’t it, John？”描述，可知作者认为在十二月三十日做一个饭桌要花20美元，故选C。
小题3:细节理解题。根据约翰列出的账单可知，这张饭桌的实际花费是26.5美元，故选A。
小题4:细节理解题。在约翰给出的账单中，他把十二月十日这个日期也当做花费加在了一起，可见他想愚弄作者，想多要点钱，故选B。
小题5:推理判断题。阅读短文可知，作者看出了约翰的账单的问题，可见他是一个聪明的人。故选B。