Question

“How much does it cost to have my shoes shined?” A man in black stood in front of me and asked. Before I could answer, I had started brushing away on his shoes.

“How much do you make a week, boy?” he asked me again. I knew he was laughing at me. All the time I was wondering where I had seen the man. Suddenly I knew I had seen his picture in the post office many times. He was a big swindler—one who cheated money out of others, wanted by the police in many states.

“You know,” he was saying, “it’s imagination people lack. You’ll never get anywhere as a shoeshine boy. Along with imagination, it takes courage. The courage to take a chance. When I was sixteen, I had made $2,500 of my own,” he kept talking away.

That’s when something reminded me. Was it $2,500 or $5,000 or $25,000? I wasn’t sure. I knew a big reward was offered for him.

But what could I do about it? Hit him with a can of shoe polish? A man his size could put me under his power easily.

Suddenly I saw Officer Dailey coming across street. Then, very fast, I began to tie the man’s shoelaces together. The man was watching the officer. “That’s enough, boy!” he said, “I got to be going.”

The policeman was at the window when I shouted, “Officer Dailey, help! This man is a cheat.”

“Shut up,” the man said angrily. I saw a gun in his hand. He was starting to run away when he fell on his face and knocked himself out.

There was a reward of $7,500 for the man,” the officer said. “That’s clever of you.”

“Well, it really wasn’t my idea,” I said. “It was his …”

1.What did the boy do to make a living?

2.Where had the boy seen the man in black?

3.Why was the man wanted by the police in many states?

4.Was the big reward for the man $2,500, $5,000 or $25,000?

5.How did the boy stop the man running away?

6.What do you think the boy would say? Please complete the the last sentence in the passage.

“It was his _________________________________________________________________.”

Answer 1