Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman
stood outside the ticket office of the station. “The railway owes me £12,” She said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at
the office. “You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from
Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me £12. ”
Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a
return ticket. “Come into the office, Madam,” he said politely. “I’ll just
check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd.”
The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She
was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd.
How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn’t have sold her a
ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. “You look
sunburnt,” he said to her. “Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?”
“Yes,” she answered shyly, “The beach was lovely. And
I can swim, too!”
“That’s fine,” said Harry.
“My little girl can’t swim a bit yet. Of course, she’s
only three…”
“I’m four,” the child said proudly, “I’ll be four and
a half.”
Harry turned to the mother, “I remember your ticket,
Madam,” he said. “But you didn’t get one for your daughter, did you?”
“Er, well---” the woman looked at the child, “I
mean…she hasn’t started school yet. She’s only four.”
“A four-year-old child must have a ticket, Madam. A
child’s return ticket to Jersey costs…let me see…£13.50.
So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe £1.50.
The law is the law, but since the fault was mine… ”
The woman stood up, took the child’s hand and left the
office.
1.Harry was worried because ________.
A.the woman was
angry with him
B.he had not
done his work properly
C.the Jersey
timetable was wrong
D.the little
girl didn’t have a return ticket
2.Harry started talking to the little girl ________.
A.because he
was in difficulty and did not know what to do
B.because he
had a little girl about the same age as this girl
C.because he
wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice
D.when he
suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl
3.When Harry said, “The law is the law, but since the
fault was mine…” he means that ________.
A.they must
follow it without other choice, even though the fault was his
B.he had to be
strict with the woman because of the law, although he didn’t want to
C.the woman had
to pay him £1.50 and the railway would pay her for the
hotel
D.she should
pay £1.50, but he had made a mistake, she could
go without paying
4.How did the woman feel when she left the office?
A.angry B.peaceful C.embarrassed D.nervous