My name is Ralph and I am 42 years old. I work in a factory that I enjoy very much. On May 27, 1999, I was working on an automatic machine. While working my hand was pulled into the machine and my middle finger on my right hand was ripped off. I had surgery to replace what was left of the finger and now I have a finger that is almost as long as my index finger.

Over the years I have been very blessed for a full and healthy life. Most of all, blessed for having my wife. We have grown together and grown in our faith. Life is going to go on with or without my finger. I was not going to let this take over my life and I pushed to go back to work and got light duty.

This was where my lesson began. When I returned to work, I started getting comments and some teasing from people asking me if it was worth losing my finger over a pack of cigarettes. Someone started a rumor that I had dropped a pack of cigarettes and reached down to pick them up and that is how I lost my finger. This is not true. This rumor hurt more than losing my finger in that machine. Everyone was called in to a meeting to resolve this matter and get the story straight. I had to share my lesson.

We can ruin a person’s life by just a few bad words. There is an old saying that I will never forget: “Words and water are easily poured, but impossible to recover.” So please remember to watch what you say.

1.According to the author, his index finger on his right hand is almost as long as ________.

A.his middle finger on his right hand

B.his middle finger on his left hand

C.his thumb on his right hand

D.his thumb on his left hand

2.From the second paragraph, we know that the author ________.

A.was not happy with a short finger

B.had a good relationship with his wife

C.didn’t want to work any more in the factory

D.wanted to find an important job

3.The rumour about the author is that he lost his finger ________.

A.when he was picking up a pack of cigarettes that had fallen into the machine

B.because he was not careful and smoked when running the machine

C.because he was too sleepy to operate the machine properly

D.when he was reaching down to fix something wrong in the machine

4.Which of the following can match the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A.Nothing is really beautiful but truth.

B.Bad words are meaningless.

C.Lies having short legs can do harm.

D.Words cut deeper than swords.

 

Joe came to New York from the Middle West, dreaming about painting. Delia came to New York from the South, dreaming about music. Joe and Delia met in a studio. Before long they were good friends and got married.

They had only a small flat to live in , but they were happy. They loved each other, and they were both interested in art. Everything was fine until one day they found they had spent all their money.

Delia decided to give music lessons. One afternoon she said to her husband:

“Joe, I’ve found a pupil, a general’s daughter. She is a sweet girl. I’m to give three lessons a week and get $5 a lesson.”

But Joe was not glad.

“But how about me?” he said.” Do you think I’m going to watch you work while I play with my art? No, I want to earn some money too.”

“Joe, you are silly,” said Delia. “You must keep at your studies. We can live quite happily on $15 a week.”

“Well, perhaps I can sell some of my pictures,” said Joe.

Every day they parted in the morning and met in the evening. A week passed and Delia brought home fifteen dollars, but she looked a little tired.

“Clementina sometimes gets on my nerves. I’m afraid she doesn’t practice enough. But the general is the oldest man! I wish you could know him, Joe.”

And then Joe took eighteen dollars out of his pocket.

“I’ve sold one of my pictures to a man from Peoria,” he said, “and he has ordered another.”

“I’m so glad,” said Delia. “Thirty-three dollars! We never had so much to spend before. We’ll have a good supper tonight.”

Next week Joe came home and put another eighteen dollars on the table. In half an hour Delia came, her right hand in a bandage.

“What’s the matter with your hand?” said Joe. Delia laughed and said:

“Oh, a funny thing happened! Clemantina gave me a plate of soup and spilled some of it on my hand. She was very sorry for it. And so was the old general. But why are you looking at me like that, Joe?”

“What time this afternoon did you burn your hand, Delia?”

“Five o’clock, I think. The iron-I mean the soup-was ready about five, Why?”

“Delia, come and sit here,” said Joe. He drew her to the couch and sat beside her.

“What do you do every day, Delia? Do you really give music lesson? Tell me the truth.”

She began to cry.

“I couldn’t get any pupils,” she said, “So I got a place in a laundry ironing shirts. This afternoon a girl accidentally set down an iron on my hand and I got a bad burn. But tell me, Joe, how did you guess that I wasn’t giving music lessons?”

“It’s very simple,” said Joe. “I knew all about your bandages because I had to send them upstairs to a girl in the laundry who had an accident with a hot iron. You see, I work in the engine-room of the same laundry where you work.”

“And your pictures? Did you sell any to that man from Peoria?”

“Well, your general with his Clemantina is an invention, and so is my man from Peoria.”

And then they both laughed.

1.To support the family, Delia worked as             .

A. a tutor                            B. a music teacher

C. an artist                          D. a laundry assistant

2.It happened that             .

A. a man from Peoria liked Joe’s pictures              

B. Delia earned $15 dollars a week easily

C. the couple worked at the same laundry                

D. Clemantina and the general were kind

3.Who hurt Delia’s hand?

A. The general                 B. Clemantina    C. Herself        D. A girl

4.We can infer from the underlined sentence that             .

A. Clemantina was an invention of the general

B. Clemantina was an invention of the man from Peoria

C. there were no such men as the general, Clemantina and the man from Peoria

D. the general, Clemantina and the man from Peoria were the couple’s clients

5.The couple’s attitude towards each other is             .

A. faithful                              B. honest

C. ashamed                               D. heartbreaking

6.Which do you think is the best title of the story?

A. A service of love                  B. A story of Joe and Delia

C. Lies and truth                     D. Servants of love

 

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