—Dad, I’ve got an “A” in the math exam.

—Great. And I’m sure you will do better, because this is a good _________.

A. report 　　 B. result 　　　　 　 C. start　　 D. skill

The story behind the shopping cart

Characters

Sylvan Goldman – owner of a grocery shop

Fred Young – Sylvan’s friend, a mechanic(机械师)

One night in 1936, in an American city. Inside Fred’s workshop, Sylvan sits next to Fred, who is making adjustments(调试) to their new i? 1. – a shopping cart.

Sylvan:????????????? My customers don’t like our shopping cart.

Fred:????????????? Really? So they p? 2. shopping with those heavy baskets?

Sylvan:????????????? (nods) I’ve got a huge crowd of customers every day, b 3. none of them wants to use the cart.

Fred:????????????? I don’t understand. We invented the cart so that people don’t need to carry a basket around the shop.

Sylvan:????????????? (laughs) And so that they will buy more groceries!

Fred:????????????? So why don’t they like the shopping cart?

Sylvan:????????????? Young men think that pushing a cart around makes them look w 4. and slow, and young women think it’s unfashionable.

Fred:????????????? Of course it isn’t fashionable right now. It’s only just been invented! But I’m sure older people will appreciate it.

Sylvan:????????????? Um…

Fred:????????????? What? They don’t like the cart e? 5.? ?

Sylvan:????????????? Well, they think pushing it makes them look helpless!

Fred:????????????? Oh no. We need to do something, Fred. We can’t just g? 6. up on this invention!

Sylvan:????????????? We won’t. (He gets up and walks around the room. Suddenly, he stops.) Aha! I’ve got an idea.

Fred:????????????? What is it?

Sylvan:????????????? I’ll hire(雇佣) some good-looking guys and girls to push the carts around and pretend they’re shopping.

Fred:????????????? Oh! So the real shoppers will see these attractive people using the carts and think, “Hey, if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me!”

Sylvan:????????????? E 7. .

Fred:????????????? Hey! Maybe you could get one of the girls to greet your customers and encourage them to use the cart.

Sylvan:????????????? Great idea!

－I've got an job in New York.

－Oh, ________!  But I'm going to miss you.

Martin is an American boy. He is eight years old. His parents   41  _ five years ago and he is now living with his grandmother in New York.

　　One morning,  Jimmy ,  one of his classmates, came to his home with an exercises book in his hand. Jimmy lives in a house not far from Martin's. They often go to school together.

　　"Would you help me with this maths problem?" Jimmy said as soon as he came into the room. "It's too hard for me and I can't work it out."

　　"Let me try, " Martin said. "I   42  it isn't too hard for me. "

　　Martin tried his best but he couldn't work it out,   43   .

　　"If we had a small computer,  all the problems would be  44   for us to do. " Jimmy said.

　　"A small computer . . . , " Martin thought for a minute,  then he said, "I've got an idea. We can   45  one in a shop. "

　　"A computer is very   46   ,  and we don’t have enough money. "

　　"That's OK, " said Martin. "We can ask the new president (总统)   47  some money. He said he would help anyone in trouble. I' m sure he will help us. He is very rich, you know."

　　So they decided to write a letter to the new president. Soon the letter was finished and they hurried to the post office.

　　In front of the post office stood a small box. They   48   the letter into the box carefully and went home happily.

The next morning, they    49   the post office on their way to school. They found   50  ,  the box was not a post box but trash-box (果皮箱).