David hated spending money. When he had to buy something in a shop, he always tried his best to knock down the price, even for the cheapest things. If he wanted to buy a bottle of orange, for example, and the shopkeeper asked for $2, David would say, “Make it $1.90 and I’ll buy it.” Sometimes the shopkeepers agreed to reduce their prices a little. “What’s ten cents?” they asked themselves. “If it makes this man happy, it won’t hurt me very much.” In this way David saved a few cents here and a few cents there, and by the end of the year he had saved several hundred dollars.

One day he had a very bad toothache and had to go to the dentist. The dentist looked at the tooth and said, “This tooth will have to come out. It’s too serious to save.” “How much must I pay you to take out a tooth?” David asked. “Forty dollars,” the dentist said. “How long will it take you to pull out the tooth?” he asked. “About two minutes,” the dentist answered. “Forty dollars for two minutes’ work!” he shouted, “That’s robbery (抢劫).” The dentist smiled. “You’re right,” she said. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll pull your tooth out very slowly. How about if I take half an hour?”

1.In the passage the underlined word “reduce” means “____________”

2.Why must David’s tooth be pulled out?

3.After the dentist answered David’s question, he became very _________.

4.David thought that two minutes was ____________.

5.What kind of person do you think David was?

–Nancy, how long does it take you to fly to Canada?

  –Sorry, I don’t know. But I can telephone my father to _____ it for me.

     A. do       B. check      C. catch      D. find

Chris Jones recently completed a very unusual journey. Our reporter Mary Owen met him at his home in the south of London and be told her all about the trip.
Reporter: What gave you the idea to make a trip around India on an elephant, Chris?
Chris: Well, it all started the idea two years ago when I was planning a trip to India. I visited a photo exhibition of elephants and I realized that the only enjoyable way to make a trip around India was on an elephant.
Reporter: What did you do next?
Chris: I flew to New Delhi and started looking for an elephant, I needed an elephant trained to carry people. I didn’t know anything about elephants, so I asked an expert(专家) for help. He taught me how to ride an elephant. He also helped me find an elephant.
Reporter: How long did it take you to find a suitable elephant?
Chris: Not too long. I bought a famale elephant called Tara for about 6.000 dollars.
Reporter: Can you tell me about the journey?
Chris: Tara and I set off from New Delhi a week later. We were going to Sonepur in northern India. There is a big elephant market there and I could sell Tara easily. And what a ride! Elephants can travel at about 6 miles an hour and Sonepur is more than 1,200 km away. It took us 64 days to complete the journey.
Reporter: Did you have any problems on your journey?
Chris: Yes, a few. But nothing serious. On the third day. Tara hurt her foot. But that got better quickly. Also, there was a lot of heavy rain during the first week and we got very wet!
Reporter: What happened when you reached Sonepur?
Chris: My plan was to sell Tara. But I was very fond of her. I couldn’t take her back to Britain and I didn’t want to sell her at the market. I happened to meet some people who wanted an elephant for their national park in southern India. I knew that Tara would be safe with them, so I gave her to them. I was very sad to say goodbye.
【小题1】Chris got the idea to make a trip around India on an elephant from ______