I took the bus to work for many years. No one knew each other; the passengers all sat there sleepily in the morning. The bus was cheerless and silent.

One of the passengers was a small grey man who took the bus to the center for senior citizens every morning. No one ever paid very much attention to him. One July morning he said good morning to the driver and smiled. The driver nodded guardedly. The rest of us were silent.

The next day, the old man boarded with a big smile and said in a loud voice, “A very good morning to you all!” Some of us looked up, amazed, and murmured “ good morning” in reply.

The following weeks, our friend was dressed in a nice old suit and tie. The thin hair had been carefully combed. He said good morning to us every day and we gradually began to nod and talk to each other.

One morning he even had a bunch of wild flowers in his hand. The driver turned around smilingly and asked, “Have you got yourself a girlfriend, Charlie?” We never got to know if his name really was “Charlie”, but he nodded shyly and said yes. The other passengers whistled and clapped at him. Charlie waved the flowers before he sat down on his seat.

Every morning after that Charlie always brought flowers. Some passengers also brought flowers for him. The bus became a happy place.

Then, one morning, as autumn was closing in, Charlie wasn’t waiting at his usual stop. When he wasn’t there the next day and the day after that, we started wondering if he was sick or hopefully---on holiday somewhere. When we came nearer to the center for senior citizens, one of the passengers even asked the driver to wait.

We all held our breaths when he went to the door. The old gentleman was fine, but one of his close friends had died over the weekend. How silent we were the rest of the way to work.

The next Monday Charlie was waiting at the stop, and without a tie. Inside the bus was silent.

The story is mainly developed by ______.

A. time B. logic C. comparison D. cause and result

Greeted with “good morning” from the old man, people aboard the bus at first _____.

A. felt tired and sleepy and didn’t want to talk B. greeted him back loudly and politely

C. guarded against the conversation from strangers D. felt surprised and became angry with him.

When the passengers found the old man was not waiting at the bus stop as usual, they did NOT _____.

A. buy flowers and wait for him to come B. feel anxious and worried about him

C. miss him and expect to see him D. hope he was going on holiday rather than falling ill

It can be inferred from the text that _____.

A. the driver didn’t like the old man at first B. people usually wear a tie when they are happy

C. passengers brought flowers to express gratitude（感激） to the old man

D. the old man had a great influence on the passengers’ emotion

The purpose of the passage is to _____.

A. introduce the old gentleman and praise his good deeds

B. persuade us to become friendly and considerate to people around

C. tell us to keep silent when somebody passes away

D. criticize those who remain silent when they are greeted