A beautiful and very successful actress was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the country, but she didn’t want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the center of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colour.
It was very difficult to get tickets for her show in the evening, because everyone wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of month, when she got the painter’s bill. At the bottom of it were these words: “Four hours from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. watching Miss Hall sing and dance: 3 pounds,” with this note: “Before 5:00 p.m. I get 10 shillings (先令)an hour and after 5:00 p.m. 15 shillings.”

1. 1.

   The actress bought a house in the center of the city because        .

   1. A.
      she liked to live in the busiest place
   2. B.
      she didn’t like to live in the country
   3. C.
      she wanted to work harder than before
   4. D.
      she didn’t want to live in old house
2. 2.

   In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress        .

   1. A.
      gave him two tickets for her show
   2. B.
      sang and danced for four hours
   3. C.
      decided to give him 3 pounds
   4. D.
      invited him for a big dinner
3. 3.

   The actress got the painter’s bill        .

   1. A.
      to ask for the money of his painting work
   2. B.
      to ask her to pay for his watching her show
   3. C.
      in which he showed his thanks for the tickets
   4. D.
      in which he expressed his dissatisfaction
4. 4.

   It can be learned from the text that one pound is         shillings.

   1. A.
      10
   2. B.
      12
   3. C.
      15
   4. D.
      20
5. 5.

   What kind of man was the painter?

   1. A.
      He was a careful man.
   2. B.
      He was a poor man.
   3. C.
      He was not friendly to others.
   4. D.
      He knew little about music and dance.