Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors (家庭教師), cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic (天主教的) school.

 

　　After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread (鋪開) out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.

 

　　Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity (好奇心). She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns (修女)?”

 

　　Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No.”

 

　　“Well then,” she asked again. “WHAT was it?”

 

　　Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (釘) to the plus sign (加號), I knew they weren’t joking.”

 

　　◆根據以上短文內容，然后從每題所給的四個選項中選擇最佳選項。

 

　　1. Why did Tommy’s parents send him to a catholic school?

 

　　A. Because he could eat well there.

 

　　B. Because he could earn more about nuns.

 

　　C. Because his parents wanted him to do better in his math.

 

　　D. Because his parents didn’t want him to learn math any more.

 

　　2. Tommy’s mother felt surprised that his son _______.

 

　　A. was still the same as usual B. ate so much at dinner

 

　　C. kissed her hello after school D. worked hard but said little

 

　　3. “Hitting the books” means “_______” in Chinese.

 

　　A. 用功 B. 捶書

 

　　C. 發泄 D. 振作

 

　　4. The last sentence in the passage shows that _______.

 

　　A. Tommy felt sorry for the mail B. Tommy was afraid of being nailed

 

　　C. Tommy didn’t like the plus sign D. Tommy liked playing jokes on others

 

　　5. From the passage, we can infer (推斷) that _______.

 

　　A. teachers should be strict with their students

 

　　B. mistaking (誤解) might do good sometimes

 

　　C. a catholic school is much better than other ones

 

　　D. nuns are good at helping children with their math

 

　　【答案及解析】

 

　　1. 選C。文章第1段說Tommy數學學不好，其父母想盡了一切辦法都不奏效，最后將他送進了一所天主教的教會學校。

 

　　2. 選D。認真閱讀第2段前面幾句話，并注意以下信息：After the first day, little Tommy came home…didn’t kiss his mother hello…was hard at work…without a word. 可知答案應選D。

 

　　3. 選A。根據文章大意和Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books這個句子的語境，可知hit the books的意思是“用功”。

 

　　4. 選B。Tommy學習一直不用功，但自從進了這所catholic school之后，情況就不一樣了——整天都發狠讀書，結果數學考試也得了A。這是為什么呢?文章在最后道出了其原因：Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (釘) to the plus sign (加號), I knew they weren’t joking. 由此可知，Tommy是擔心學習不用功會被釘在十字架上。

 

　　5. 選B。Tommy把the man nailed to the plus sign誤解為“學習不用功的結果”，從而一改自己原來不好學的不良習慣，很快就把數學成績趕了上去。可見，誤解有時也可以起到好的效果。