Question

    Compassion is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into action. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register(收款机) with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash(现金), had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.

    I couldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.

    Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.

    What I had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.

1.The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits ______.

  A. promised to obey the store rules               B. forgot to take any money with him

  C. hoped to have the food first and pay later     D. could not afford anything more expensive

2.Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?

  A. kind and lucky                         B. poor and lonely

  C. friendly and helpful                       D. hurt and disappointed

3.The writer acted upon the store rules because ______.

  A. he wanted to keep his present job             

  B. he felt no pity for the old gentleman

  C. he considered the old man dishonest           

  D. he expected someone else to pay for the old man

4.What does the writer learn from his experience?

  A. Wealth is more important than anything else.

  B. Helping others is easier said than done.

  C. Experience is better gained through practice. 

  D. Obeying the rules means more than compassion.

Answer

1.C

【详解】根据第一段最后两行可以推断出那个老人是out of cash钱用完了，而家里的cupboard里没东西了，所以想先赊帐，第二天再付钱。而不是付不起，而这种做法又是违反商店规定的。

2.B

【详解】由This untidy man…可以知道这个老人衣衫不整，He said he was out of cash(现金)可知钱用完了。而且刚搬家，橱里没东西。所以说这个老人是poor and lonely

3.A

【详解】由store rules didn’t allow me to do so…., but I valued my job. 可以看出他不想失去工作。因此答案是A。

4.B

【详解】A的意思是财富是最重要的，而作者的行动是舍弃了money而选择了compassion，所以不对。 C的意思是经验来自于实践，与本文无关。而D的意思是，遵守规定比compassion重要。而作者最终还是帮助了那个老人。答案应当是B，从最后一段可以看出，作者深深体会到了说说容易做做难的道理，只有行动才是显示同情心的真正途径。