Question

    Working up a credit score for Walter Cavanagh has got to be a mathematical nightmare ﹣ the man has nearly 1，500 valid credit cards to his name and holds the Guinness Record for the most credit cards． Mr． Plastic Fantastic ﹣ a title given to him by Guinness World Records ﹣ is also the proud owner of the world's longest wallet， which can hold about 800 cards． But he uses it only to carry a few cards， while the rest are safely kept in bank safedeposit boxes．

Cavanagh started collecting credit cards in the late 1960s． "One of my best friends and I made a silly bet： the guy who could collect the most credit cards by the end of the year would win dinner，" he said． " I got 143 cards by the end of the year， and my friend gathered 138．" After winning that bet， Cavanagh decided to simply keep going with his unusual collection． He got credit cards from gas stations， airlines， bars， and even ice cream stores．

If there's one card missing from Cavanagh's collection， it's that from the Newberry Company． They repulsed his application for a card in the early 1970s， even though he'd collected over 100 by then． They said he had too much credit． Therefore， so far he hasn't had a Newberry card in his collection．

Cavanagh hasn't stopped applying for new cards ﹣ he's held the Guinness Record since 1971 and has no intention of letting go of it． He copies whole pages from a U．S． directory of businesses and keeps sending applications． If he receives a rejection， he writes back to the company explaining his goal and ambition． But he doesn't count useless cards in his total collection．

Thanks to all the cards to his name， Cavanagh has access to about ＄1.7 million at any moment． Despite this privilege， he has managed to maintain an excellent credit score．

The 72﹣year﹣old retired financial planner and credit expert has only one piece of advice to share： "Never use a card to buy anything you can't pay off in a couple of months． If you don't have the discipline， you shouldn't have the cards．"

1.Cavanagh began to collect credit cards when he     ．

A. owned a very long wallet

B. made a bet with his friend

C. wanted to create a Guinness Record

D. was treated to dinner by his friend．

2.What does the underlined word "repulsed" in Paragraph 3 probably mean？

A. Rejected．

B. Recalled．

C. Repeated．

D. Recognized．

3.What do the underlined words "the discipline" in the last paragraph probably refer to？

A. Having many cards to your own name．

B. Buying things by card and paying off in time．

C. Managing to own more privileges for your card．

D. Using a card to buy things as many times as possible．

4.What do we know about Cavanagh's cards？

A. Some of them are useless．

B. They are safely kept in his long wallet．

C. They have brought him fame and privilege．

D. Fewer new cards are added to his collections．

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.B

4.C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。Walter Cavanagh拥有近1500张有效的信用卡，并拥有最多的信用卡记录，他建议我们要有控制自己的能力，不要超出自己的能力消费。本文介绍了他收集信用卡的经历。

1.推理判断题。根据第三段中Cavanagh started collecting credit cards in the late 1960s. “One of my best friends and I made a silly bet（打赌）; the guy who could collect the most credit cards by the end of the year would win dinner,”可知，Cavanagh在和朋友打赌之后开始收集信用卡。故选B。

2.词义猜测题。根据第三段开头部分If there’s one card missing from Cavanagh’s collection, it’s that from the Newberry Group. They repulsed his application for a card in the early 1970s以及后文Therefore, so far he hasn’t had a Newberry card in his collection.可知，他的申请被Newberry Group拒绝，所以他没有Newberry的信用卡，repulsed意为“拒绝”，故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段中“Never use a card to buy anything you can’t pay off in a couple of months. If you don’t have the discipline, you shouldn’t have the cards.”可知，在最后一段Cavanagh建议我们要有控制自己的能力。“the discipline”的原则就是：用信用卡买东西，就要及时还款。故选B。

4.推理判断题。根据第一段Mr. Plastic Fantastic — a title given to him by Guinness World Records — is also the proud owner of the world’s longest wallet一句可知，收藏信用卡为Walter Cavanagh带来了荣誉，以及第五段Despite this privilege, he has managed to maintain an excellent credit score.一句可知，收藏信用卡还为其带来了特权。故选C。