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[（一）Pay for the Meal Again

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A man and his wife had a small restaurant near a train station. The restaurant often stayed open until after midnight， because people came to drink and have meals while they were waiting for trains.

At two o’clock one morning， a farmer was still sitting at a table there. He was asleep. The wife of the owner of the restaurant was very sleepy and wanted to go to bed. She looked at the farmer several times and waited for him to wake and go， but each time she looked， the farmer was still there sleeping. Then at last she went to her husband and said to him， “You have woken him six times now， but why haven’t you sent him away？ It’s very late.”

“Oh， no， I don’t want to send him away，” answered her husband with a smile. “You see， whenever I wake him up， he asks for his bill， and when I give him the bill， he pays it and then goes to sleep again.”

（ ）1. The persons who come to the restaurant are those who _____.

A. want to meet friends

B. want to look for trains

C. wait for trains

（ ）2. The wife did not go to bed because she was waiting for the farmer to _____.

A. get on the train

B. pay his bill

C. wake up and go

（ ）3. The man didn’t send the farmer away， because he wanted the farmer _____.

A. to sleep a little longer

B. to feel sleepy

C. to give more money

（ ）4. From the passage we know the husband is _____.

A. honest （誠實的）

B. greedy （貪婪的）

C. gentle （溫柔的）

[（二）The Payment

報酬]One day， a poor man， who had only a piece of bread to eat， was walking past a restaurant. There was a large pot of soup on

the table. The poor man held his bread over the soup， so the steam （蒸汽） from the soup went into the bread， and gave the bread a good smell. Then he ate the bread.

The restaurant owner was very angry at this， and he asked the man for money， in exchange （交換） for the steam from the soup. The poor man had no money， so the restaurant owner took him to Tod， who was a judge （法官） at that time.

Tod thought about the case for a little while. Then he took some money from his pocket. He held the coins next to the restaurant owner’s ear， and shook them， so that they made a jingling （叮當響的） noise. “What was that？” asked the restaurant owner.

“That was payment for you，” answered the judge.

“What do you mean？ That was just the sound of coins！”

“The sound of the coins is the payment for the smell of the soup，” answered Tod. “Now go back to your restaurant.”

（ ）5. The poor man held the bread over the soup， so the steam from the soup would go into the bread.

（ ）6. The restaurant owner took the poor man to Tod because Tod was his friend.

（ ）7. Tod gave the coins to the restaurant owner at last.

（ ）8. The judge was very clever.

[（三）Meals on the Ship Are Free.

船上的飯是免費的。]An English tourist found himself in Norway with only enough money in his pocket to pay his passage back. As he knew it would take him only two days to get to England， he decided that he could easily do without food. So he bought a ticket and went on the ship.

He closed his ears to the sound of the lunch bell. When dinner time came， he refused the invitation to go to eat with one of the other tourists， saying that he didn’t feel well.

The next day he didn’t go to breakfast and lunch. At dinner time he was so hungry that he could not stand it any longer.

“I’m going to eat，” he said， “even if they throw me into the sea afterwards.”

At dinner he ate all that the steward （服務員） put in front of him and prepared himself for trouble.

“Bring me the bill，” he said to the steward. “The bill， sir？” said the man. “Yes，” answered the Englishman.

“There isn’t any bill. On the ship meals are included in the passage money.”

9. How much money did the English tourist have in his pocket when he was in Norway？

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10. What did he decide to do？

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11. How long did he keep eating nothing？

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12. Did he pay the bill？ Why？

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