Question

I’m seventeen. I worked as a box boy at a supermarket in Los Angeles. People came to the counter (柜台) and I put things in their bags for them and carried things to their cars. It was hard work.

While working, I wore a plate with my name on it. I once met someone I knew years ago. I remembered his name and said, “Mr. Castle, how are you?” We talked about this and that. As he left, he said, “It was nice talking to you, Brett.” I felt great, he remembered me. Then I looked down at my name plate. Oh, no. He didn’t remember me at all, he just read the name plate. I wish I had put “Irving” down on my name plate. If he’d have said, “Oh yes, Irving, how could I forget you?” I’d have been ready for him. There’s nothing personal here.

The manager and everyone else who were a step above the box boys often shouted orders. One of these was: you couldn’t accept tips(小费). Okay, I’m outside and I put the bags in the car. For a lot of people, the natural reaction(反应)is to take a quarter and give it to me. I’d say, “I’m sorry, I can’t.” They’d get angry. When you give someone a tip, you’re sort of being polite. You take a quarter and you put it in their hand and you expect them to say, “Oh, thanks a lot.” When you say, “I’m sorry, I can’t.” they feel a little put down. They say, “No one will know.” And they put it in your pocket. You say, “I really can’t.” It gets to a point where you almost have to hurt a person physically to prevent him from tipping you. It was not in agreement with the store’s belief in being friendly. Accepting tips was a friendly thing and made the customer feel good. I just couldn’t understand the strangeness of some people’s ideas. One lady actually put a tip in my pocket, got in the car, and drove away. I was puzzled and didn’t know what to do. Should I d have had to throw the quarter at her or eaten it or something?

I decided that one year had been enough. Some people needed the job to stay alive and fed. I guess I had the means and could afford to hate it and give it up.

1.. From the second paragraph, we can infer (推断) that ________.

A. the writer didn’t like the impersonal part of his job

B. people can easily start talking with a name plate

C. Mr. Castle mistook Irving for Brett

D. Irving was the writer’s real name

2.. The box boy refused to accept tips because ________.

A. customers only gave small tips to

B. some customers had strange ideas about tipping

C. he didn’t want to fight with the customers

D. the store didn’t allow the box boys to take tips

3.. The underlined phrase “put down” in the third paragraph probably means ________.

A. relaxed B. upset

C. bored D. surprised

4.What can be the best title for this text?

A. How I Could Find a Job

B. How I Got along with Customers

C. Why I Gave up My Job

D. Why I couldn’t Take Tips

 

Answer 1

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：这篇短文主要讲述了作者在一家超市工作，作为顾客提袋员，收取顾客小费的文章。

1.There’s nothing personal here.这儿没有任何个人的东西。故选A。

2.. One of these was: you couldn’t accept tips(小费).你不能接受小费。可知商店不允许提袋员接受小费。故选D。

3.】细节理解题。根据文章意思，当别人给我小费时，我拒绝了，他们会感到不安。故选B。

4.文章大意可知，作者认为接受小费，有助于互相理解，是一种礼貌行为。商店不让接受小费，使作者很不安得罪很多人，文章最后提出放弃这份工作。故选C

考点：故事类阅读。