Question

Grandpa Nybakken loved life—especially when he could play a trick on somebody. At those times, his large Norwegian frame shook with laughter while he pretended innocent surprise, exclaiming, “Oh, forevermore!” But on a cold Saturday in downtown Chicago, Grandpa felt that God played a trick on him, and grandpa wasn’t laughing.

Grandpa worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some boxes for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage abroad. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. He remembered putting them there that morning, so he drove back to the church. His search proved fruitless.

Suddenly, he realized what happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the boxes, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at its height, and Grandpa had six children. He had spent twenty dollars for those glasses that very morning.

“It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home in frustration. “I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.”

Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on vacation in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him, so he came to speak on Sunday night at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago. Grandpa and his family sat in their usual seats among the small congregation(教堂會眾).

“But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year.”

“Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your boxes arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on the top.” After a long pause, he continued, “Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that!”

The people listened, happy for the amazing glasses. But the director surely must have confused their church with another, they thought, there were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.

But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

(  ) 56. Which of the following is NOT true about Grandpa Nybakken according to the passage?

       A. He was an outgoing man and held an active attitude towards life.

       B. He had a large family to support.

C. He was a carpenter working in the church.

D. He was a loyal Christian.

(  ) 57. Grandpa spent much of his time and money in church mainly to ________.

       A. help the priest do some religious work

B. help those people in need

C. make some woodwork for the church

D. seek some help from God

(  ) 58. The people in the church but Grandpa felt confused at what the director said because ________.

A. Grandpa didn’t tell the director that he was the owner of the glasses

B. the director wanted to return the glasses even though he liked it

       C. the director could not get such glasses in their own country

       D. the glasses were not included in the donation list

(  ) 59. Who does “the Master Carpenter” in the last paragraph probably refer to?

     A. Grandpa’s master.                    B. One of Grandpa’s friends.  

   C. God.                       D. Grandpa’s co-worker.

(  ) 60. Which can be the best title of the passage?

      A. Grandfather’s life                       B. The Helpful Donation

      C. The Perfect Mistake                      D. An Impressive Speech

Answer 1

56. C。57. B。58. D。59. C。60. C。

解析:

56. C。 A選項根據第一段可以判斷，B選項根據“Grandpa had six children”可以判斷，D選項根據“I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work”可以判斷。文章第二段只是表明祖父是個木匠，那天只是在教堂幫幫忙，并沒有說他在那工作。

57. B。根據文章可以知道祖父信仰上帝，而上帝的工作就是福澤人們，所以他會去幫助別人。A在文章中沒有提及，C、D不是祖父的目的，

58. D。根據 “there were no glasses on their list of items to be sent oversea” 可以判斷。

59. C。答案與文章第一段中的 “Grandpa felt that God played a trick on him” 相照應，最后一段中的“an ordinary carpenter”指的就是祖父，“the Master Carpenter”指的是God，耶穌也曾是木匠。

60. C。根據文章的描述，祖父因為不小心把眼鏡掉進了運送募捐物品的箱子中，然而這副眼鏡卻給了受捐贈者極大的幫助。所以這是一次“美麗的失誤”。