本篇大意是：木匠約翰給主人公的妻子做了一個小飯桌，結賬時的賬單上把成本費17.00、油漆料錢1.50、工價8.00和日期10一起相加，多計價10元，結果被主人發(fā)現(xiàn)了，但他并沒有直接批評多要錢的木匠，只是詼諧地說：“月底30日做比月初10日做，還要貴些，是不是？”而且只付了木匠應得到的26.50元錢．很明顯，本篇比上篇更難些，因上篇中主人公懷特和廠家雙方處理的問題是直接的，直言不諱，而本篇中的主人公卻是明人做暗事，肚內藏機關，木匠雖然詭譎，主人卻更機靈，一眼看穿了木匠的把戲，但他處理問題頗有技巧，既解決問題，不多花錢，又不搞得很僵，雙方不快，體現(xiàn)了現(xiàn)代生意場中的交往策略和洽談風格．我國正在建設社會主義市場經濟，這是法制化、規(guī)范化的市場經濟，反對不正當?shù)母偁帲�此文有一定的現(xiàn)實意義，文中的內容聯(lián)系著當代的社會生活，通過英語試卷，同樣可以檢驗學生：的審視能力．

　　Our village carpenter(木匠), John Hill, came one day and made a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I got home that evening, John was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill(賬單) for the job.

　　My wife said to me, quietly, “That's his ninth cup of tea today.” But she said, in a loud voice, “It's a beautiful table, dear, isn't it?”

　　“I'll decide about that when I see the bill,” I said.

　　John laughed and gave me his bill for the work. I read:

　　When I was looking at the bill, John said, “It's been a fine day, hasn't it? Quite sunny.”

　　“Yes,” I said. “I'm glad it's only the 10th of November.”

　　“Me, too,” said John. “You wait-it'll be a lot colder by the end of the month.”

　　“Yes. Colder-and more expensive! Dining tables will be ￡20 more expensive on November 30th, won't they, John?”

　　John looked hard at me for half a minute. Was there a little smile in his two blue eyes? I gave his bill back to him.

　　“If it isn't too much trouble, John,” I said, “please add it up again. You can forget the date.”

　　I paid him ￡26.50 and he was happy to get it.

1．Why did John talk about the weather when the writer was looking at the bill?

A Because he didn't want the writer to go through the bill carefully.

B．Because it was really a fine day.

C．Because he wanted the writer to check the bill carefully.

D．Because he wanted to tell the writer what the weather was like.

2．Why did the writer say that dining tables would be ￡ 20 more expensive on November 30th?

[　　]

A．Because it was difficult to make dining tables in cold weather.

B．Because paint would be more expensive.

C．Because the cost of wood would be more expensive.

D．Because he thought John would almost certainly add the date to the cost of the dining table.

3．The writer thought John would ask for ________ if he made a dining table on the last day of November.

[　　]

4．When the writer gave him the money, John was happy because ________.

[　　]

A．he got what he should get for his work

B．he got much more money for his work

C．he got the money easily

D．he didn't have to add up the costs again

5．From the story we know that ________.

[　　]

A．John made a mistake in the bill

B．John tried to fool the writer in order to get more money for his work

C．John had written out the bill before the writer got home

D．John still wanted to get ￡36.50 for his work in the end