David hated spending money. When he had to buy something in a shop, he always tried his best to knock down the price, even for the cheapest things. If he wanted to buy a bottle of orange, for example, and the shopkeeper asked for $2, David would say, “Make it $1.90 and I’ll buy it.” Sometimes the shopkeepers agreed to reduce their prices a little. “What’s ten cents?” they asked themselves. “If it makes this man happy, it won’t hurt me very much.” In this way David saved a few cents here and a few cents there, and by the end of the year he had saved several hundred dollars.
One day he had a very bad toothache and had to go to the dentist. The dentist looked at the tooth and said, “This tooth will have to come out. It’s too serious to save.” “How much must I pay you to take out a tooth?” David asked. “Forty dollars,” the dentist said. “How long will it take you to pull out the tooth?” he asked. “About two minutes,” the dentist answered. “Forty dollars for two minutes’ work!” he shouted, “That’s robbery (搶劫).” The dentist smiled. “You’re right,” she said. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll pull your tooth out very slowly. How about if I take half an hour?”
【小題1】In the passage the underlined word “reduce” means “____________”

My father died when l was a baby, and my mother had to go out to work．1 was the only(1)    ______so I had no brothers and sisters to play with at home．I used to play in the street with other children, or ride my bike down to the park，but I remember I(2)______a lot of time just sitting at home reading．We had a television，I think, but I don’t remember(3)_______ it very much．

    My grandparents lived with us and we used to do a lot of things together—I remember we played cards a lot．At the weekends, my mother always(4)________一we often went down to the sea and swam, and I(5)__________to swim when I was quite young．

    We didn’t have a car, so we went everywhere by bus．Occasionally(偶爾)，one of my uncles used to come and take us out in his car，which was a great(6)________．For holidays we always went to the seaside, but never far away—maybe a short train journey．

    My mother wasn’t very(7)_________．a(chǎn)nd I don’t remember her ever(83)______ me．In fact，I used to get my own way too much．

    I was given small pocket money because we weren’t very (9)________，and I probably spent most of it on sweets，as far as I remember--I don’t think anyone thought they were(10)____ for you then．

1．A．child           B．father               C．friend                 D．mother

2．A．used            B．kept           C．took                       D．spent

3．A．repairing          B．1istening to      C．watching             D．looking at

4．A．let me in         B．took me out      C．told me stories        D．went shopping

5．A．hated           B．learned         C．stopped               D．forgot

6．A．game           B．chance        C．pain                 D．pleasure

7．A．strict           B．kind           C．interested               D．worried

8．A．playing with      B．staying with     C．beating                D．loving

9．A．busy           B．happy           C．rich                 D．well

10．A．good           B．bad            C．important               D．delicious

David hated spending money. When he had to buy something in a shop, he always tried his best to knock down the price, even for the cheapest things. If he wanted to buy a bottle of orange, for example, and the shopkeeper asked for $2, David would say, “Make it $1.90 and I’ll buy it.” Sometimes the shopkeepers agreed to reduce their prices a little. “What’s ten cents?” they asked themselves. “If it makes this man happy, it won’t hurt me very much.” In this way David saved a few cents here and a few cents there, and by the end of the year he had saved several hundred dollars.

One day he had a very bad toothache and had to go to the dentist. The dentist looked at the tooth and said, “This tooth will have to come out. It’s too serious to save.” “How much must I pay you to take out a tooth?” David asked. “Forty dollars,” the dentist said. “How long will it take you to pull out the tooth?” he asked. “About two minutes,” the dentist answered. “Forty dollars for two minutes’ work!” he shouted, “That’s robbery (搶劫).” The dentist smiled. “You’re right,” she said. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll pull your tooth out very slowly. How about if I take half an hour?”

1.In the passage the underlined word “reduce” means “____________”

2.Why must David’s tooth be pulled out?

3.After the dentist answered David’s question, he became very _________.

4.David thought that two minutes was ____________.

5.What kind of person do you think David was?