Lesson from the Checkout Line

本篇阅读材料的难度属中等，全文约350词，因此建议阅读时间（含做题）为13分钟。阅读要求：认真阅读短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

A little part of me thought about going to another checkout line. There was only one guy in this one， but he was in a wheelchair and there seemed to be 1 going on.

Well， I stamped（踩踏） on that little part， and we stepped in behind him. At first， he seemed to be having 2 getting his groceries （杂货） onto the conveyor belt （运输带）. But after a while， I 3 that what he was actually doing was 4 them into two parts.

Still， getting the groceries up there was no 5 task in itself. I offered to help， but he and the checkout lady had it under 6 . He asked Julie if she would mind 7 his empty basket away. Then he 8 for his wallet which was on one side of his chair. The way he was positioned and the 9 that he only had one usable arm made this quite difficult for him， so I helped there.

What must it be like， I 10 ， to be so dependent on other people like that？

The checkout operator came around and gave him his 11 . She hung one bag of groceries over a handle at the back of his chair. I 12 to get the other， bigger， bag but he said， “No. But you could 13 me a favor. Take that bag along to the entrance and give it to Angela.”

I dutifully did that， 14 Julie with our shopping.

It turned out that Angela was collecting 15 for people who might otherwise go hungry！ I hadn’t even 16 her before.

This guy， regardless of the limitations that his physical condition forced on him， had bought more than twice as much shopping as he needed―and 17 the bigger bag away to help other people！

He didn’t let the fact that he needed help stop him from being a 18 . And it changed my idea of dependence 19 I realized that the help he had given was 20 the help he had received.

So ... what’s holding the rest of us back？

1. A. something B. nothing C. anything D. everything

2. A. fun B. problem C. difficulty D. difference

3. A. thought B. realized C. hoped D. meant

4. A. turning B. breaking C. getting D. dividing

5. A. easy B. hard C. comfortable D. convenient

6. A. construction B. discussion C. repair D. control

7. A. keeping B. cutting C. putting D. driving

8. A. reached B. looked C. searched D. wished

9. A. idea B. fact C. news D. suggestion

10. A. asked B. wondered C. guessed D. said

11. A. bill B. note C. change D. coin

12. A. determined B. agreed C. offered D. promised

13. A. set B. change C. make D. do

14. A. leaving B. connecting C. providing D. covering

15. A. water B. money C. clothes D. food

16. A. watched B. noticed C. observed D. found

17. A. given B. sent C. thrown D. taken

18. A. failure B. success C. help D. surprise

19. A. before B. when C. unless D. though

20. A. rather than B. other than C. less than D. more than

【答案】

1-5 ACBDA 6-10 DCABB 11-15 CCDAD 16-20 BACBD

【解析】

1. A。结账处虽然只有一个顾客，但他坐在轮椅上，而且好像有“什么事（something）”在发生。根据关键信息词but和下文可知答案。

2. C。have fun doing sth.意为“做……很开心”；have difficulty doing sth.意为“做……有困难”。根据语境，C项最佳。

3. B。作者刚开始以为他很难将所买的东西搬上运输带，过了一会才“意识到（realized）”他是在将所买的东西分成两份。

4. D。divide... into... 意为“将……分成……”。

5. A。根据语境中的still和I offered to help可知对于那位残疾人来说，要将那些杂货搬上运输带不是一件“容易（easy）”的事。

6. D。have... under control意为“掌控……”。

7. C。put sth. away意为“将……收好/放好”。

8. A。reach for意为“伸手去拿”；look for和search for都有“寻找”的意思；wish for意为“想要得到”。根据语境，他打算付钱，“伸手去拿”钱包最合理。

9. B。他坐在轮椅上的姿势以及他只有一只手臂可用的“事实（fact）”使他很难拿到钱包。

10. B。看到这样的情景，作者不禁“纳闷（wondered）”如此依赖别人的生活到底会是什么样子？

11. C。bill和note都有“钞票”的意思；change意为“零钱”；coin意为“硬币”。收银员走过来，给了他找回的“零钱”。零钱不一定都是硬币。

12. C。看到收银员将其中一个购物袋挂在他轮椅后面的把手上，作者“主动（offered）”去帮忙拿另一个袋子。

13. D。do sb. a favor意为“帮某人一个忙”，是固定短语。

14. A。leave sb. with sth.意为“将某人留在某物旁”。

15. D。根据关键信息词go hungry可知D项（food）最佳。

16. B。作者以前甚至都没有“注意到（noticed）”她。

17. A。give sth. away意为“捐赠……”。

18. C。他并没有让他需要帮助的事实阻止他去“帮助别人（help）”，help可表示“帮助他人的人，帮忙者”之意。

19. B。“当（when）”作者意识到这位残疾人给予别人的帮助多于别人给他的帮助时，改变了对“依赖”一词的理解。

20. D。rather than意为“而不是”；other than意为“除了”；less than意为“少于”；more than意为“多于”。

【难句解析】

1. The way he was positioned and the fact that he only had one usable arm made this quite difficult for him， so I helped there. 他坐在轮椅上的姿势以及他只有一只手臂可用的事实使他很难拿到钱包，因此我那时候帮了他一下。

这是一个由so引导的并列复合句。第一个分句中的主干是The way... and the fact... made this quite difficult for him... ， he was positioned是省略了关系代词that或in which的定语从句，修饰先行词the way；that he only had one usable arm是同位语从句，补充说明名词the fact。

2. This guy， regardless of the limitations that his physical condition forced on him， had bought more than twice as much shopping as he needed―and given the bigger bag away to help other people！ 这个人，不顾他的身体条件强加给他的限制，买了他所需物品的两倍多，并将多的那一包捐赠出去，以帮助别人！

该句的主语是This guy，谓语动词是had bought... and given... ，regardless of the limitations... on him是介词短语作方式状语，其中，that his physical condition forced on him是定语从句，修饰先行词the limitations，动词不定式短语to help other people作目的状语，修饰谓语动词。