When I was walking down the street one day, I found a small bag on the ground. I picked it up and opened it to see if I could find out the owner’s name. There was nothing inside it except some dollars and an old photo--- a picture of a woman and a young girl about twelve years old. I put the photo back and took the bag to the police station. Before I left, the policeman wrote down my name and address. He thought the owner might want to thank me.

That evening I went to have dinner with my aunt and uncle. They had also asked a young woman to have dinner with us. Her face was familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen her. During our talk, the young woman happened to say that she had lost her bag that afternoon. At once I remembered where I had seen her. She was the young girl in the photo, though she was now much older. She was very surprised, of course, when I told her about the bag.

After dinner we went to the police station and she got back her bag. The policeman said to me, “It’s a wonderful thing. You not only found the bag, but also the owner of the bag.”

( )54. In the bag there was _______.

A. nothing B. a new photo and some money

C. an old picture and some money D. some dollars and a piece of paper

( )55. The writer opened the bag because he wanted to________.

A. find some money B. find some letters

C. find the owner’s photo D. find out whose bag it was

( )56. The writer gave the bag to ________.

A. a policeman B. his uncle C. his aunt D. his friend

( )57. The writer knew the young woman because _________.

A. he had met her somewhere before B. she looked like the girl in the picture

C. she often had meals with the writer D. she was the old woman in the photo

C

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 (抢劫).” 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?”

( )58. In the passage the underlined word “reduce” means “____________”

A. feel worried about B. be interested in

C. get higher D. make less

( )59. David thought that two minutes was ____________.

A. too little time to pull out a tooth