It was Thanksgiving morning. I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together on the top step.
“Any old papers, lady?” asked one of them.
I was busy. I wanted to say “no” until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals (凉鞋), wet with heavy snow.
“Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa.”
They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I saved them cocoa and bread to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started cooking.
The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, “Lady, are you rich?”
“Am I rich? Pity, no!”
I looked at my worn-out slipcovers (椅套). The girl put her cup back in its saucer (茶碟)carefully and said, “Your cups match your saucers.” They left after that, holding their papers against the wind. They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful.
Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.
I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a regular job, these matched, too.
I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy marks of little sandals were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am.
The writer let the two children come in and served them well because ______.
A.she wanted to sell old papers to them |
B.she wanted to give them some presents |
C.she showed great pity and care on them |
D.she wanted to show her thanks to them |
The writer left the muddy marks of little sandals on the floor for a while to _______.
A.show that she was a kind-hearted lady |
B.remind her she shouldn’t forget how rich she was |
C.leave room for readers to think about what being rich is |
D.call up her memories of the good old days |
It can be inferred from the text that whether you are rich depends on _______.
A.how much money you have made |
B.what attitude you have had toward life |
C.the way you help others |
D.your social relationship |