阅读理解

　　He's an old cobbler(修鞋匠)with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris．When I took him my shoes, he at first told me：“I haven't time．Take them to the other fellow on the main street; he'll fix them for you right away．”

　　But I'd had my eye on his shop for a long time．Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman．“No,” I replied, “the other fellow can't do it well．”

　　“The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys “while-U-wait”－without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys．They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap(鞋带)you might as well just throw away the pair．

　　My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled．He wiped his hands on his blue apron(围裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week．”

　　I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf．

　　“See what I can do?” he said with pride．“Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work．”

　　When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me．He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange, dusty felt hat, his funny accent from who-knows-where and, above all, his pride in his craft．

　　These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption(消费)rather than a way to realize their own abilities．In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done．

完形填空

　　Jenny likes her work with computers and can do a lot of clever things with them．

　　“Computers are really like 　　1　　 to me nowadays,” Jenny told her mother one day．“I can ask them questions, and they 　　2　　 just like people, but more politely and without arguing(争论), and you don’t have to 　　3　　 whether you are going to hurt their feelings．And they never lie!”

　　“I should hope not!” her mother answered．“It 　　4　　 a nice thing, doesn’t it?” “But can 　　5　　 of them think for themselves?”

　　“I’m afraid 　　6　　,” Jenny said．“you can get no more out of them than what you’ve put in．It’s called programming．But it’s wonderful what you can 　　7　　 them to do．”

　　“Well,” Jenny’s mother said, “I’d like to 　　8　　 whether you can program me one of them to give me some advice．”

　　“I hope so,” answered Jenny．“I’ll try it 　　9　　, what do you want advice about?”

　　“Well,” her mother answered, “I have 　　10　　 watches：one of them gains(走快)one second every minute, and the other has stopped and 　　11　　 start again．I would feel pleased if I know which I should 　　12　　．Do you 　　13　　 to ask one of your computers?”

　　Jenny laughed and answered, “That’s 　　14　　 to ask a computer, but I’ll do so．I’ll ask Donald．He’s my best 　　15　　．

　　The next evening when Jenny got home from 　　16　　, she said to her mother, “Donald advised you to keep 　　17　　 has stopped．”

　　“Really?” Jenny’s mother said．“　　18　　 did he advise that?”

　　“Because he pointed out that watch will 　　19　　 the right time once every twelve hours, 　　20　　 the other one will be right only once every five years．”

阅读理解

　　He’s an old cobbler(修鞋匠)with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris．When I took him my shoes, he at first told me：“I haven’t time．Take them to the other fellow on the main street;he’ll fix them for you right away．”

　　But I’d had my eye on his shop for a long time．Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman(手艺人)．“No, ” I replied, “the other fellow can’t do it well．”

　　“The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys “while-U-wait”－without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys．They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap(鞋带)you might as well just throw away the pair．

　　My man saw I wouldn’t give in, and he smiled．He wiped his hands on his blue apron(围裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week．”

　　I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf．

　　“See what I can do?” he said with pride．“Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work．”

　　When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me．He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange, dusty felt hat, his funny accent from who-knows-where and, above all, his pride in his craft．

　　These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old, way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption rather than a way to realize their own abilities．In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done．

阅读理解

　　He's an old cobbler(修鞋匠)with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris．When I took him my shoes, he at first told me, “I haven't time．Take them to the other fellow on the main street．He'll fix them for you right away．”

　　But I had my eyes on his shop for a long time．Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman(手艺人)．“No．” I replied, “The other fellow can't do it well．”

　　“The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys－without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys．They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap(鞋带), you might as well just throw away the pair．

　　My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled．He wiped hands on his blue apron(围裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week．”

　　I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf．

　　“See what I can do?” he said with pride．“Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work．”

　　When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me．He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange dusty felt hat, his funny accent and his pride in his craft．

　　These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption rather than a way to realize their abilities．In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done．