The Beets were a new couple (夫婦). The things in their rooms, such as the television, the computer, the fridge, furniture and so on, were all left by their parents. They only paid some money for their food and clothes. But they tried their best to save money. If they had something important to tell their friends, they always visited them instead of calling them.
One day, it was a quarter past nine. Mr. Beet didn’t come back. His wife was a little worried. The supper was cold and she had waited for two hours. She was sitting by the table in the dark room.
Suddenly the woman heard someone coming upstairs. It was her husband’s step. She hurried to open the door. In the dark she could hear his deep breathing(呼吸). As soon as he sat down, she turned on the light and found he looked very tired.
“Why do you come back so late, dear?” asked the woman. “Haven’t you caught a bus?”
“Yes, but I didn’t take it.” “Why not?”
“I ran after it so that I saved two dollars this evening.”
“That’s great!” the woman said happily. “Run after a taxi next time and you’ll save both more time and money.”
【小題1】The supper was ready at       .

The Beets were a new couple (夫婦). The things in their rooms, such as the television, the computer, the fridge, furniture and so on, were all left by their parents. They only paid some money for their food and clothes. But they tried their best to save money. If they had something important to tell their friends, they always visited them instead of calling them.

One day, it was a quarter past nine. Mr. Beet didn’t come back. His wife was a little worried. The supper was cold and she had waited for two hours. She was sitting by the table in the dark room.

Suddenly the woman heard someone coming upstairs. It was her husband’s step. She hurried to open the door. In the dark she could hear his deep breathing(呼吸). As soon as he sat down, she turned on the light and found he looked very tired.

“Why do you come back so late, dear?” asked the woman. “Haven’t you caught a bus?”

“Yes, but I didn’t take it.” “Why not?”

“I ran after it so that I saved two dollars this evening.”

“That’s great!” the woman said happily. “Run after a taxi next time and you’ll save both more time and money.”

1.The supper was ready at       .

A．6:15             B．6:30             C．6:45             D．7:15

2.Mrs. Beet sat in the dark because         .

A．she wanted to save money.

B．she didn’t like the bright light.

C．she was afraid to be seen.

D．she wanted to have a good rest.

3.Mr. Beet went back          .

A．by taxi            B．by bus            C．on foot           D．by bike

4.When Mr. Beet got home that evening,               .

A．his wife was angry with him

B．he was very tired

C．he was too hungry to say a word

D．his wife felt sorry

5.Mrs. Beet hoped          .

A．her husband went home by bus the next time.

B．her husband could keep on doing exercise.

C．her husband could be stronger and stronger.

D．her husband could save more money and time.

We spent a day in the country and picked a lot of flowers. Our car was full of flowers inside! On the way home we had to stop at traffic lights, and there my wife saw the bookshelf.  It stood outside a furniture（家具）shop. “Buy it,” she said at once. “We’ll carry it home on the roof-rack（車頂架）. I’ve always wanted one like that.” What could I do? Ten minutes later I was twenty dollars poorer, and the bookshelf was tied on to the roof rack. It was tall and narrow, quite heavy too.  As it was getting darker, I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed more polite than usual that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea. After a time my wife said, “There’s a long line of cars behind. Why don’t they overtake（超車）?” Just at that time a police car did overtake. The two officers（警官）inside looked at us seriously when they went past. But then, with a kind smile they asked us to follow their car through the busy traffic. The police car stopped at our village church（教堂）. One of the officers came to me. “Right, sir,” he said. “Do you need any more help now?” I didn’t quite understand. “Thanks, officer,” I said. “You’ve been very kind. I live just down the road.” He was looking at our things: first at the flowers, then at the bookshelf. “Well, well,” he said and laughed. “It’s a bookshelf you’ve got there! We thought it was--er, something else.” My wife began to laugh. Suddenly I understood why the police drove here. I smiled at the officer. “Yes, it’s a bookshelf, but thanks again.” I drove home as fast as I could.

1.From the story we know that _________.

2.What made the writer think that carrying furniture was “a good idea”?

3.Why were the police and other drivers so kind to the writer?

4.When did the officers begin to realize（意識(shí)到）they had made a mistake?