单选题
A woman should some day write the complete philosophy of clothes. No matter how young, it is one of the things she wholly comprehends. There is an indescribably faint line in the matter of man"s apparel, which somehow divides for her those who are worth glancing at and those who are not. Once an individual has passed this faint line on the way downward he will get no glance from her. There is another line at which the dress of a man will cause her to study her own. This line the individual at her elbow now marked for Carrie. She became conscious of an inequality. Her own plain blue dress, with its black cotton tape trimmings, now seemed to her shabby. She felt the worn state of her shoes.
"Let"s see," he (Drouet) went on, "I know quite a number of people in your town. Morgenroth the clothier and Gibson the dry goods man."
"Oh, do you?" she interrupted; aroused by memories of longings their show windows had cost her.
At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. In a few minutes he had come about into her seat. He talked of sales of clothing, his travels, Chicago, and the amusements of that city.
"If you are going there, you will enjoy it immensely. Have you relatives?"
"I am going to visit my sister," she explained.
"You want to see Lincoln Park," he said, "and Michigan Boulevard. They are putting up great buildings there. It"s a second New York—great. So much to see—theatres, crowds, free houses—oh, you"ll like that."
There was a little ache in her fancy of all he described. Her insignificance in the presence of so much magnificence faintly affected her. She realized that hers was not to be a round of pleasure, and yet there was something promising in all the material prospect he set forth. There was something satisfactory in the attention of this individual with his good clothes. She could not help smiling as he told her of some popular actress of whom she reminded him. She was not silly and yet attention of this sort had its weight.
"You will be in Chicago some little time, won"t you?" he observed at one turn of the now easy conversation.
"I don"t know," said Carrie vaguely—a flash vision of the possibility of her not securing employment rising in her mind.
"Several weeks, anyhow," he said, looking steadily into her eyes.
There was much more passing now than the mere words indicated. He recognized the indescribable thing that made up for fascination and beauty in her. She realized that she was of interest to him from the standpoint, which a woman both delights in and fears. Her manner was simple, though for the very reason that she had not yet learned the many little affectations with which women conceal their true feelings. Some things she did appeared bold. A clever companion—had she ever had one—would have warned her never to look a man in the eyes so steadily.
"Why do you ask?" she said.
"Well, I"m going to be there several weeks. I"m going to study stock at our place and get new samples. I might show you round. "
"I don"t know whether you can or not. I mean I don"t know whether I can. I shall be living with my sister, and—"
"Well, if she minds, we"ll fix that." He took out his pencil and a little pocket note-book as if it were all settled. "What is your address there?"
She fumbled her purse which contained the address slip,
He reached down in his hip pocket and took out a fat purse. It was filled with slips of paper, some mileage books, a roll of greenbacks. It impressed her deeply. Such a purse had never been carried by anyone attentive to her. Indeed, an experienced traveler, a brisk man of the world, had never come within such close range before. The purse, the shiny tan shoes, the smart new suit, and the air with which he did things, built up for her a dim world of fortune, of which he was the center. It disposed her pleasantly toward all he might do.
单选题
What has probably been written about the man before this passage?
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。根据文章第四段最后一句:He talked of sales of clothing, his travels, Chicago, and the amusements of that city. 他讨论了衣服的销量、旅行见闻和芝加哥的娱乐活动。可知,他是一个旅行商人。故A项可以被推断出。文章最后一段写道:…the shiny tan shoes, the smart new suit…. 闪亮的棕色鞋子,整洁而崭新的套装。可以推断出他衣着光鲜,由此可知B项正确。D项,对话中男人找嘉莉妹妹要了地址,可以推断他之后会去拜访。从两人的对话中可以看出,这个男人风趣幽默、善于言谈,不是一个严肃的人。故选择C项。
单选题
What tone does the author use when he writes about the girl?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 作者态度题。文中对嘉莉妹妹有这样的描述:Her manner was simple, though for the very reason that she had not yet learned the many little affectations with which women conceal their true feelings. 她举止单纯,也正因为如此,她还不知道怎么像个真正的女人一样隐藏自己的情绪。文章最后一段也提到,她被男人光鲜的外表深深吸引,乐于回应这种引诱。据此可以推断出作者对她的描述是暗含讽刺意味的。