单选题 Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. "The railway owes me ￡15," she said to Jack Smith, the young man working at the office. "You sold me a ticket for June 23rd, but there was no ship from Marey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me ￡15." Jack was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. "Come into the office, Madam," he said politely. "I'll just check the Marey timetable for June 23rd."
The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Jack soon discovered. There was no sailing on June 23rd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn't have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. "You look sunburnt," he said to her. "Did you have a nice holiday in Marey?"
"Yes," she answered, shyly. "The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!"
"That's fine," said Jack. "My little girl can't swim a bit yet. Of course, she's only three." "I'm four!" the child said proudly.
Jack turned to the mother, "I remember your ticket, Madam," he said, "But you didn't get one for your daughter, did you?"
The woman looked at the child, "I mean she hasn't started school yet. She's only four."
"A four-year-old child must have a ticket, Madam. A child's return ticket to Marey costs ￡15.50. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe ￡0.50. The law is the law, but since the fault was mine..."
The woman stood up, took the child's hand and left the office.

单选题 The woman was angry because ______.

A. she couldn't use the ticket for her round trip
B. she spent more money than she had expected
C. she had to return home a day earlier than she had planned
D. Jack had sold her a one-way ticket but charged her for a return

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题干意为“那位妇女生气的原因是______。”从文章第一段那位妇女抱怨的内容和她要求火车站付给她住宿费可推知，她生气的原因是她多花钱了。所以本题的正确答案为B。

单选题 Jack was worried because ______.

A. the woman was angry with him
B. he had not done his work properly
C. the Marey timetable was wrong
D. the little girl didn't have a return ticket

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“杰克焦虑的原因是什么?”从文章第二段第二句和第三句话“She was quite right, as Jack soon discovered. There was no sailing on June 23rd.”可知，6月23日晚上在Marey是没有船的。但是，杰克却卖了那天的票，说明他没做好工作。本题的正确答案为B。

单选题 Jack started talking to the little girl because ______.

A. he had a little girl about the same age as this girl
B. he was in difficulty and did not know what to do
C. he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl
D. he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题干意为“杰克开始和小女孩聊天，因为______。”文章未明说杰克与小女孩攀谈的动机，但从谈话内容和结果可以看出，其真实目的是想弄清女孩是否已超过免票的年龄，从而解决问题。因此本题的正确答案为C。

单选题 When Jack said, "The law is the law, but since the fault was mine...", he meant that ______.

A. they must follow the law, even though the fault was his
B. he had to be strict with the woman because of the law, although he didn't want to
C. the woman had to pay him ￡0.50 and the railway would pay her for the hotel
D. she should pay ￡0.50, but since he had made a mistake, she could go without paying

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 语义题。题干意为“当杰克说‘The law is me law, but since the fault was mine...’时，他的意思是什么?”根据上下文对事情和年轻的售票员思想过程的叙述，可知这句话的意思是：按规定那妇女要付小孩的票钱，但售票员也有错。因此他希望互相不追究，所以正确答案是D。