Passage 3
　　Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.
　　One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’s mistakes. (79) It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like "I was wrong about that," and it is even harder to say, "I was wrong, and you were right about that. "
　　I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago. He told me he had been the manager of a grocery store in the neighbor-hood where I grew up, and he asked me if I remembered the egg cartons. Then he related an incident and I began to remember vaguely the incident he was describing.
　　I was about eight years old at the time, and I had gone into the store with my mother to do the weekly grocery shopping. On that particular clue, I must have found my way to the dairy food department where the incident took place.
　　(80) There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there was an im-pressive display of eggs in dozen and half-dozen cartons. The cartons were stacked three or four feet high. I must have stopped in front of a display to admire the stacks. Just then a woman came by pushing her grocery cart and knocked off the stacks of cartons. For some reason, I decided it was up to me to put the display back together; so I went to work.
　　The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened. When he appeared, I was on my knees inspecting some of the cartons to see if any of the eggs were broken, but to him it looked as though I was the culprit (罪犯). He severely scolded me and wanted me to pay for any broken eggs. I protested my innocence and tried to ex-plain, but it did no good. Even though I quickly forgot all about the incident, apparently the manager did not.
　　11. How old was the author when he wrote this article?
　　A About 8.
　　B About 18.
　　C About 23.
　　D About 15.
　　答案:C
　　由第二段句…he had made a mistake fifteen years ago和第三段句I was about eight years old at the time(那时我才刚刚8岁)可以得出本题的答案应该是C。
　　12. Who was to blame for knocking off the stacks of cartons?
　　A The author.
　　B The manager.
　　C A woman.
　　D The author’s mother.
　　答案:C
　　文中的问题问的是谁是弄碎鸡蛋的罪魁祸首。我们可以从第四段的这句话中得到答案：Just then a woman came by pushing her grocery cart and knocked off the stacks of cartons．就在那时，一个妇女推着购物车走了过来，她把那些堆着的箱子给撞倒了。这说明是一个妇女把箱子给撞倒的，作者不过是去帮忙，却在当时被经理误会了。所以答案应该是C。
　　13. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
　　A The woman who knocked off the stacks of cartons was seriously criticized by the manager.
　　B The author was severely criticized by the manager.
　　C A woman carelessly knocked off the stacks of cartons.
　　D It was the author who put the display back together.
　　答案:A
　　A选项的意思是：撞倒箱子的那个妇女被老板狠狠地批评了一顿。根据文章，事实不是这样的。文中后一段中有这样一句话：He severely scolded me and wanted me to pay for any broken eggs．I protested my innocence and tried to explain．but it did no good．他狠狠地责骂我并且让我赔偿所有打碎了的鸡蛋。我为自己的清白辩护并且努力去解释，但是根本没有效果。从这句话可以看出作者被老板狠狠地责骂了一番，作者是那个女人的替罪羊。所以A项不正确。故答案应该选择A。
　　14. Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage?
　　A It’s Harder to Admit One’s Mistake.
　　B I Was Once the Culprit.
　　C I Remember an Incident.
　　D A Case of Mistaken Identity.
　　答案:B
　　本题考查对全文中心思想的概括，有一定的难度。A项不是作者想要在本文中表达的思想，A项只是一个客观的事实。C项也不对，因为作者早已经忘了这件事情，是那个经理让他一点点回忆起来的。D项的意思是错误的人物身份识别，可是这句话并没有体现文中“作者是无辜的”这一关键思想，所以D项不对。经过排除，我们的答案锁定在B。
　　15. The tone of the article expresses the author’s ______.
　　A admiration for the manager’s willingness to admit mistakes
　　B anger to the manager for his wrong accusation
　　C indignation against the woman who knocked off the stacks of cartons
　　D regret for the mistake he made in the store
　　答案:A
　　作者开篇就指出一个人能说出“我错了”这样的话是相当不容易的，而文中又讲了一个商店的经理在事隔15年之后向作者道歉。所以作者的态度很明显，没有责怪谁的意思，因为事情都已经过去，并且作者当时很快就忘记了，作者有的只是对那个经理的佩服，因为他敢于在15年之后承认自己的错误。所以本题的答案应该选择A。

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