My first shopping in a general store was in Miss Bee’s when I spent the summer with my grandmother in New York.
“Go get them yourself” Miss Bee said, ignoring the shopping list held up before her nose. “I’m not your servant, so just get yourself a basket from that pile over there and start filing.”
It took me three wall-to-wall searches before I found the first item on my list―a pork can be placed between boxes of cereal and bread. Next up was toilet paper, found under the daily newspaper, and Band-Ads, found next to the face cream. The store was a puzzle, but it held some surprises too. I found a new Superman comic behind the peanut butter.
I visited Miss Bee a couple of times a week that summer. Some times she short-charged me. Other times she overcharged or sold me an old newspaper instead of a current one. Going to the store was more like going into battle. I left my Grandma’s house armed with my list—memorized to the letter—and marched into Miss Bee’s like General Patton (巴顿将军) marching into North Africa.
All summer long she found ways to trip me up. No sooner had I learned how to pronounce bicarbonate of soda (小苏打) and memorized its location on the shelf than Miss Bee rearranged the shelves and made me hunt for it all over again. By summer’s end, however, the shopping trip that had once taken me an hour was done in 15 minutes.
The morning I was to return to Brooklyn, I stopped into tell her that she was mean (刻薄的). To my amazement she laughed and said. “Well, I don’t care! Each of us is put on this earth for a reason. I believe my job is to teach every child I meet ten life lessons to help them. Think what you will, but when you get older you’ll be glad our paths crossed!”
I thought the idea was absurd until one day my daughter came to me with homework troubles.
“It’s too hard,” she said. “Could you finish my math problems for me?”
“If I do it for you, how will you ever learn to do it yourself?” I said.
Suddenly, I was back at that general store where I had learned the hard way totally up (结算) my bill along with the cashier. As my daughter went back to her homework, I wondered: Had Miss Bee really taught me something all those years ago? I took out some scrap paper and started writing.
【小题1】Why did the writer spend a long time doing her first shopping in the general store?| A．She was too young to remember all the items on the list. |
| B．Miss Bee didn’t treat her kindly. |
| C．Her grandmother asked her to buy too many things. |
| D．The store was in disorder and she was not familiar with the shop. |
| A．She was well prepared and full of confidence. |
| B．Going shopping in the store was a challenge to her. |
| C．She was very aggressive, taking Miss Bee as the enemy. |
| D．Going shopping was so fun that it was like playing a war game. |
| A．The writer would benefit from the experience of shopping in Miss Bee’s. |
| B．The writer would find shopping in Miss Bee’s store very interesting. |
| C．The writer would be happy to meet Miss Bee again later in life. |
| D．The writer would realize that Miss Bee could become her friend. |
| A．Don’t be so quick to judge other people |
| B．The best teacher isn’t only in school |
| C．Stick to your dream whatever happens |
| D．Things can be learned in daily routines |
