I was feeling splendid this morning! When approaching the bakery I saw a man asking for coins. I’ve often seen him and usually don’t react well to his whiney (嘀咕不停的) tone of his voice. This time I decided I’d give him something. After I’d paid for my tea-to-go, I got a 5 Euro bill ready. Leaving the store really slowly so he’d have a good chance to approach me, I nearly ran into him.
“Would you maybe have some coins for me?” He asked.
I said, “No, sorry, I don’t,” and watched his face fall already at what he thought was a refusal, one of many thousands he probably gets each day.
“I only have this for you”, I said and held the bill in front of his eyes. The way his jaw nearly fell and his eyes widened were priceless.
“Err… wow!” he said, doing a double-take. “That’s really… Thanks.”
“No problem,” I said. “I’m doing well at the moment, and I wanted to share it—have a good day!”
And I walked away. Actually, I walked away leisurely (悠闲地), and I did giggle and laugh out loud for the next 200 meters. Really, you should have seen his face. He totally had not seen that coming! The joy, I think, did not just come from the fact that I love being generous. It also came from breaking up his expectations of what would happen, to allow for that tiny moment of amazement.
【小题1】How did the beggar feel when the writer said “No”?| A．Worried. | B．Surprised. | C．Disappointed. | D．Grateful. |
| A．wasn’t used to being refused | B．hesitated before reaction |
| C．accepted my offer immediately | D．understood me without difficulty |
| A．the beggar didn’t expect so much money | B．he was attracted by the beggar’s face |
| C．he found the beggar was blind | D．the beggar wished him a good day |
| A．He’s always generous to people in need. | B．He enjoys making fun of poor people. |
| C．He lacks sympathy for the poor. | D．He can find happiness from little things. |
