首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
On his bench in Madison Square Soapy moved uneasily. When wild geese honk high of nights, and when women without sealskin coats
On his bench in Madison Square Soapy moved uneasily. When wild geese honk high of nights, and when women without sealskin coats
admin
2012-12-01
49
问题
On his bench in Madison Square Soapy moved uneasily. When wild geese honk high of nights, and when women without sealskin coats grow kind to their husbands, and when Soapy moves uneasily on his bench in the park, you may know that winter is near at hand.
A dead leaf fell in Soapy’s lap. That was Jack Frost’s card. Jack is kind to the regular denizens of Madison Square, and gives fair warning of his annual pall. At the corners of the four streets he hands his pasteboard to the North Wind, footman of the mansion of All Outdoors, so that the inhabitants thereof may make ready.
Soapy’s mind became aware of the fact that the time had come for him to resolve himself into a singular Committee of Ways and Means to provide against the coming rigour. And therefore he moved uneasily on his bench.
The hibernatorial ambitions of Soapy were not of the highest. In them there were no considerations of Mediterranean cruises, of Southern skies drifting in the Vesuvian Bay. Three months on the Island was what his soul craved. Three months of assured board and bed and congenial company, safe from Boreas and bluecoats, seemed to Soapy the essence of things desirable.
For years the hospitable Blackwell’s had been his winter quarters. Just as his more fortunate fellow New Yorkers had bought their tickets to Palm Beach and the Riviera each winter, so Soapy had made his humble arrangements for his annual hegira to the Island. And now the time was to come. On the previous night three Sabbath newspapers, distributed beneath his coat, about his ankles and over his lap, had failed to repulse the cold as he slept on his bench near the spurting fountain in the ancient square. So the Island loomed big and timely in Soapy’s mind. He scorned the provisions made in the name of charity for the city’s dependents. In Soapy’s opinion the Law was more benign than Philanthropy. There was an endless round of institutions, municipal and eleemosynary, on which he might set out and receive lodging and food accordant with the simple life. But to one of Soapy’s proud spirit the gifts of charity are encumbered. If not in coin you must pay in humiliation of spirit for every benefit received at the hands of philanthropy. As Caesar had his Brutus, every bed of charity must have its toll of a bath, every loaf of bread its compensation of a private and personal inquisition. Wherefore it is better to be a guest of the law, which though conducted by rules, does not meddle unduly with a gentleman’s private affairs.
Soapy, having decided to go to the Island, at once set about accomplishing his desire. There were many easy ways of doing this. The pleasantest was to dine luxuriously at some expensive restaurant; and then, after declaring insolvency, be handed over quietly and without uproar to a policeman. An accommodating magistrate would do the rest.
Soapy left his bench and strolled out of the square and across the level sea of asphalt, where Broadway and Fifth Avenue flow together. Up Broadway he turned, and halted at a glittering cafe, where are gathered together nightly the choicest products of the grape, the silkworm and the protoplasm.
Soapy had confidence in himself from the lowest button of his vest upward. He was shaven, and his coat was decent and his neat black, ready-tied four-in-hand had been presented to him by a lady missionary on Thanksgiving Day. If he could reach a table in the restaurant unsuspected success would be his. The portion of him that would show above the table would raise no doubt in the waiter’s mind. A roasted mallard duck, thought Soapy, would be about the thing—with a bottle of Chablis, and then Camembert, a demi-tasse and a cigar. One dollar for the cigar would be enough. The total would not be so high as to call forth any supreme manifestation of revenge from the cafe management; and yet the meat would leave him filled and happy for the journey to his winter refuge.
But as Soapy set foot inside the restaurant door the head waiter’s eye fell upon his frayed trousers and decadent shoes. Strong and ready hands turned him about and conveyed him in silence and haste to the sidewalk and averted the ignoble fate of the menaced mallard.
Soapy turned off Broadway. It seemed that his route to the coveted island was not to be an epicurean one. Some other way of entering limbo must be thought of. (From The Cop and the Anthem; 761 words)
Why did Soapy fail to dine at the restaurant?
选项
A、Because he didn’t have enough money.
B、Because no waiter is willing to serve him.
C、Because he didn’t have any decent clothes.
D、Because his shabby clothing revealed his identity.
答案
D
解析
细节推断题。文章倒数第二段“But as Soapy set foot inside the restaurant door the head waiter’s eye fell upon his frayed trousers and decadent shoes.”可知Soapy还没来得及进餐厅,身上的破旧衣服就暴露了他的身份,这是他被拒之餐厅门外的真正原因。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/7DaO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Inaccordancewiththemissionithassetitselftofurtherthedevelopmentofsport,theInternationalOlympicCommitteestrive
IntroductiontoEnglishSynonymsEnglishhasthelargestvocabularyandthemostsynonymsofalllanguagesintheworld.This
Ittakesawhile,asyouwalkaroundthestreetsofNantes,acityofhaftamillionpeopleonthebanksoftheLoireRiver,to
DemographyisthestatisticalstudyofhumanpopulationItcanbea-generalsciencethatcanbeappliedtoanykindofdynamicp
中华民族历来尊重人的尊严和价值。还在遥远的古代,我们的先人就已提出“民为贵”的意想,认为“天生万物,唯人为贵”,一切社会的发展和步,都取决于人的发展和进步,取决于人的尊严的维护和价值的发挥。中国共产党领导人民进行革命、建设和改革,就是要确保全中国人民获得广
WhenIdecidedtoquitmyfull.timeemploymentitneveroccurredtomethatImightbecomeapartofanewinternationaltrend.
KimiyukiSudashouldbeaperfectcustomerforJapan’scarmakers.He’sayoung(34),successfulexecutiveatanInternet-service
In17th-centuryNewEngland,almosteveryonebelievedinwitches.Strugglingtosurviveinavastandsometimesunforgivingland
MoviesarethemostpopularformofentertainmentformillionsofAmericans.Theygotothemovietoescapetheirnormaleveryd
Whyshouldanyonebuythelatestvolumeintheever-expandingDictionaryofNationalBiography?Idonotmeanthatitisbad,as
随机试题
背景劳务分包队施工队长吴某以某集团劳务有限公司名义,在某施工总包企业劳务工程中投标。吴某带领队伍进场施工后,施工总包企业工程项目部多次要求其出示备案劳务分包合同及其所属劳务企业的法人授权委托书,吴某多次推托并未出示。为确保工期,施工总包企业项目部只能继
下列哪种方法对减少或消除流行病学研究中的偏倚无效
关于仲裁调解,下列哪些表述是正确的?(2010年卷三81题)
下列有关地籍图根控制网的特点说法,正确的有()。
收料单、领料单、工资费用分配表、折旧计算表是属于通用凭证。()
中国人民银行货币政策的目标是保持币值的稳定,并以此促进经济增长。()
下列将项与其表彰对象对应关系错误的是()。
简述侵犯商业秘密的主要情形。
设有如下程序:PfivateSUbsV(ByValrnAsInteger,nAsInteger)nq=m*2:n=n一5:Printm:nEndSubPrivateSubFormClick()DimxAsInteger,
A、Germany.B、England.C、France.D、China.A本题考查对固定词组的理解,betiredof意思是“厌倦,厌烦”,表明女士已经对在德国度假感到厌倦,今年想换个地方,可推知以前他们常在德国度假。因此正确答案是选项A。
最新回复
(
0
)