AsIstoodinastall(货摊)ofBeijing'sSilkMarketwaitingtoexchangeasilkgarmentIwatchedinamazementastheyoungvendor(小贩)pulledoutsilknightgownafternightgownforaforeignerwhosoundedlikeanAmericanbutfranklyco

Question

As I stood in a stall (货摊) of Beijing's Silk Market waiting to exchange a silk garment I watched in amazement as the young vendor (小贩) pulled out silk nightgown after nightgown for a foreigner who sounded like an American but frankly could have been from any English­speaking Western country.

The man appeared satisfied when she pulled out a bright purple nightgown and said “This one very good.” and probably asked how much it cost for the owner pulled out her calculator showing 800. My heart was pounding heavily. After all I was holding a similar gown in my hand for which I had paid all of 60 yuan ($9.39) just the previous day. I wanted to scream and say “Wait you are being_taken_for_a_

ride”. But I just kept silent.

As I moved away from the stall a thousand thoughts flashed in my mind. Should I have just stepped in and stopped it? I may have saved the man but could have brought danger to myself. Maybe I could have pretended to seek help with some English from that man and warned him not to be cheated?

When I told the incident to some of my friends most seemed to think it was unfortunate but one couldn't fault the vendor. Everyone visiting China knows or ought to know that bargaining is a way of life here they said.

Although I do agree that the man should have been better informed it just doesn't seem right that the place to which tourists from all over the world are brought and made to believe is a Mecca (向往的地方) for shopping in Beijing should be allowed to get away with such daylight robbery.

I still think I should have done something about what I witnessed.

21．The underlined part “being taken for a ride” in Paragraph 2 probably means ________.

A. getting a lift                       B. being taken in

C. wasting money                        D. making a mistake

22．The writer kept silent over this matter probably because ________.

A. the man should know bargaining is a way of life here

B. he couldn't exchange his nightgown if he did so

C. he was worried the vendor would take revenge on him

D. he thought the nightgown was worth the money

23．What can we know from the passage?

A. The foreigner is not an American from English­speaking countries.

B. Most think what the vendor did was wrong.

C. Many tourists visit the place where the stall is.

D. Foreigners are often taken in in the daylight.

24．What can be safely concluded from the passage?

A. The writer regretted not having warned the man of danger.

B. The writer won't buy silk nightgowns from the vendor again.

C. Most tourists are not better informed when travelling in Beijing.

D. Mecca is a place where a wide variety of high quality goods are sold.

Answer 1

BCCA