Question

The very wealthy English Baron Fitzgerald had only one child, a son, who understandably was the apple of his eye. His wife died when the child was in his early teens. So Fitzgerald devoted himself to fathering the kid. Unfortunately the son died in his late teens.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald’s wealth greatly increased. He spent a lot on art works of the masters. Later Fitzgerald himself because seriously ill. Before his death, he had carefully prepared his will as to how his wealth would be settled—to sell his entire collection at an auction (拍賣).

Because of the large quantity and high quality of his collection, a huge crowd of possible buyers gathered for the auction. Many of them were museum directors and private collectors eager to bid (出價).Before the auction, the art works were shown, among which was a painting of Fitzgerald’s son by an unknown artist. Because of its poor quality, it received little attention.

When it was time for the auction, the auctioneer gaveled (敲槌) the crowd to attention. First the lawyer read from Fitzgerald’s will that the first art work to be auctioned was the painting of his son.

The poor-quality painting didn’t receive and bidders...except one—the old servant who had served the son and loved him, and who for emotional reasons offered the only bid.

As soon as the servant bought the painting for less than one English pound, the auctioneer stopped the bidding and asked the lawyer to read again from the will. The crowd became quiet, and the lawyer read from the will:“Whoever buys the painting of my son gets all my collection.”Then the auction was over.

The English Baron Fitzgerald was ______.

A. a museum director      B. a master of art      C. an art collector       D. an art dealer

Why did the old servant bid for the painting of Fitzgerald’s son?

A. He was devoted to the family.          B. He saw that no one bid for it.

C. He knew the content of the will.        D. He found it cheap for him to buy.

Fitzgerald’s will showed ______.

A his desire to fool the bidders                  B. his invaluable love for his son

C. his sadness at the death of his son             D. his regret of having no children to take over his wealth

Answer 1

【小題1】C

【小題2】A

【小題3】B

解析:

【小題1】推斷題。根據第二段“He spent a lot on art works of the masters.”和第三段的“Because of the large quantity and high quality of his collection，”可以推斷出Fitzgerald是個收藏家。

【小題2】推斷題。根據倒數第二段“...except one—the old servant who had served the son and loved him,and who for emotional reasons offered the only bid.”可知老傭人曾為富翁的兒子服務,出于情感的考慮拍下了這幅畫。

【小題3】推理題。根據最后一段,拍下他兒子畫像的人將得到所有藏品,說明了他對兒子的愛是無法衡量的。