Question

       Like many lovers of books, Mary and her husband, Richard Goldman, seldom walked past a bookstore without stopping to look inside. They often talked of opening their own store one day.

       When Mary was hospitalized with heart trouble in 1989, they decided it was time to get serious. Richard, who worked for a business company, was eager to work for himself, and Mary needed to slow down from her demanding job.

       They started by talking to bookstore owners and researching the industry. “We knew it had to be a specialty store because we couldn’t match the big chains dollar for dollar,” says Mary. One figure caught her attention: She’d read somewhere that roughly 20 percent of books sold were mysteries （推理小說）, and many buyers spent more $300 a year on books. She and Richard were themselves mystery readers.

       On Halloween 1992, they opened the Mystery Lovers Bookshop and Café near their home. With three children in college, the couple could not spend all the family’s money to start a shop. To cover the $100,000 cost, they drew some of their savings, borrowed from relatives and from an bank.

       The store merely broke even in its first year, with only $120,000 in sales. But Mary was always coming up with new ways to attract customers. The shop had a coffee bar and it offered gifts to mystery lovers and served dinners for book clubs that met in the store. She also invited dozens of writers to discuss their stories.

       Today Mystery Lovers makes sales of about $420,000 a year. After paying taxes, business costs and the six part-time sales clerks, Richard and Mary together earn about $34,000.

       “The job you love may not go hand in hand with a million-dollar income,” says Richard. “This has always been about an enjoyable life for ourselves, not about making a lot of money.”

72．When Mary was in hospital, the couple realized that ____.

       A. they had to put their plan into practice

       B. health was more important than wealth

       C. heart trouble was a serious illness

       D. they both needed to stop working

73．After Mary got well from her illness they began _____.

       A. to study industrial management  

       B. to buy and read more mystery books

       C. to do market research on book business

       D. to work harder to save money for the bookstore

74．How did their bookstore do in the first year?

       A. They had to borrow money to keep it going.

       B. They made just enough to cover all the costs.

       C. They succeeded in earning a lot of money.

       D. They failed though they worked hard.

75．According to Richard, the main purpose of running the bookstore is _____.

       A. to pay for their children’s education      

       B. to get to know more writers

       C. to set up more bookstores 

       D. to do what they like to do

Answer 1

72--75   ACBD  

解析:

72.A 點評：細節題。文章開頭說Mary夫婦是書籍愛好者并想自己開書店，而后來Mary因為心臟病住進醫院，兩夫婦認為“...they decided it was time to get serious”他們應該把想法付諸于實踐了，因此該選A。

73.C 點評：細節題。文章第三段說“They started by...researching”。表明在Mary康復之后就與大夫開始就書本做市場調查，故C為正確選項。

74.B 點評：細節題。文章第五段說“The store merely broke even in its first year，with only 120，000insales.”。說明書店幾臨破產，因此B為正確選項。

75.D 點評：細節題。文章最后一段說“This has always...not about making a lot of money”。說明他們開書店的目的是為了興趣愛好而非賺錢，故應選D。