Question

Why I Don’t Spare “Spare Change”

“Poor but honest.” “The deserving（值得幫助的）poor. ” These words always come to my mind when I think of “the poor. ” But I also think of people who, perhaps through alcohol（酒）or drugs, have ruined not only their own lives but also the lives of others in order to give way to their own pleasure. Perhaps alcoholism and drug addiction（上癮）really are “diseases. ” as many people say, but my own feeling－based, of course, not on any serious study－is that most alcoholies and drug addicts belong to the “undeserving poor. ” And that is largely why I don’t give spare change to beggars.

But surely among the street people there are also some who can rightly be called “deserving.” Deserving what? My spare change? Or simply the government’s assistance? It happens that I have been brought up to believe that it is proper to make contributions to charity（慈善機(jī)構(gòu)）, but if I give some change to a beggar, am I making a contribution to charity and thereby helping someone, or, am I perhaps simply encouraging someone not to get help? Or, maybe even worse, am I supporting a cheat?

If one believes in the value of private charity, one can either give to needy people or to charitable organizations. In giving to a beggar one may indeed be helping a person who badly needs help, but one cannot be certain that one is giving to a needy person. In giving to an organization, on the other hand, one can feel that one’s money is likely to be used wisely. True, facing a beggar one may feel that this particular unfortunate person needs help at this moment－a cup of coffee or a sandwich－and the need will not be met unless I put my hand in my pocket right now. But I have come to think that the beggars whom I meet can get along without my spare change, and indeed perhaps they are actually better off for not having money to buy alcohol or drugs.

I know nothing about these beggars, but it’s my impression that they simply prefer begging to working. I am not generalizing about street people. I am talking about the people whom I actually meet. That’s why I do not give “spare change, ” and I don’t think I will in the future.

 

64．What does the author think of beggars who take drugs?

A．They should be given a cheek-up.

B．They really need money to live.

C．They have no pleasure in life.

D．They are not worth helping.

65．Why doesn’t the author give money to street people?

A．He doesn’t think they need help.

B．He doesn’t have enough money to give.

C．He is not convinced they will use it rightly.

D．He believes they can get help from the government.

66．In the second paragraph, the author presents his idea by _______.

A．a(chǎn)sking questions for people to think about

B．giving examples to support his argument

C．raising questions and answering them

D．expressing his opinions directly

67．Which of the following opinions does the author accept?

A．Drug addiction is a disease.

B．Some street people are poor and needy.

C．Most beggars have received enough help.

D．Charitable organizations handle money properly.  

Answer 1

 

64．D． 

解析：

由第一段倒數(shù)兩句話可得答案：…but my own feeling…is that most alcoholics and drug addicts belong to the “undeserving poor”, undeserving指“不值得的“。

65．C.  

解析：

細(xì)節(jié)題。由文章第二段最后一句話：Or, maybe even worse, am I supporting a cheat? 和第三段第二句話：In giving to beggar one may indeed be helping a person who badly needs help, but…可排除選項(xiàng)A。B 是答非所問(wèn)；D是明顯的錯(cuò)誤。

66．A． 

解析：

推理題。該題涉及寫(xiě)作方法。作者設(shè)問(wèn)了一系列問(wèn)題，并為給出答案，而是讓讀者去思考讀出作者的意圖。

67．B． 

解析：

推理題。由第二段第一句話可得答案；有第一段perhaps alcoholism and drug addiction really are “diseases”, as many people say, but…可排除A，這并不是作者同意的觀點(diǎn)；C項(xiàng)文中未提，且并不是作者不愿意捐錢(qián)的原因，有些想當(dāng)然了；選項(xiàng)D說(shuō)反了：It happens that I have been brought up to believe that it is proper to make contributions to charity, but if…從語(yǔ)氣來(lái)看作者持相反態(tài)度。