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TEXT A

My mother told me a story every evening while we waited for father to close the shop and come home. The shop remained open till midnight. Bullock carts in long caravans arrived late in the evening from distant villages, loaded with coconut, rice, and other commodities for the market. The animals were unyoked under the big tamarind tree for the night, and the cartmen drifted in twos and threes to the shop, for a chat or to ask for things to eat or smoke. How my father loved to discuss with them the price of grain, rainfall, harvest, and the state of irrigation channels! Or they talked about old litigations. One heard repeated references to magistrates, affidavits, witnesses in the case, and appeals, punctuated with roars of laughters—possibly the memory of some absurd legality or loophole tickled them.
My father ignored food and sleep when he had company. My mother sent me out several times to see if he could be made to t
A. One might find unfavorable faults in the legal code in lawsuits.
B. There were times when the cronies came to foolish decisions.
C. The magistrates were serious and punctilious.
D. Matters related to farming were of great interest to them.

[单项选择]
My mother told me a story every evening while we waited for father to close the shop and come home. The shop remained open till midnight. Bullock carts in long caravans arrived late in the evening from distant villages, loaded with coconut, rice, and other commodities for the market. The animals were unyoked under the big tamarind tree for the night, and the cartmen drifted in twos and threes to the shop, for a chat or to ask for things to eat or smoke. How my father loved to discuss with them the price of grain, rainfall, harvest, and the state of irrigation channels! Or they talked about old litigations. One heard repeated references to magistrates, affidavits, witnesses in the case, and appeals, punctuated with roars of laughters—possibly the memory of some absurd legality or loophole tickled them.
My father ignored food and sleep when he had company. My mother sent me out several times to see if he could be made to t
A. He felt uncomfortable to lie on the mat and complained.
B. He wanted his mother to move as close to him as possible.
C. He learned a lot about the legendary hero Devaka.
D. His father returned soon.

[单项选择]My mother told me a story every evening while we waited for father to close the shop and come home. The shop remained open till midnight. Bullock-carts in long caravans arrived late in the evening from distant villages, loaded with coconut, rice, and other commodities for the market. The animals were unyoked under the big tamarind tree for the night, and the cartmen drifted in twos and threes to the shop, for a chat or to ask for things to eat or smoke. How my father loved to discuss with them the price of grain, rainfall, harvest, and the state of irrigation channels. Or they talked about old litigations. One heard repeated references to magistrates, affidavits, witnesses in the case, and appeals, punctuated with roars of laughter—possibly the memory of some absurd legality or loophole tickled them. My father ignored food and sleep when he had company. My mother sent me out several times to see if he could be. made to turn in. He was a man of uncertain temper and one could not rea
A. Sometimes during lawsuits, one side or the other tricked the law, probably by finding faults in the legal code which were favorable to themselves.
B. There were times when the courts came to foolish decisions.
C. Matters related to fanning were of great interest to them.
D. The magistrates were ludicrous.

[单项选择]The humorous story may be told to great length, and may wander around as much as it pleases, and arrive nowhere in particular; but the comic (滑稽的) story and the witty (诙谐的) story must be brief and end with a point. The humorous story continues gently along, the other two burst.
The humorous story is strictly a work of art--high and delicate (精美的) art--and only an artist can tell it; But no art is necessary in telling the comic and witty stories; anybody can do it. The art of telling a humorous story--I mean by word of mouth, not print--was created in America, and has remained at home.
The humorous story is told seriously; the teller does his best to hide the fact that he him- self even suspects that there is anything funny about it; but the teller of the comic story tells you beforehand that it is one of the funniest things he has ever heard, then tells it with eager delight, and is the first person to laugh.
When he gets through, and sometimes, if he has had good succes
A. The humorous story.
B. The witty story.
C. The comic story.
D. All thre