学习不用功可能挨老师的批评，考试不及格可能被父母打屁股，但你听说过有学习不用功要被钉死在十字架上的吗?本文中的Little Tommy就是这样想的。
Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors, cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic school.
After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.
Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?”
Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No. ”
“Well then,” she asked again. “WHAT was it?”
Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren’t joking. ”
根据以上短文内容，然后从每题所给的四个选项中选择最佳选项。
1. Why did Tommy’s parents send him to a catholic school?
A. Because he could eat well there.
B. Because he could earn more about nuns.
C. Because his parents wanted him to do better in his math.
D. Because his parents didn’t want him to learn math any more.
2. Tommy’s mother felt surprised that his son _______.
A. was still the same as usual
B. ate so much at dinner
C. kissed her hello after school
D. worked hard but said little
3. “Hitting the books” means “_______” in Chinese.
A. 用功
B. 捶书
C. 发泄
D. 振作
4. The last sentence in the passage shows that _______.
A. Tommy felt sorry for the mail
B. Tommy was afraid of being nailed
C. Tommy didn’t like the plus sign
D. Tommy liked playing jokes on others
5. From the passage, we can infer that _______.
A. teachers should be strict with their students
B. mistaking might do good sometimes
C. a catholic school is much better than other ones
D. nuns are good at helping children with their math
【答案及解析】
1. 选C。文章第1段说Tommy数学学不好，其父母想尽了一切办法都不奏效，最后将他送进了一所天主教的教会学校。
2. 选D。认真阅读第2段前面几句话，并注意以下信息：After the first day, little Tommy came home…didn’t kiss his mother hello…was hard at work…without a word. 可知答案应选D。
3. 选A。根据文章大意和Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books这个句子的语境，可知hit the books的意思是“用功”。
4. 选B。Tommy学习一直不用功，但自从进了这所catholic school之后，情况就不一样了——整天都发狠读书，结果数学考试也得了A。这是为什么呢?文章在最后道出了其原因：Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (钉) to the plus sign (加号), I knew they weren’t joking. 由此可知，Tommy是担心学习不用功会被钉在十字架上。
5. 选B。Tommy把the man nailed to the plus sign误解为“学习不用功的结果”，从而一改自己原来不好学的不良习惯，很快就把数学成绩赶了上去。可见，误解有时也可以起到好的效果。