[originaltext] Like many lovers of books, Mary and her husband, Richard Gold

游客2024-04-27  13

问题  
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 hospitalised 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, and many buyers spent more than $30.0 a year on books. She and Richard were themselves mystery readers.
    On Halloween 1992, they opened the Mystery Lovers Bookshop and cafe near their home. With three children in college, the couple could not spend all the family’s money starting a shop. To cover the $100,000 cost, they drew some of their savings, borrowed from relatives and from a 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 the 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 an enjoyable life for ourselves, not about making a lot of money."
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
23. What did the couple realise when Mary was in hospital?
24. How did their bookstore do in the first year?
25. According to Richard, what is the main purpose of running the bookstore?

选项 A、They both needed to stop working.
B、Heart trouble was a serious illness.
C、They had to put their plan into practice.
D、Health was more important than wealth.

答案 C

解析 根据短文中提到的they often talked of opening their own store one day和theydecided it was time to get serious可知,当玛丽住院的时候,夫妇俩就意识到有必要将开书店的想法付诸实践,故答案为C)。问题中的when Mary was in hospital对应WhenMary was hospitalised;it was time to(到……的时候了)表明了他们的决定。
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