In the past, there was a couple in the State of Lu. The husband made very good shoes. The wife was good at weaving (编织) silk. One day, the couple decided to go to the State of Yue to make a living.

One man tried to dissuade them: “You had better not go. If you go to the State of Yue to make a living, that would be too bad. Over there, you cannot make a living!”

The couple asked in surprise: “We don’t understand what you mean. Each of us has good skills. How is it possible that we couldn’t make a living?” Then the man said to them: “Right. Both of you have good skills. But you probably don’t know the situation. You make shoes for people to wear, but the people in the State of Yue do not wear shoes; you weave silk to make hats, but the people there like to have their hair hanging down and do not wear hats. Then, how can you sell the shoes and hats you make? Though you are skilled, your skills are of no use over there. Then how can you make a living?”

After hearing this, the couple saw the light: “Oh, so our way of thinking is against the current fashion (不合时尚).”

1.What was the husband good at?

A Weaving silk.

B Making hats.

C Making shoes.

D Cutting hair.

解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据第一段第二句的“The husband made very good shoes.”可知，丈夫是一个鞋匠，鞋子做得很好。故选C。

2.What does the underlined word “dissuade” mean?

A Cheat.

B Stop.

C Protect.

D Challenge.

解析：选B。B词义猜测题。根据划线单词后面的“You had better not go.”可知，这消息一传开，就有一个人去劝他们说：“还是不要去吧。” 由此可知，这个人试图阻止他。故选B。

3.How did the couple feel about the man’s words?

A Afraid.

B Worried.

C Excited.

D Surprised.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第三段第一句的“The couple asked in surprise”可知，这对夫妇很惊讶。故选D。

4.Could the couple make a lot of money in the State of Yue?

A Yes, they were.

B No, they weren’t.

C Yes, they could.

D No, they couldn’t.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据第三段最后两句的“Though you are skilled, your skills are of no use over there. Then how can you make a living?”可知，他们的技艺虽然很高，可是在那里却用不上，因此他们不可能赚到钱。故选D。

5.The material above is probably __________.

A a story

B an introduction

C a poem

D a letter

解析：选A。A推理判断题。本文主要讲述了鲁国一对夫妇商量决定，去越国谋生，这消息一传开，招到了别人的劝阻，并称他们的想法不合时尚。由此可知本文是一则故事。故选A。