Miss Martha Meacham kept the little bakery on the corner. At forty, she had two false teeth and a sympathetic(同情的) heart. She has two thousand dollars in the bank. Many people, who were not as good as Miss Martha, had married.
A customer came in two or three times a week, and soon Miss Martha began to take an interest in him. He was a quiet, middle-aged man, wearing glasses and a brown beard. ① His clothes were always old and patched. But he looked tidy and had very good manners. He always bought two loaves of stale bread. Fresh bread was five cents a loaf, while stale loaves were two for five. ②
Once, while serving him, Miss Martha saw a red and brown mark(污点) on the customer's fingers. ③ She was sure then that he was an artist and very poor. No doubt he lived in an attic(阁楼), where he painted pictures, ate stale bread and thought of the good things to eat in Miss Martha's bakery. ④
Miss Martha's heart was a sympathetic one. To check if she was right about his job, she took a painting from her room and put it behind the bread counter(柜台). No artist could fail to notice it. Two days later, the customer came in.
"Two loaves of stale bread, if you please."
"You have here a fine picture, Madam," he said while she was packing the bread.
"Yes?" said Miss Martha, pleased with her cleverness. "Do you think it is a good picture?"
"The palace," said the customer, "is not in good drawing. The perspective(透视画法) of it is not true. Goodbye, Madam."
He took his bread, bowed and hurried out.
Yes, he must be an artist. How gently and kindly his eyes shone behind his glasses! To be able to judge perspective at a quick look—and to live on stale bread! But talented people often have to go through difficulties before they succeed.
What a thing it would be for art and perspective if genius were supported by two thousand dollars in the bank, a bakery and a sympathetic heart—But these were daydreams.
Now, when he came, he would often chat for a while with Miss Martha. He kept on buying stale bread, never a cake, never a pie. She thought he began to look thinner and lost heart. She wanted to offer something good to him, but she was afraid of hurting him. She knew the pride(骄傲) of artists.
(To be continued)
()37. 新考法 句子回填 We can put the sentence "Never did he call for anything but stale bread." in .
A. ① B. ② C. ③ D. ④
()38. Why did Miss Martha put the painting behind the bread counter?
A. To test if the customer was an artist.
B. To sell the painting to help the poor artist.
C. To show her personal art collection and taste.
D. To decorate the shop and attract more customers.
32-6
()39. 新考法 写作手法 How does the writer mainly develop the story?
A. By describing the setting in great detail.
B. By showing scenes between two locations.
C. By using long dialogue between characters.
D. By exploring Miss Martha's thoughts and feelings.
()40. 新考法 情节推断 What might happen later according to the last paragraph of the story?
A. Miss Martha would offer the man stale bread for free.
B. Miss Martha would lend some of her money to the man.
C. Miss Martha would secretly add something to the stale bread.
D. Miss Martha would give him fresh bread instead of stale one.

37. B
38. A 【解析】根据第四段中“To check if she was right about his job, she took a painting...”可知，Miss Martha 在柜台后放一幅画是为了验证这名顾客是不是艺术家。
39. D
40. C

【分析】
这是一组英语阅读理解题，包含句子回填、细节理解、写作手法分析、情节推断四类题型。解题思路为：先通读全文把握主旨，再针对各小题定位原文对应段落，分析上下文逻辑关系、细节信息、写作手法及情节线索，逐一排除错误选项得出答案。
【解析】
37. 句子回填题：待填句意为“他只买不新鲜的面包”，需匹配上下文逻辑。原文②处前一句介绍新鲜与不新鲜面包的价格差异，后一句明确提到“他总是买两个不新鲜的面包”，待填句恰好衔接前后内容，说明顾客的购买习惯，故应放在②处，选B。
38. 细节理解题：根据原文第四段关键句“To check if she was right about his job, she took a painting from her room and put it behind the bread counter.”可知，玛莎小姐放画的目的是验证顾客是否为艺术家，对应选项A。
39. 写作手法题：文章大量篇幅描写玛莎小姐的心理活动，如对顾客身份的猜测、同情的心理、想帮助对方又怕伤其骄傲的纠结等，主要通过探索玛莎小姐的想法和感受推进故事，选D。
40. 情节推断题：最后一段提到玛莎小姐想给顾客好东西但怕伤害他的骄傲，结合前文她同情顾客的心理，可推断她可能会偷偷在不新鲜的面包里添加好东西，对应选项C。
【答案】
37. B；38. A；39. D；40. C
【知识点】
英语阅读理解；细节理解；写作手法分析
【点评】
本题组考查学生对英语语篇的综合理解能力，涵盖句子逻辑衔接、细节定位、写作手法及情节推断等考点，需学生仔细研读原文，准确把握上下文关联，难度适中。
【难度系数】
0.6