The price of steak

Tom was a shopkeeper. He had a small corner shop. It was open from seven in the morning until eleven at night and sold many different things. Tom worked hard in his shop so he had a good business and he was happy.

Then a supermarket opened across the street. The supermarket was ten times the size of Tom’s shop.

The manager of the supermarket wanted to take Tom’s customers away from him. He found out what Tom’s prices were and then made his lower than Tom’s.

People quickly stopped buying things from Tom’s shop. They bought everything from the supermarket instead. Soon Tom’s business was very bad and he was angry.

“It’s not fair,” Tom thought. “I must do something to teach that supermarket manager a lesson.”

The price of steak (牛排) in the supermarket was $5.00 a pound. Tom put a sign in his window, “Steak—$4.50 a pound.”

The next day the price of steak in the supermarket was $4.25 a pound. Tom changed the sign in his window. “Steak—$4.00 a pound.”

An hour later, the sign in the supermarket said, “Steak $3.75 a pound.” Ten minutes later the sign in Tom’s window said, “Steak—$3.50 a pound.”

Five minutes later the sign in the supermarket said, “Steak—$2.50 a pound.” Twenty seconds later the sign in Tom’s window said, “Steak—$1.00 a pound.”

The manager of the supermarket ran across the road into Tom’s shop. “This price cutting must stop,” he said. “Steak is costing me $4.00 a pound. I’m selling it at $2.50 a pound. I’m losing money every minute!”

“I’ll stop cutting all my prices,” Tom said, “if you will stop cutting all yours.”

The supermarket manager agreed, and the two men shook hands.

Tom smiled. He had not lost any money on the steak. He did not sell steak.

Choose the best answer to these questions about the story.

1. Tom worked hard but he was happy. Why?

A. He liked hard work.

B. He wanted to make a lot of money.

C. He had a good business.

D. He sold a lot of steak.

2. How did the owner of the supermarket take away many of Tom’s customers?

A. He told them bad things about Tom.

B. His steak was better than Tom’s.

C. His prices were lower than Tom’s.   

D. His shop was bigger than Tom’s.

3. What does “price cutting” mean?

A. Making your prices the same as others. 

B. Making your prices lower than others’.

C. Making your prices higher than others’. 

D. Losing money every minute.

4. Why did the supermarket manager ask Tom to stop cutting his prices?

A. He did not want to hurt Tom’s business. 

B. He wanted Tom’s customers.

C. He was losing money on steak.

D. All Tom’s prices were lower than his.

【答案】（反白可见）：CDBC