A Matter of Dignity

    There was a great famine¹ in the state of QI．Qian Ao，a rich man of the state of Qi，prepared food by the roadside for the hungry to come and eat．Along came a starving man，his sleeves² covering his head，his hempen³ sandals held together by strings，walking as if he did notknow where he was going．With food in his left hand and a bowl of water in his right one，Qian Ao shouted at him．“Hey you！Come and eat！”
    The man looked up and stared at Qian Ao．“I am reduced to this state just because I refuse to take anything from loud-mouthed people giving away food．”he said．The man therefore refused to eat and eventually starved to death．Exercises：
    回答下列问题：
    ① What did Qian Ao do when there was a great famine in the state of Qi？
    ② How did the starving man come to take food？
    ③ Why did the starving man refuse to take the food？

1 famine   

n.饥荒；严重的缺乏

参考例句：

• We're collecting for the famine victims.我们正在为遭受饥荒的灾民募款。
• Famine stared us in the face.饥荒迫在眉睫。

2 sleeves   

n.衣服袖子( sleeve的名词复数 )；套管；套筒；唱片套

参考例句：

• The long sleeves of her dress embarrassed her movements. 她衣服的长袖子妨碍她的行动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Girls nowadays don't wear their heart on their sleeves. 如今女孩子不轻易流露自己的感情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 hempen   

adj. 大麻制的, 大麻的

参考例句：

• The net destined to support the car was made of very solid hempen cord. 承受着吊篮的网子是用非常结实的麻绳编的。
• Plant the crop such as wheaten, corn, potato, horsebean, hempen, cole aptly, a year one ripe. 适宜种植小麦、玉米、马铃薯、蚕豆、大麻、油菜等作物，一年一熟。