A

Yesterday, a salesman from a telecom company called me to sell his phone plans. I was at work and I usually didn't like to spend time on those conversations. I gave him a pretext, saying I couldn't talk yet and advised him to call me back one hour later, at 6 pm.

Surprisingly, he did. So we talked for 15 minutes. He explained to me his different phone plans, which he said were better than my present one. While listening to him, sometimes I was lost in my thoughts. I gave several "mhmmhm” as a sign of agreement and to tell him that I was still there. Although I felt a bit impatient as he had a bit of difficulty in correctly talking in French, I stayed calm and polite until the end of the conversation.

At the end of the conversation, he said to me, “Thank you Olivier. You are the first person with whom I talked for a long time. Usually, people shout at us, say unkind words or treat us as thieves. Today, I hadn't had a conversation without an offense. I know you had a long day at work and you could have relaxed in front of your TV. Instead, you listened to me. I am touched and I sincerely thank you.”

I thanked him for telling me those words. I realized how much he could have been the subject of verbal violence, all through his working days. I also know that those people getting impatient could have been me. Yet£¬he was only doing his job. Although he may interrupt our life using the phone£¬he is still a human like me and is worthy of good treatment. It made me think a lot.

21. What does the underlined word "pretext "in the first paragraph mean?

A. Solution   B. Excuse.   C. Point.   D. Apology

22. What did the author do when the salesman called him the second time?

A. He gave full attention to what he said

B. He talked excitedly with him about phone plans

C. He waited politely for him to finish speaking

D. He advised the salesman to improve his French

23. What does the author tell us through the last paragraph?

A. Salesmen should be treated kindly.

B. There's no excuse for rude behavior.

C. Verbal violence is common in daily life.

D. We should spare more time for salesmen.