英語幽默精讀【104】Violin Lessons

　　"Daddy, can I learn to play the violin?" young Sarah asked her father. She was always asking for things and her father was not very pleased.

　　"You cost me a lot of money, Sarah," he said. "First you wanted to learn horse riding, then dancing, then swimming. Now it's the violin.

　　"I'll play every day ,Daddy." Sarah said. "I'll try very hard.

　　"All right," her father said. "This is what I'll do. I'll pay for you to have lessons for six weeks. At the end of six weeks you must play something for me. If you play well, you can have more lessons. If you play badly, I will stop the lessons."

　　"0. K. Daddy," Sarah said. "That is fair.

　　He soon found a good violin teacher and Sarah began her lessons. The teacher was very expensive, but her father kept his promise.

　　The six weeks passed quickly. The time came for Sarah to play for her father.

　　She went to the living room and said, "I'm ready to play for you, Daddy.

　　"Fine, Sarah," her father said. "Begin.

　　She began to play. She played very badly. She made a terrible noise.

　　Her father had one of his friends with him, and the friend put his hands over his ears.

　　When Sarah finished, her father said, "Well done, Sarah. You can have more lessons."

　　Sarah ran happily out of the room. Her father's friend turned to him. "You've spent a lot of money, but she still plays very badly. he said.

　　"Well, that's true," her father said. "But since she started learning the violin I've been able to buy five apartments in this build very cheaply. In another six weeks I'll own the whole building!"

　　※ Notes

　?。?） fair adj.公平的
　?。?） keep one's promise信守諾言

　　※ Exercises

　　根據短文選擇正確答案：

　　① Sarah's father was not pleased with her because_____ .
　　A. she wanted to team the violin
　　B. she was rude
　　C. she was always asking for things
　　D. she was noisy

　　② Sarah's father said he would pay for violin lessons for _____.
　　A. two weeks
　　B. six weeks
　　C. a month
　　D. six months

　?、?Sarah played the violin_____ .
　　A. very well
　　B. very badly indeed
　　C. badly
　　D. well

　?、?Her father gave her more lessons because_____ .
　　A. she played well enough
　　B. she was so interested in playing the violin
　　C. he could buy more apartments cheaply because of Sarah's noise
　　D. he liked the violin

　　（5） From this passage we can see that _____.

　　A. Sarah had a talent for music
　　B. Sarah's father was very generous with money
　　C. Sarah's father was a selfish man
　　D. Sarah's father told her the truth

　　※ 譯文

小提琴課

　　“爸爸，我能學拉小提琴嗎？”小莎拉問她的父親。她總是要東西，因此她爸爸很不高興。

　　“你花了我很多錢，莎拉，”他說，“開始你想學騎馬，然后想學跳舞，然后是游泳。現在又想學拉小提琴?！?/p>

　　“我會每天都拉的，爸爸，”莎拉說，“我會認真練的。”

　　“好吧，”她爸爸說。“下面是我要做的：我會為你付六個星期的小提琴課的錢，六個星期后你必須拉首曲子給我聽。如果你拉得很好，你可以繼續上小提琴課，要是你拉得很差，你就不要再學了。”

　　“行。爸爸，”莎拉說，“這很公平?！?/p>

　　他很快就找到了一個好的小提琴老師，莎拉就開始學拉提琴了。盡管學費很高，但她爸爸遵守了諾言。

　　六個星期很快就過去了。該莎拉拉提琴給爸爸聽了。

　　她走進起居室說：“我準備好拉提琴給你聽了。”

　　“好哇，莎拉，”她爸爸說。“開始吧?！?/p>

　　她開始拉了。她拉得很差，發出了可怕的嗓音。她爸爸身旁有位朋友，朋友用手捂著耳朵。

　　莎拉拉完一曲，她父親說：“拉得好，莎拉。你可以繼續學琴了。”

　　莎拉高興地跑出門去。她父親的朋友對他說：“你已經花了不少錢了，但她還是拉得很差。”

　　“噢，的確如此，”她爸爸說，“但自從她開始學小提琴，我就可以很便宜地買下這幢樓的五個公寓。再過六周，我就可以擁有整幢樓啦！”

　　※ 練習參考答案

　?、貱②B③B④C⑤C

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