"I'm a dentist," my husband explained.
Notes:
(1) reprimand v.申斥
(2) scold v.责备
(3) ketchup n.番茄酱
(4) How in the world did you understand him？你究竟如何明白
他的话的呢？句中“ in the world”用来表示强调，加强语气。
Exercises:
根据短文回答下列问题：
① Where did the story take place?
② How old was the son?
③ Why did the mother scold her son?
④ What did the father say the boy want?
⑤ Why could the father understand the son?
102.我懂他的话
在饭店吃饭的时候，我申斥我4 岁的儿子，因为他满嘴食物在说话。
“喔、呢”，我听到的就是这些。
“祖，”我责备道，“没人明白你在说什么。”
“他说他要一些番茄酱，”我丈夫平静地说。
坐在旁边的一位妇女靠过来问道：“你究竟如何明白他的话的呢？”
“我是牙医。”我丈夫解释道。
103.An Exact Number
A tourist was visiting New Mexico and was amazed at the dinosaur
bones lying about.
"How old are these bones?" the tourist asked an elderly Native
American, who served as a guide.
"Exactly one hundred million and three years old.
"How can you be so sure?" inquired the tourist.
"Well," replied the guide, " a geologist came by here and told
me these bones were one hundred million years old, and that was
exactly three years ago.
Notes:
(1) New Mexico 新墨西哥（美国州名）
(2) be amazed at 对.感到惊诧
(3) dinosaur n.恐龙（已绝迹的巨大爬行动物）
Exercises:
根据短文判断下列句子正（T）、（F）：
① The tourist was frightened by the dinosaur bones lying
about.
② The elderly native American served as a guide.
③ The guide knew exactly how old the bones were.
④ The guide told the tourist the history of the bones.
⑤ The guide believed what the geologist had said.
103.准确数字
一位游客在新墨西哥游览。他对随处可见的恐龙化石甚感惊奇。
“这些化石有多长的历史？”游客问一个上了年纪的当地美国人。
他是作向导的。
“整整十亿零三年了。”
“你怎么这么肯定？”游客问道。
“哦，”向导回答道，“一个地质学家来过这儿，他告诉我说这些
化石有十亿年了，再加上那是整整三年前的事了。”
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:
(1) fair adj.公平的(2) keep one's promise 信守诺言
Exercises:
根据短文选择正确答案：
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
③ Sarah played the violin_____ .
A. very well
B. very badly indeed
C. badly
D. well
④ 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
104.小提琴课
“爸爸，我能学拉小提琴吗？”