【正文】 .” He soon found a good violin teacher and Sarah began her lessons. The teacher was very expensive, but her father kept his promise（遵守諾言） . 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 building very cheaply. In another six weeks I?ll own the whole building!” Cost n. 價錢 。 1 Short Stories for Comprehension A1 課文 用法 Usage 練習中的句子 、單詞、詞組 A Difficult Question Four girls went to school every day by taxi. One day one of the girls said, “There?s a test this morning. Let?s get to school late. Then we won?t have to take the test.” “What can we tell the teacher?” one of the girls said. “He?ll be angry. We?ll need a good excuse.” The girls thought for several moments, then one of them said, “Let?s tell him that our taxi had a flat tire.” “That?s a good idea,” the other girls said. “We?ll tell him that.” They arrived at school an hour later. The test was finished. “Why are you late?” the teacher asked. “You missed the test.” “Our taxi had a flat tire,” one of the girls said. The teacher thought for a moment, then he said, “Sit down, one of you in each corner of the room.” The four girls did this. Then the teacher said, “Write on a piece of paper the answer to this question: Which tire was flat?” excuse n. or v. n. 借口、理由 v. 對不起、請原諒 Do you have a good excuse for being late? Every day she thinks a new excuse to tell her teacher. She has a new excuse every day. That?s the strangest excuse I?ve ever heard. Please excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom. Excuse me, could you tell me the time? Please excuse my brother, he is not very polite. Excuse me for being so late. How did the girls go to school every day? Why did the girls want to be late for school? They did not like school. They wanted to go shopping. They had not done their homework. They did not want to take a test. What was the girls? excuse for being late? They got up late. They could not get a taxi. Their taxi had a flat tire. They fot the time. Why couldn?t the girls answer correctly the teacher?s question? They couldn?t remember which tire was flat. There wasn?t a flat tire. They each gave a different answer. All four tires were flat. The girls did not want to take a test. 2 課文 用法 Usage 練習中的句子 、單詞、詞組 The girls arrived at school an hour after the test finished. “Our taxi was late because it has a flat tire,” one of the girls said. The teacher asked them which of the taxi?s tires was flat. Four girls went to school every day by taxi. They did not want to take a test so they arrived at school an hour late. They told the teacher their taxi had a flat tire. He did not believe them and asked them which tire was flat. They could not answer this question. Will I fail my test if I do that? I thought you said “Turn left.” That?s the fifth time I?ve done that this week. The hole （坑） in the Ground There was once a farmer who lived near a road. It was not a busy road, but from time to time, cars passed the farm. Near the farm gate, there was a large hole in the road. This hole was always full of water, and the drivers of the cars could not see how deep the hole was. They thought it was probably shallow（淺的） . Then when they drove into the hole, they could not drive out because it was so deep. charge v. 收取。錢 Spend 、花費時間 Good/well Bad/badly Good 和 bad 是形容詞 Well 和 badly 是副詞 Sarah?s father was not pleased with her because she was always asking for things. Sarah?s father said he would pay for violin lessons for six weeks. Sarah played the violin very badly. Her father gave her more lessons because he could buy more apartments cheaply because of Sarah?s noise. 1 Not So Stupid Two men were sitting together in an airplane. They were on a long journey. One of the men was a teacher. The other was a farmer. Riddles are questions with strange or unexpected answers. Do you know any riddles? Here are In the end, the teacher paid the farmer $50. The farmer?s riddle was about 12 課文 用法 Usage 練習中的句子 、單詞、詞組 They sat without talking for a while, then the farmer said, “Let?s do something to pass the time.(消磨時間 )” “What do you want to do?” the teacher asked. “We can ask each other riddles(謎語 ),” the farmer said. “You start.” “Let?s make the rules first,” the teacher said. “And let?s make the game more interesting. Let?s play it for money. If we don?t know the answer to a riddle, we have to pay a dollar.” The farmer thought about this for a while, then he said, “That?s not fair. You are a teacher, an educated man. You know more things than I do. I am just a farmer.” “That?s true,” the teacher said. “What do you think we should do?” “If you don?t know the answer to a riddle you pay me $100. If I don?t know the answer to a riddle, I?ll pay you $50.” The teacher thought about this, then he said, “. That?s fair. Who?ll go first?” “I will,” the farmer said. “Here is my riddle. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?” The teacher repeated the riddle, “What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies? Mm, that?s a good one. I?m afraid I don?t know the an