Saturday morning was bright and
fresh. There was a song in every heart, cheer on every face, and a spring
in every step.
Tom appeared with a bucket(桶)of white paint in one
hand and a brush in the other. His Aunt Polly told him to paint the fence(篱笆)around the garden. It was ninety feet long and nine feet high. He
felt very blue.
Then he had a wonderful idea. He
picked up his brush and started to work.
Soon Ben came along the road. He
was happily eating an apple. He stopped to look at Tom. Tom went on painting
and pretended(假装)not to see Ben.
“I’m going swimming,” said Ben.
“Do you want to go swimming, Tom? But I guess you can’t. You have to stay and
work, don’t you?”
“Work?” Tom said. “This isn’t
work. I’m enjoying myself. Does a boy get a chance to paint a fence like this
every day?”
Ben thought about this. Tom
continued painting carefully. Sometimes he stopped, stood back to look at the
fence like an artist, and then added(增加)a bit more paint in just the right place. Ben
was watching Tom paint with great interest. He was getting more and more eager(渴望的)to have a try himself.
After a while, Ben asked Tom if
he would let him paint a little. Tom thought about it, and said, “No, Ben, I
can’t. You see. Aunt Polly wants it to be done well. Aunt Polly said that I
must paint it with great care.”
“Oh, please, Tom,” begged Ben. “I
can do it. I’ll be really careful. Just let me try. I’ll give you half of my
apple. Well, I’ll give you all of it!”
“Well, all right, Ben,” said Tom.
“You must be very careful.”
He gave Ben his brush with worry
on his face but joy in his heart. He sat down under the tree, and started to
eat Ben’s apple. All day, boys came to make fun of Tom, but they ended up
staying to paint. When Ben got tired, Billy was waiting. He gave Tom a kite for
a chance to paint. Then Johnny offered him a basketball, and so on.
By late afternoon Tom had got all
kinds of toys, and the fence had got three coats of paint. Later Aunt Polly
came to look at the painted fence. She was so pleased with Tom’s work that she
gave Tom a large cake!
1.Why did Tom pretend not to
see Ben when he came and watched him painting?
A. He saw Ben eating an
apple happily.
B. He tried to make Ben
interested in it.
C. He didn’t want to go
swimming with Ben at all.
D. He didn’t want Ben to
share the chance to paint the fence.
2.What does the underlined
word “spring” probably mean in Chinese?
A. 春天
B. 弹簧
C. 泉 D.
活力
3.What do you think of Tom?
A.
Honest. B.
Smart. C.
Shy. D.
Stubborn.