It was Saturday when the entire summer world was bright and fresh. Tom looked at the fence, which was long and high, feeling all enthusiasm leaving him. He dipped his brush into the whitewash before moving it along the top board of the fence. He knew other boys would arrive soon with all minds of interesting plans for this day. As walking past him, they would tease him for having to work on a beautiful Saturday—which burnt him like fire.
He, putting his hands into his pockets and taking out all he owned with the expectation of letting someone paint, found nothing that could buy half an hour of freedom. At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea occurred to him, pouring a great bright light into his mind. He took up his brush and continued to work pleasantly with calm and quietness.
Presently, Ben Rogers came in sight—munching an apple and making joyful noises like the sound of a riverboat as he walked along. Tom went on whitewashing, paying no attention to the steamboat. 
“Hello!” Ben said, “I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”
No answer. Tom moved his brush gently along the fence and surveyed the result. Ben came nearer. Tom’s mouth watered for Ben’s apple while he kept painting the fence.
Ben said, “That’s a lot of work, isn’t it?”
Tom turned suddenly saying “Here you are! Ben! I didn’t notice you.”
“I’m going swimming,” Ben said. “Don’t you wish you could go? Or would you rather work?”
Tom said, “Work? What do you mean ‘work’?”
“Isn’t that work?”
Tom continued painting and answered carelessly, “Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. All I know is it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“Do you mean that you enjoy it?”
“I don’t see why I oughtn’t to enjoy it.”
“Does a boy have a chance to paint a fence frequently” said Tom.
Ben stopped munching his apple.
Tom moved his brush back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a little paint here and there. Ben watched every move, getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed1. After a short time, he said, “Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
Tom seemed to be thinking for a moment before he said, “No, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. If it was the back fence, maybe you could do it. But this fence beside the street is where everybody can see it. It has to be done right.”
“Oh, come on, let me try. I’ll be careful. Listen, Tom. I’ll give you part of my apple if you let me paint.”
“No, Ben, I’m afraid—”
“I’ll give you all the apple!”
Tom handed the brush to Ben with unwillingness on his face but alacrity in his heart. While the riverboat worked and sweated in the hot sun, Tom, an artist sat in the shade close by, munching his apple, and planning how he could trick more of the boys.
Before long there were enough boys each of whom came along the street; stopped to laugh but soon begged to be allowed to paint. By the middle of the afternoon, Tom had got many treasures while the fence had had three layers of whitewash on it. If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, he would have owned everything belonging to the boys in the village.
Tom said to himself that the world was not so depressing after all. He had discovered a great law of human action: in order to make a man cover a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.
【小题1】By using “Tom continued painting and answered carelessly”, the author shows Tom ______ when he was talking to Ben.

A.made mistakesB.damaged thingsC.was naturalD.wasn’t concentrating
【小题2】The underlined word “alacrity” in the last but two paragraph most probable means “______”.
A.kindnessB.discouragementC.sympathyD.eagerness
【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? ________
A.Tom did not want to go swimming at all
B.Tom was asked to help Aunt Polly paint the fence
C.Tom did not get along well with his friends
D.Tom was very busy that Saturday afternoon.
【小题4】We can draw a conclusion from the last paragraph that _______.
A.forbidden fruit is sweet.B.a friend in need is a friend indeed.
C.all good things must come to an end.D.a bad excuse is better than none.

The other day in school, we were discussing jobs. Our teacher, Mrs. Bolt said that career was very important and that it was never too early to think about your life’s work. Most of the young boys really were not too sure about what they wanted to be. But I knew exactly what I wanted to be, and when Mrs. Bolt asked me, I replied “A truck driver.”
“A truck driver?” repeated Mrs. Blot. “Why do you want to be one, Tom?”
“Because truck drivers are always on the move. They do not have to sit at desks all day. They are out on the road and they see a lot of the country. The pay is good, too. And you never have any homework.”
The class laughed.
“Well, Tom.” answered Mrs. Bolt. “You certainly sound quite enthusiastic (热情的). I guess that you don’t like sitting at a desk or doing homework. Is that correct, Tom?”
“Yes, I guess so, ” I said.
“Well, since you are so interested in becoming a truck driver, I think you should look into the field a little further. I want you to go to the library and take out a book on truck driving. And I want you to write a paper on it and hand it in at the end of the month.”
That’s the last time I’ll never tell anybody my secret ambition (雄心).
46.Mrs. Bolt suggested Tom write a book report because         .
A.she was angry with him.
B.she wanted him to learn about the other side of truck driving.
C.she was making fun of him.
D.she wanted the whole class to follow him
47.Which of the following is NOT true?
A.The writer thinks that truck drivers are well paid.
B.What Tom said made his classmates laugh.
C.It seemed as if Tom did not enjoy doing his homework.
D.Mrs. Bolt didn’t want Tom to become a truck driver.
48.Tom wouldn’t tell about his ambition any more because          .
A.he didn’t think his ambition could come true.
B.he just got more homework to do.
C.he was laughed at by the whole class.
D.he would not be able to become a truck driver.
49.What can we infer about Mrs. Bolt?
A.She was unkind to her students.            B.She was unfit for her position.
C.She was a teacher with ripe experience.  D.She always did something strange. 

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