阅读理解

　　Papa's jaw dropped when Mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams－not to succeed but to fail．“It's unbelievable!” he said．“Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!”

　　“Yes, she has,” said Mama．“But it's not unbelievable．It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team．”

　　“Wanted off the swimming team?” said Papa．“She never said anything about that to me．”

　　“Of course she didn't,” said Mama．“She was afraid you'd blow your top．You already had her getting a swimming scholarship to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics．Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her, being on the team couldn't have been much fun．”

　　“Oh, my gosh!” Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehead．“I've been so stupid! I just thought she'd want to be a champion swimmer because she's so good at it．”

　　“It's like anything else, dear,” said Mama．“No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won't want to do it anymore．”

　　Papa put his head in his hands．

　　“She must be really mad at me,” he mumbled．“Maybe I should say sorry to her．”

　　Sister's footsteps could be heard on the stairs．She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents．

　　“Honey,” said Mama with a smile, “your papa and I have decided that there's no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don't want to．”

　　Sister's face lit up like a Christmas tree．“Yippee!” she cried．

　　“And,” added Papa, “there's no need for any more drills．I'm sure you'll bring your grades back up all by yourself．”

　　Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms．She gave him a big hug．“I'm going to go play cards with Lizzy!” she said．“See you later!”

　　From the kitchen window, Mama and Papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy's house．

　　“It's good to see her happy again,” said Mama．

　　“It sure is,” Papa agreed．“As for the swimming team, there's always next year．”

　　“If?” Mama prompted him．

　　“Oh, right,” said Papa．“If she wants to．”

　　Mama smiled．“At least you're learning, dear,” she said．She kissed him．

　　“Well, you know what they say,” Papa said．“Better late than never．”

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　　阅读理解

　　The young boy saw me, or rather, he saw the car and quickly ran up to me ,cager to sell his bunches（串）of bananas and bags of peanuts. Though he appeared to be about twelve, he seemed to have already known he bitterness of life.“Banans 300 mira Peaouts 200 naira

”He said in a low voice. I hargained him down to 200 that for the fruit and nuts, When he agreed, I handed him a 500 nairu bill. He didn't have change. So I tole him not to worry. He said thanks and smiled a row of perfect teeth.

　　When, two weeks later, I saw the boy again, I was more aware of my position in a society where it's not that uncommon to see a little boy who should be in school standing on the corner selling fruit in the burning sun. My parents bad raised me to be aware of the advantage we had been afforded and the responsibility it brought to us.

　　I pulled over and rolled down my window, He had a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts ready. I waved them away.

　　“What't up?”asked him.

　　“I don't have money to buy books for school.”I reached into my pocket and abnded him two fresh 500 naira bills.“Will this help?”I asked. He looked around nervously before taking the money. One thousand naira was a lot of money to someone whose family probably made about 5,000 naira or less each year.“Thank you, sir.”he said.“Thank you very much!”

　　When driving home. I wondered if my little friend actually used the money for schoolbooks. What if he's a cheat（骗子）?And then I wondered why I did it. Did I do it to make myself feel better? Was I using him? Later, I rcalized that I wondered why I did it, Did I do it to make myself feel better? Was I using him? Later, I rcalized that I didn't know his name or the least bit about him, nor did I think to ask.

　　Over the next six months, I was busy working in a news agency in northern Nigeria Sometime after I returned ,I went out For a drive. When I was about to pull over, the boy suddenly appeared by my window with a big smile ready on his face.

　　“Oh, gosh! Long time.”

　　“Are you in school now?”I asked.

　　He nodded.

　　“That's good,” I said. A silence fell as we looked at each other, and then I realized what he wanted.“Here,”I held out a 500 naira bill.“Take this.”He shook his head and stepped back as if hurt.“What's wrong?”I asked.“It's a gift.”

　　He shook his head again and brought his had form bchind his back. His face shone with sweat（汗水）. He dropped a bunch of banans and a bag of peanuts in the front seat before he said,“I've been waiting to give hese to you .”

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