趣味閱讀精選

湖北大學 施竹軍 供稿

（一）What Were You Smuggling?你走私什么？

A man drove up to the border (邊境)，where he was greeted by a guard (哨兵).When the guard looked in the trunk (汽車的行李箱)，he was surprised to find six bags in it.

“What are these?”he asked.

“Dirt，”the driver replied.

“Take them out，”the guard said.“I want to check them.”

So the man removed the bags，but each one of them contained nothing but dirt.Reluctantly，the guard let him go.

A week later，the man came back，and once again，the guard looked in the truck.

“What’s in the bags this time?”he asked.

“Dirt，more dirt，”said the man.

Not believing him，the guard checked the sacks and，once again，he found nothing but soil.

The same thing happened every week for six months，and the guard felt so frustrated(挫敗的) that he quit (辭職) and became a waiter in a bar.Then one night，the man happened to stop by for a drink.Hurrying over to him，the former guard said，“Listen，pal，drinks are free tonight if you’ll do me a favor—just tell me what you were smuggling (走私) all that time.”

The man leaned (斜靠) close to the bartender’s ear and said，“Cars.”

1.What were in the trunk when the guard saw the man for the first time?

2.How many cars did the man smuggle in six months?

3.What did the man smuggle?

（二）A Pair of Old Trousers一條舊褲子

Tom walked into a shop.It had a sign(招牌) outside—Second-hand (舊的) clothes bought and sold.He was carrying an old pair of trousers and asked the owner of the shop.“How much will you give me for these?”The man looked at them and then said，“Two dollars.”“What?”said Tom.“I had guessed they were worth(值……價錢)at least five dollars.”

“No，”said the man，“they aren’t worth a cent (美分) more than two dollars.”

“Well，”said Tom.Taking two dollars out of his pocket，“here’s your money.These trousers were hanging outside your shop.The list price (定價) of them was six dollars and a half.But I thought that was too much money，so I wanted to find out how much they were really worth.”

Then he walked out of the shop with the pair of trousers and disappeared before the shop owner could think of anything to say.

( )4.At first the shop owner thought that

Tom wanted to ______.

A.steal the trousers

B.sell the trousers

C.buy the trousers

( )5.Tom got the old trousers for ______dollars.

A.two B.five C.six

( )6.In fact，the trousers were ______.

A.Tom’s

B.the shop owner’s

C.someone else’s

（三）That Man Wasn’t My Daddy那個人不是我爸爸

A barber (理 發(fā) 師) was in his shop，busily cutting a man’s hair，when a handsome young stranger came in.He had a small boy with him.They sat down together and waited until the barber finished.Then the young man told the barber to shave (刮胡子) him and cut the small boy’s hair.

The barber said，“Do you want me to cut the boy’s hair first，or to shave you?”“Oh，shave me，”said the young man.“Then I’ll go down the road and have a glass of wine while you’re cutting the boy’s hair.”

The young man sat down in the barber’s chair，and the barber began to shave him.When he finished，the young man got up and said，“I’ll go down the road now and have my wine while you’re cutting the boy’s hair.”“All right，but I won’t take long.”The barber warned (提醒) him.The young man went out，the small boy sat down in the barber’s chair，and the barber began to cut his hair.

As the barber had said，he soon finished，and then the boy sat down and waited.After half an hour，the young man had still not come back.The barber said to the boy，“It is a pity that your daddy’s been taking such a long time.Where is he likely to be now?”

“I can’t guess，”answered the small boy.“And that man wasn’t my daddy.I’ve never seen him before in my life.I was playing in the street this morning，and he came up to me and asked me whether I’d like to have my hair cut without having to pay anything.I said I would，because my hair was rather long，so he brought me here.”

( )7.The young man wanted the barber to cut his hair and shave the boy.

( )8.The young man went to buy his wine when the barber cut the boy’s hair.

( )9.The young man would not come back.

( )10.The boy didn’t know the young man.