阅读理解

　　My father made a deal with me that he would match whatever I could come up with to buy my fir st car．From the time I wa s a saver．My allowance, back in tho se day s, wa s twenty five cent s a week．I grew up on a farm near a small town called Ventura．In tho se day s the area wa s mo stly agricultural．The climate wa s and still i s a s clo se to perfect a s you could get．I earned some of my money picking one crop or another．When I wa s about ten, a school friend' s family owned walnut orchard s(果园)and it wa s harve st time．She told me we could earn five dollar s for every bag of walnut s we picked．I certainly learned about picking walnut s that day．Not surprisingly, that wa s my fir st and la st time a s a walnut picker．

　　In 1960 my grandmother pa s sed away．She left me 100 share s of AT＆T．One hundred share s of stock don't seem like much today but back then tho se share s paid me＄240 per year in dividend s(利息)．That wa s huge for a kid my age．

　　By the time I wa s seventeen．I had saved up ＄ 1, 300 and I knew exactly that I wanted．Ithink my father wa s somewhat suri sed when I announced I had saved up ＄ 1, 300 and wa s ready to buy my new car．I'll never forget the evening my father said, “Let' s go see about that car”．I wa s so excited．

　　My father could have ea sily ju st given me the car but he alway s in si sted that hi s children work for what they got．Thi s wa s not a bad thing．I learned self-reliance．Self-reliance i s equal to freedom．Now that I think about it I need to be thanking my father．

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阅读理解

　　Lucky is the man who has no“skeleton in his closet”．When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a“skeleton in his closet”．Some people may have more than one skeleton．

　　As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin．Sometimes, we get some hard facts．But more often we have to depend on guesswork．And that is true of this phrase, which came from England．

　　Before 1932, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体)of an executed(处决)criminal．

　　But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine．It was helping in the advance of modern medicine．The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices．

　　We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study．It became very important in his work．But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing．As a rule, the doctor would keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet．

　　After a time, people began to suspect(怀疑)every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet．From this suspicion, the phrase“a skeleton in the closet”took on a broader, more general meaning to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering．It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious．Well, that is one theory．

　　One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened．It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime．Well, one man's guess is as good as another．But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac．

　　Baizac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover．The husband comes home by surprise．But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom．He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover．He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her．She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet．

　　The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet．His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive．But she will not change her story and admit her guilt．

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阅读理解，阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　Thank you for your interest in helping animals! Volunteering is a wonderful way to learn, have fun and give back to your community(社区)．There are many ways to care for the animals at PAWS．

　　Youth Work Party

　　If you are ten years or older, you can join the Youth Work Party Team with a parent to work on different projects around PAWS in Lynnwood, WA．For example, you can build boxes for frightened, injured wildlife to hide in．Ask your parent to sign up to join a work party．If you are eighteen years or older, you can join the Youth Work Party Team independently．

　　PAWSwalk

　　PAWSwalk is our biggest fundraising(筹款)event of the year, held at the end of the summer to raise money to care for the animals．You can collect money with the help of your family, friends and school, and then walk in the event．

　　Cookie Sale

　　Selling homemade dog cookies is a wonderful way to help the animals．PAWS can provide brochures(小册子)to give out when you sell the cookies prepared by you and your parents, so people can learn about PAWS at the same time．You can find homemade dog cookie cooking instructions on the Internet or by checking out cookbooks for dogs at the library．

　　Movie Night

　　Invite friends, family, neighbors and classmates to watch your favorite animal movie, like Babe or Charlotte's Web．Ask them to bring an “entrance fee” of donations or supplies for the animals．

　　Thanks again for your interest in PAWS and helping animals．Share your ideas with your parents and invite a few friends to join you in helping make a difference for animals．If you have any questions, call 425-787-2500-261．

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