"Daddy, can I learn to play the violin?" young Sarah asked her father. She was always asking for things and her father was not very pleased.

"You cost me a lot of money, Sarah," he said. "First you wanted to learn horse riding, then dancing, then swimming. Now it's the violin.

"I'll play every day ,Daddy." Sarah said. "I'll try very hard.

"All right," her father said. "This is what I'll do. I'll pay for you to have lessons for six weeks. At the end of six weeks you must play something for me. If you play well, you can have more lessons. If you play badly, I will stop the lessons."

"0. K. Daddy," Sarah said. "That is fair.

He soon found a good violin teacher and Sarah began her lessons. The teacher was very expensive, but her father kept his promise.

The six weeks passed quickly. The time came for Sarah to play for her father.

She went to the living room and said, "I'm ready to play for you, Daddy.

"Fine, Sarah," her father said. "Begin.

She began to play. She played very badly. She made a terrible noise.

Her father had one of his friends with him, and the friend put his hands over his ears.

When Sarah finished, her father said, "Well done, Sarah. You can have more lessons."

Sarah ran happily out of the room. Her father's friend turned to him. "You've spent a lot of money, but she still plays very badly. he said.

"Well, that's true," her father said. "But since she started learning the violin I've been able to buy five apartments in this build very cheaply. In another six weeks I'll own the whole building!"

Notes:

(1) fair adj.公平的 (2) keep one's promise信守诺言

Exercises:

根据短文选择正确答案：

① Sarah's father was not pleased with her because_____ .

A. she wanted to team the violin

B. she was rude

C. she was always asking for things

D. she was noisy

② Sarah's father said he would pay for violin lessons for _____.

A. two weeks

B. six weeks

C. a month

D. six months

③ Sarah played the violin_____ .

A. very well

B. very badly indeed

C. badly

D. well

④ Her father gave her more lessons because_____ .

A. she played well enough

B. she was so interested in playing the violin

C. he could buy more apartments cheaply because of Sarah's noise

D. he liked the violin

(5) From this passage we can see that _____.

A. Sarah had a talent for music

B. Sarah's father was very generous with money

C. Sarah's father was a selfish man

D. Sarah's father told her the truth

104.小提琴课

“爸爸，我能学拉小提琴吗？”小莎拉问她的父亲。她总是要东西，因此她爸爸很不高兴。

“你花了我很多钱，莎拉，”他说，“开始你想学骑马，然后想学跳舞，然后是游泳。现在又想学拉小提琴。”