小提琴课
Violin lessons
“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.”
“OK. 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 building very cheaply. In another six weeks I'll own the whole building!”
小提琴课
“爸爸，我能学拉小提琴吗？”小莎拉问她的父亲。她总是提出各种要求，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，接着想学跳舞，然后是游泳。现在又想学拉小提琴。”
“我会每天都拉的，爸爸，”莎拉说，“我会认真练琴的。”
“好吧，”她爸爸说。“下面是我要做的：我会为你付六个星期的小提琴课的学费，六个星期后你必须拉首曲子给我听。如果你拉得很好，你可以继续上小提琴课，要是你拉得很差，你就不要再学了。”
“行。爸爸，”莎拉说，“这很公平。”
他很快就找到了一个好的小提琴老师，莎拉就开始学拉提琴了。尽管学费很高，但她爸爸遵守了诺言。
六个星期很快就过去了。莎拉该拉提琴给爸爸听了。
她走进起居室说：“我准备好拉琴给你听了。”
“好哇，莎拉，”她爸爸说。“开始吧。”
她开始拉琴。她拉得很差，发出了可怕的噪音。她爸爸身旁有位朋友，朋友用手捂住了耳朵。
莎拉拉完一曲，她父亲说：“拉得好，莎拉。你可以继续学琴了。”
莎拉高兴地跑出门去。她父亲的朋友说：“你已经花了不少钱了，但她还是拉得很差。”
“噢，的确如此，”她爸爸说，“但自从她开始学小提琴，我就可以很便宜地买下这幢楼的五套房子了。再过六周，我就可以拥有整幢楼啦！”
I'll go there myself
There was once a landlord who always pretended he was knowledgeable though he was completely unable to read or write.
One day when the landlord was chatting with his guests，a servant came in and gave him a letter which asked him to lend a cow. The landlord was afraid that his guests would know he was unable to read or write，so he opened the envelope and glanced over the words. Then he said to the servant，“OK，please tell him I'll go there myself in a few minutes.”
我自己去那儿
从前，有一个地主是个既不会读也不会写的文盲，但他却偏要在人前装作很有学问。一天，当地主正和宾客聊天的时候，仆人走进来递给他一封信，信上说有人想向他借一头牛。地主害怕被客人知道自己是个文盲，于是他打开信封，瞧了瞧信上的字，然后对仆人说：“好的，你告诉他我马上自己去那儿。”
Why didn't you go with him？
When I was in the grocery store I heard my friend moan，“Oh，did I just make a faux pas！” I stopped thumping melons and gave her my full attention．
“I ran into Mrs． Jones，” she wailed．“I didn't know that her husband died last week，and I asked her how he was feeling． She said，‘He's gone．’I assumed he went someplace for his health，and I said...”
The words seemed to stick in her throat．
“What did you say？”I prodded her．“Good riddance？”
“Worse than that．I said，‘Why didn't you go with him？’”
你为什么不跟他一起去呢？
在杂货店里我听见我的朋友呻吟着说：“噢，我刚才不是冒犯人家了吗！”我停止拍打甜瓜，全神贯注地听她讲。
“我碰见了琼斯太太，”她哀号着。“我不知道她丈夫上周去逝了，我问她他身体怎么样。她说：‘他去了。’我以为他因为健康原因去了什么地方，我说……”
话似乎噎在了她的喉咙口。
“你说什么了？”我催促她，“死了倒干净？”
“比那还糟呢。我是说‘你为什么不陪他一起去呢？’”
单词&词组
keep one's promise 遵守诺言
well done做得不错
landlord [5lAndlC:d] n.房东，地主，(旅馆等的)老板
knowledgeable [5nClidVEbl] adj.知识渊博的，有见识的
moan [mEun] n.呻吟，哀悼，呼啸
faux pas [fEJ5pB:] n.失礼，失言
thump [WQmp] v.重击，砰然地响
prod [prCd] v.刺
riddance [5ridEns] n.摆脱，除去，驱逐，解除
知道不知道
各类乐器名一览
Clarinet 单簧管
Flute 长笛
Saxophone 萨克斯风
French Horn 法国号
Trumpet 小号
Viola 中提琴
Cello 大提琴
Guitar 吉他
Violin 小提琴
Harp 竖琴
Acoustic Grand Piano/Grand Piano 三角钢琴(用于演奏厅)