阅读理解

　　My grandfather was a fine man．I love him very much．But one day I told him a lie(谎话)．I can not tell you now what the lie was．I was only seven years old then．

　　Grandfather was not cross with me．

　　“Ask Jim to get a long ladder,”he siad．

　　“My　now jumps from the tops of houses, up to the roof(屋顶)．”

　　Jim brought the big ladder．Then Grandfather said,“My　now jumps from the tops of houses, the ladder is for him．”

　　I knew at once what he was telling me．I had often heard the old saying,

　　“A lie is a jump from the top of a house．”

　　I said nothing．But I felt like crying．

　　The minutes went by．What would people think about the ladder?It stood by the door．I was afraid it might be there a long time．I had to do something!

　　At last I went to Grandfather．He was reading a book．I was up to him and put my face on his arm．

　　“Grandfather,”I said,“I will not tell a lie again．We don’t need the ladder now．”

　　Grandfather seemed very happy once again．He called Jim．“Take the ladder away,”he said,“My　does not jump from the tops of houses．”

　　His words made me happy once again．

阅读理解

　　My father woke up early one summer morning when I was fourteen and announced, “Get up, you're going with me to cut the grass in the garden．”

　　The idea that my father thought I was old enough to help him in his business made me feel proud and excited．From sunup to sundown, my father, my younger brother and I worked in the large garden．By the end of the day I was too tired to say a word but I felt happy．This was my first time to help my father in his business．I got ＄6 for my work that day．

　　One day my father found some leaves I had missed and pulled me aside．“Take away these leaves!” he said．“And don't make me have to tell you to do it again．” The message was clear．Today I value the importance of doing job well the first time．I will never fail to impress(留下印象)the person I'm working for．

　　After two years, my father told me and my brother that he felt we were old enough to cut the grass by ourselves．Every Saturday during my last two years of high school, we set off early in the morning with the same wish we had gained while working under our father．

　　Looking after the garden was neither exciting nor high paying, but that didn't matter．It taught me that any job was a good job and whatever I was paid was more than I had before．

　　A newspaper reporter once asked me how someone could possibly live with hard work and low pay．“If you're only thinking about hard work and money, you probably don't want to do better than you are doing, ” I answered．In every job, from cutting the grass to washing dishes, I've learned much．I've learned something that helps me in my next job．

　　If you work hard enough, you can learn from any job you do．