英语幽默小故事-In the air

　　Matt and his wife lived in the country. Matt was very stingy and hated spending money. One day a fair came to the nearby town.

　　"Let's go to the fair, Matt," his wife said. "We haven't been anywhere for a long time."

　　Matt thought about this for a while. He knew he would have to spend money at the fair. At last he said, "All right, but I'm not going to spend much money. We'll look at things, but we won't buy anything. "

　　They went to the fair and looked at all the things to buy. There were many things Matt's wife wanted to buy, but he would not let her spend any money.

　　Then, in a nearby field, they saw a small airplane.

　　"Fun flights!" the notice said, " $ 10 for 10 minutes.

　　Matt had never been in an airplane and he wanted to go on a fun flight. However, he didn't want to have to pay for his wife, as well.

　　"I've only got $ 10, " he told the pilot. "Can my wife come with me for free?" The pilot wasn't selling many tickets, so he said, "I'll make a bargain with you. If your wife doesn't scream or shout, she can have a free flight."

　　Matt agreed, and got into the small airplane with his wife.

　　The pilot took off and made his airplane do all kinds of things. At one moment it was flying upside down.

　　When the plane landed, the pilot said, "0. K. your wife didn't make a sound. She can have her ride free."

　　"Thank you," Matt said. "It wasn't easy for her, you know, especially when she fell out."

Notes:

　　(1) stingy adj.吝啬

　　(2) hate（doing）讨厌（做）

　　(3) free adj.免费的

　　(4) make a bargain with sb 达成协议；做成交易

　　(5) upsidedown 倒转地；倒置地

Exercises:

根据短文选择正确答案：

　　① Why didn't Matt really want to go to the fair?

　　A. He didn't like fairs.

　　B. His wife didn't want to go.

　　C. He did not want to spend any money.

　　D. It was a long way to walk to the fair.

　　② What wouldn't Matt let his wife do?

　　A. go to the fair

　　B. buy anything

　　C. go on a fun flight

　　D. took at things at the fair

　　③ What did Matt want to do at the fair?

　　A. buy a few things

　　B. have a ride in an airplane

　　C. take his wife shopping

　　D. buy an airplane

　　④ Why didn't Matt's wife scream or shout in the airplane?

　　A. She had fallen out of it.

　　B. She did not go up in it.

　　C. She enjoyed the flight.

　　D. She wanted a free ride.

　　⑤ So from the passage we can know that_____ .

　　A. Matt was very generous

　　B. Matt was very kind to his wife

　　C. Matt's wife was very brave

　　D. Matt was very stingy

79.在空中

　　麦特和妻子住在乡下。麦特很吝啬，讨厌花钱。一天附近的镇子逢集。

　　“我们去赶集，麦特，”妻子说。“我们很久没出去了。”

　　麦特想了一会儿。他知道在集市上一定得花钱。最后他说：“好吧，但我不打算花太多钱。我们只看不买。”

　　他们去集市，看看所有可买的东西。有很多东西麦特的妻子想买，但麦特不让她买。

　　然后在附近的露天场地，他们看到一架小飞机。

　　“有趣的飞行。”海报上写着，“10分钟10美元。”

　　麦特从来没有乘过飞机，所以他想乘一次小飞机。然而他不想付他妻子的票钱。

　　“我只带了10美元，”他对飞机驾驶员说，“我妻子能免费和我一起乘飞机吗？”驾驶员没卖出多少票，所以他说：“我和你做个交易。如果你妻子不尖叫，也不叫出声来，她就能免费飞行。”

　　麦特同意了，他和妻子一起登上了飞机。

　　飞机起飞了，驾驶员让飞机做出各种各样的动作。有一会儿飞机倒着飞行。

　　飞机着陆时，驾驶员说，“好吧，你妻子没发出任何声响。她就不用买飞机票了。”

　　“谢谢，”麦特说，“你知道，这对她不容易，特别当她刚才掉下去的时候。”

练习参考答案：

①C②B③B④A⑤D