It was Sunday,so Dad and I were at the secondhand goods market,looking for tools,appliances (家用電器),and other things that needed cleaning.Some were broken;others,like silver cups,just needed to be cleaned and polished.It was 1974,and the depression (經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退) was very serious.Dad worked full-time at a factory,but the money wasn't enough.Dad had tried a second job for a while,hut he found it was too hard on the family.One day,he had an excellent idea that set me on a lifelong course of making money to support myself.Standing beside a crowded table at the second-hand goods market,I looked over an ancient manual sewing machine.Someone had changed it to run on electric power.It was much older than Mom's machine,but it looked like it had quality and a long life built into it. "Dad!" I called. "This is a beauty!"
Dad walked over,pulling a cart full of audio equipment,tools,worn-out appliances,and what appeared to be a block of dull kitchen knives. "What have you got,Son?" I described what I saw and what I figured I could do to fix the beauty up.Dad paid for my discovery,and we headed home.
Every day after school I worked on the ancient machine,and every night Dad and I sharpened tools and knives,polished metal,and replaced missing parts from various items.The next Sunday we headed off,as we did every weekend,to that same market,where we sold the treasures we'd purchased the week before - at a tidy profit.My antique beauty brought in more money than anything else,and Dad let me keep every penny.
Dad has gone now,but I can never thank him enough.Even if we hadn't needed the extra money Dad and I brought in,I wouldn't have traded those weekends for all the picnics or Little League games in St.Louis - not in a million years.
(1)What was Dad's good idea?
D
D
A.Getting a second job for a while.
B.Having his son get an after-school job.
C.Saving money by only buying used items.
D.Buying things and fixing them up for resale.
(2)Why did the author want to buy the old sewing machine?
C
C
A.Because he wanted to change it into an electric machine.
B.Because he thought it was like his Mom's machine.
C.Because he thought it was of good quality.
D.Because he wanted to practice his repair skills.
(3)We can infer that the author thanks his father most for
D
D
.
A.letting him shop at the market
B.helping him choose treasures
C.a(chǎn)llowing him to keep money by himself
D.teaching him a lesson of self-support
(4)What would be the best title for the text?
A
A
A.Weekends at the Second-hand Goods Market
B.An Expensive Sewing Machine
C.An Accidental Discovery
D.Jobs During the Economic Depression