Track 66

A young man once went to town and bought himself a pair of trousers. When he got home，he went upstairs to his bedroom and put them on. He found that they were about two inches long.
He went downstairs，where his mother and two sisters were washing up the tea things in the kitchen.“The new trousers are too long，”he said.“It needs shortening by two inches. Would one of you mind doing this for me？”His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything.
But as soon as his mother had finished washing，she went quickly upstairs to her son’s bedroom and shortened the trousers by two inches. She came downstairs without saying to her daughters.
Later on，after supper，the elder sister remembered her brother’s trousers. She was a kind girl，so she went upstairs quietly without saying anything to anyone，and shortened the trousers by two inches.
The younger sister went to the cinema，but when she came back home，she，too，remembered what her brother had said. So she ran upstairs and took two inches off the new trousers.
You can imagine the look on the young man’s face when he put on the trousers the next morning.
生词
inch
/ɪnʧ
/ n.英寸：Three inches of rain fell last night. 昨晚的降雨量有3英寸。
shorten
/ˈʃɔːtn
/ v.使变短，缩短：I’ll have to shorten these trousers—they’re much too long. 这条裤子太长了，我要把它改短。
imagine
/ɪˈmæʤɪn
/ v.想象：Imagine that you’re lying on a beach. 想象一下你躺在海滩上的样子。
❶ A young man once bought a pair of trousers _.
A. at homeB. in a town
C. in a village
D. in a city
❷ The trousers that he bought were _.
A. very nice
B. too small
C. too long
D. too dear
❸ His trousers were shortened first by _.
A. himselfB. his mother
C. his elder sister
D. his younger sister
❹ His trousers were shortened by _.
A. four inches
B. six inches
C. eight inches
D. two inches
❺ The next morning he found his trousers were _ inches short.
A. about twoB. about three
C. about six
D. about four
参考译文
一次，一个小伙子去城里给自己买了一条裤子。到家后，他上楼来到自己的卧室把裤子穿上。他发现裤子长了大约两英寸。
他来到楼下，母亲和两个姐妹正在楼下的厨房里清洗茶具。“新裤子太长了，”他说。“它需要剪短两英寸。麻烦你们中的哪一位帮我改一下，好吗？”母亲和姐妹们都在忙着，谁也没说话。
可当母亲一清洗完东西，她就立刻上楼来到儿子的卧室，把那条裤子剪短了两英寸。她下了楼，没有跟女儿们说这件事。
后来，吃过晚饭后，姐姐想起了弟弟裤子的事，她是个善良的女孩，于是她什么也没跟别人说，悄悄来到楼上，把裤子剪短了两英寸。
妹妹去看电影了，回来后，她也想起了弟弟的话。于是她跑上楼，把新裤子剪短了两英寸。
你能想象，第二天早上当这个小伙子穿上这条裤子时该是怎样一副模样。