初中英语--美文阅读

Andy's Hobbies

Andy is always watching animal programs on TV．When he was a child his favorite books were Gerald Durrel's animal books．He also wrote down something about animals when he heard them — especially the ones that were about loving animals．

He has always had pets．His first animal friends were pigs．And then he tried his best to persuade his parents to get a dog．For some reasons they did not seem to believe Andy would walk the dog three times a day，no matter how Andy promised he'd do it．

He did his best to persuade them：he was good at drawing and left drawings of dogs all over the place．He ran to the library，borrowed all the dog books he could find，and left them lying around as well．His parents were quite used to his books lying around everywhere．

Then Andy's mother was told a friend's cat had kittens and they could go and get one．At first Andy was a little disappointed．As time went by，he learned to love the cat so much he has had cats ever since．

Cats let us know when it is time to change the sofa．Either when the fabric starts to look like Einstein's hair that has been combed with cat paws，thanks to the generous donation of cat hair．

安迪的爱好

安迪总是看电视节目上的动物频道。当他还是个孩子的时候，他最喜欢的书就是杰拉尔德·达雷尔写的有关动物的书籍。每当他听到一些关于动物的事情，尤其是那些有关爱护动物的故事，他都会记录下来。

他一直爱养宠物，他的第一个动物朋友是猪。后来他尽自己的最大努力去说服他父母为他买一只狗。由于某些原因，无论安迪怎样承诺，他们似乎并不相信安迪会每天出去遛狗三次。

他尽自己的最大努力说服他们：他擅长画画，到处都放着狗的素描。他跑到图书馆去借他能找到的所有关于狗的书籍，也把它们丢得到处都是。他的父母已经习惯他把书丢得到处都是了。

后来安迪的母亲得知一个朋友家的猫生了小猫，他们可以去抱一只回家。起初安迪感到有点失望，但自从有了猫之后，随着时间的推移他学会给猫很多爱护。

猫让我们知道什么时候该换沙发了，也就是当沙发织物开始看起来像用猫爪梳理过的爱因斯坦的头发时，这其实多亏有了慷慨捐赠的猫毛。

Larry Schwarz's Hobbies

Larry Schwarz has played with toys all his life．As a child，he often pulled his toys apart，and then glued them back together．He made toy rockets，cars，and buildings out of boxes．Although he put his toys away long enough to become a lawyer，he never lost his childhood passion for toys．Schwarz dreamed up many toys while in school．Instead of taking notes in class，he filled 26 notebooks with toy sketches! Still，he managed to get his lawyer degree．

Today，instead of working in a courtroom，Schwarz skateboards around his Rumpus's headquarters in New York City．In 1997，he started the Rumpus Toy company and invented all kind of crazy toys，like Gus Gutz，a doll with 12 spongy organs，and Sy Klops，a one-eyed doll．Even the boxes are playful．Printed instructions on Rumpus toy boxes

allow kids to turn them into club houses，buses or airplanes．He loves to ride around in his Rumpus Road Rocket，a multi-colored school bus．He visits hospitals and schools，bringing toys，happiness and advice．Says Schwarz，"If you believe in something strongly enough and think you can do it，you really should give it a try．"

拉里·施瓦茨的爱好

拉里·施瓦茨这一生都在玩玩具。他小时候就经常把玩具拆开，然后再用胶水重新拼合。他用盒子制造玩具火箭、汽车和楼房。尽管为了成为一名律师，他不得不长时间把玩具放在一边，但他从未丧失童年时对玩具的那种热情。上学时施瓦茨梦想拥有很多玩具。他上课不做笔记，反而在 26 个笔记本上画满玩具草图。不过，他还是设法取得了法律专业学位。

现在，施瓦茨不在法庭工作，而是滑着滑板在他位于纽约的拉姆普斯公司总部转悠。1997 年，他创办了拉姆普斯玩具公司，发明了各种各样的疯狂玩具，比如有 12 个海绵器官的玩偶格丝·古茨、独眼玩偶赛·克洛普斯，甚至连包装盒都可以玩。玩具盒上印着的说明书可指导孩子们把盒子变成俱乐部会所、公共汽车或飞机。他喜欢乘坐一辆名为“拉姆普斯公路火箭”的彩色校车四处跑。他参观医院和学校，给大家带去玩具、快乐和忠告。施瓦茨说：“如果你特别相信某件事，而且觉得自己可以做好的话，你真的应该试一试。”

Molly Makes a Change about Her Business

Molly Boylan is one of the most successful businesswomen in Canada after setting up her cosmetic company Blazes in 1992．Though she is very successful，she says that she finds it harder every year in balance her business with her family life．She sometimes feels that her two children know more about their baby-sitter than they do about her．

Molly employs around eighty people in her factory and warehouse，and ten others in her two new fashion stores，but her newest employee is the most important one for her．After years of worrying about her business more than her family，she has decided to make Sally Pamonte new general manager in her company．Molly will still be involved in decision-making，and she's going to stay in touch with the people who work for her，but Sally is going to look after day-to-day running of the business so that Molly can spend more time with the kids．

The new arrangement is going to start on Monday，and both of them are already excited about it．Sally says，"I'm very nervous，actually，but I'm sure Molly will help me a lot in the early days，even though I hope she feels she can trust me not to make too many mistakes．" Molly，on the other hand，seems quite relaxed about the whole thing．"I know that Sally's going to be a very nice manager．" she says，"She's only been here a couple of days and she's already shown me how to work out a few problems we were having．The best thing though is that I feel a hundred times happier than I've been in years．I mean，I honestly can't remember the last time I felt as relaxed as this，and my kids are really excited about my being at home more．To be honest，I wish I had made this decision years ago．"

莫莉改变了公司的业务安排

1992 年莫莉·博伊兰创办了她的 Blazes 化妆品公司，自此她便成了加拿大最成功的女企业家之一。虽然她很成功，但她说她发现每年在事业与家庭之间很难取得平衡。有时她感到她自己的两个孩子对保姆的了解比对她了解的还要多。