1、 1 高中英语必读美文（ 150 ） 1 During summer vacations, I would volunteer at the vets, so Id seen a lot of dogs. Minnie was by far the funniest-looking dog Id ever seen. Thin curly hair barely covered her sausage-shaped body. Her bugged-out eyes always seemed surprised. And her tail looked like a rats tail. S
2、he was brought to the vet to be put to sleep because her owners didnt want her anymore. I thought Minnie had a sweet personality, though. “No one should judge her by her looks,“ I thought. So the vet spayed her and gave her the necessary shots. Finally, I advertised Minnie in the local paper: “Funny
3、-looking dog, well behaved, needs loving family.“ When a young man called, I warned him that Minnie was strange looking. The boy on the phone told me that his grandfathers sixteen-year-old dog had just died. They wanted Minnie no matter what. I gave Minnie a good bath and fluffed up what was left of
4、 her scraggly hair. Then we waited for them to arrive. At last, an old car drove up in front of the vets. Two kids raced to the door. They scooped Minnie into their arms and rushed her out to their grandfather, who was waiting in the car. I hurried behind them to see his reaction to Minnie. Inside t
5、he car, the grandfather cradled Minnie in his arms and stroked her soft hair. She licked his face. Her rattail wagged around so quickly that it looked like it might fly off her body. It was love at first lick. “Shes perfect!“ the old man exclaimed. I was thankful that Minnie had found the good home
6、that she deserved. Thats when I saw that the grandfathers eyes were a milky white color - he was blind. 2 Tomorrow was his girlfriends birthday and the young man was having a difficult time deciding on a present for her. She already had more clothes than she knew what to do with them, so he couldnt
7、get any kind of apparel. She never ate sweets, so candy was out of the question. What then? He had a very special reason for wanting to impress her with just the right gift; tomorrow he was going to make an offer of marriage to her. He finally decided on perfume . All girls liked perfume. That raise
8、d another problem, however. What kind did she prefer? He couldnt ask her, because that would ruin the surprise. At last the young man hit upon a brilliant idea. That afternoon, pretending to take his girl-friends fox terrier, little dog. Together, the young man and the dog went directly to the perfu
9、me counter of the towns biggest department store. Good! There was a large array of perfume. He beckoned a clerk, instructing her to open a large number of bottles and wave the stoppers under the dogs nose. Nestled in the young mans arms, the terrier began to be restless and bored as this seemingly p
10、ointless game went on. Then Fritz suddenly became frisky, wiggling in the young mans arms and barking excitedly, as the clerk waved one stopper under his nose. Ill take that one, said the young man to the clerk. The price was high; but it was worth it, he thought. My favorite perfume! said the delig
11、hted girl the next evening as she unwrapped the package. How did you know? she asked, dabbing some perfume behind each ear. Intuition, I guess, said the young man, deciding that it wasnt exactly wrong to tell a lie under the circumstances. One day, after they were married, he would admit that his in
12、tuition had really been a little dog named Fritz. 3 My parents were in a huge argument, and I was really upset about it. I didnt know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friends house. Though I knew I wouldnt tell her about my paren
13、ts situation, I was looking forward to getting out of the house. I was in the middle of packing up my things when suddenly the power went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on. I was really disappointed because I felt that we did
14、 not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that Id stay with him until the power was restored. He was quite happy and said, Great opportunity. What is? I asked. To talk, you and I, he said. To hold a private little meeting about
15、 what were going to do with your mom and dad, and what were going to do with ourselves now that were in the situation we are in. But we cant do anything about it, Grandpa, I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same boat as I was 2 And
16、thats how the most unbelievable friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting there in the dark, we talked about our feeling and fears of life-from how fast things change, to how they sometimes dont change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with wh
17、om I could safely talk about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be. Suddenly, the lights all came back on. Well, he said, I guess that means youll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights! 4 I really love my job because I enjoy working with small c
18、hildren and like the challenges and awards from the job. I also think my work is important. There was a time when I thought I would never have that sort of career. I wasnt an excellent student because I didnt do much schoolwork. In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didnt h
19、ave much to offer. I just accepted that I wasnt the type to have a career. I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls. It wasnt too bad at first. But the problems began when I agreed to live in, so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening. We agreed t
20、hat if I had to work extra hours one week, shed give me time off the next. But unfortunately, it didnt often work out. I was getting extremely tired and fed up, because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children. One Sunday, I was in the park with the children, and met Megan who
21、 used to go to school with me. I told her about my situation. She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification if I wanted to work with children. I didnt think I would be accepted because I didnt take many exams in school. She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were real
22、ly helpful. My experience counted for a lot and I got on a part-time course. I had to leave my job with the family, and got work helping out at a kindergarten. Now Ive got a full-time job there. I shall always be thankful to Megan. I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career, even if you
23、 arent top of the class at school. Each of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a necessary part of the learning process. 5 Donnie was a shy, nervous perfectionist. His fear of failure kept him from classroom games that other children played with joyous excitement.
24、 He seldom answered questions - he might be wrong. Written assignments, especially math, reduced him to nail-biting frustration. He seldom finished his work because he repeatedly checked with me to be sure he hadnt made a mistake. Then one morning we were working math problems at the chalkboard. Ple
25、ased with their progress, I left the children with Mary Anne， my student teacher, and went for art materials. When I returned, Donnie was in tears. Hed missed the third problem. Anne looked at me in despair. Suddenly her face brightened. She reached the drawer we shared for some pencils. “See these
26、pencils, Donnie?“ she said, kneeling beside him and gently lifting the tear-stained face from his arms. “They belong to Mrs. Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are worn? Thats because we make mistakes too. Lots of them. But we erase the mistakes and try again. Thats what you must learn to do, too.“ She kissed
