A
It was Sunday, so Dad and I were at the secondhand goods market, looking for tools, appliances(家用电器), 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(经济大萧条) was very serious.Dad worked fulltime at a factory, but the money wasn't enough.Dad had tried a second job for a while, but 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 secondhand 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, wornout appliances, and what appeared to be a block of dull kitchen knife.“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, sanded off rust, polished metal, and replaced missing parts from various items.The next Saturday 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's 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.
【语篇解读】 本文是记叙文。讲述了大萧条时期，为贴补家用，父子两人每周六去旧货市场淘下旧物，修补之后再次售卖来赚钱。
21．Dad's good idea was ________.
A．getting a second job for a while
B．having his son get an afterschool job
C．saving money by buying only used items
D．buying things and fixing them up for resale
答案与解析：D 推理判断题。由第一段“One day, he had an excellent idea that set me on a lifelong course of making money to support myself.”和倒数第二段“The next Saturday 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”可知，父亲想到的好主意是到旧货市场买下东西，把它们修理好再出售，故选D。
22．Why did the author want to buy the old sewing machine?
A．He wanted to change it into an electric machine.
B．He thought it was like his Mom's machine.
C．He thought it was of good quality.
D．He wanted to practice his repair skills.
答案与解析：C 细节理解题。“It was much older than Mom's machine, but it looked like it had quality and a long life built into it.”作者发现一台老式缝纫机，虽然很旧，但看起来质量很好，很耐用，故选C。
23．We can infer that the author thanks his father most for ________.
A．letting him shop at markets
B．helping him choose treasures
C．allowing him to keep money by himself
D．teaching him a lesson of selfsupport
答案与解析：D 推理判断题。根据第一段“One day, he had an excellent idea that set me on a lifelong course of making money to support myself.”和最后一段第一句“Dad's gone now, but I can never thank him enough.”可以推断出作者非常感谢父亲，是父亲教会了他自立，故选D。
24．What would be the best title for the text?
A．Weekends at the Secondhand Goods Market
B．An Expensive Sewing Machine
C．An Accident Discovery
D．Jobs During the Economic Depression
答案与解析：A 主旨大意题。通读全文可知，本文作者回忆了大萧条时期，为贴补家用，父子两人每周六去旧货市场淘下旧物，修补之后再次售卖来赚钱的经历，并且感激父亲教会了他如何自立。因此推断A项为最佳标题，故选A。
