王志剛

It was Sunday and Tom was staying at home. After breakfast he went out into the garden and played quietly by himself. There were no kids around and he was used to① playing alone quietly. He played with Bobby， the dog. He climbed up and down the tree. Sometimes a bird would come down to perch② on top of the dog house. Then Tom would have the greatest fun③ by throwing a stone or something at it. Though he never made it， he did like doing this kind of thing.

Now Tom had been in the garden for half an hour. Suddenly a crack④ was heard and the little boy began crying.

“Whats the matter， Tom？” his mother looked through the kitchen⑤ window. Tom ran into the kitchen.

“Mum，” he sobbed⑥. “I broke Bobbys plate. I didnt know it was so fragile⑦.”

His mother put her arms round him and said， “Dont feel so sad， Tom. We have other plates for Bobby. But how did you break that one？”

“I threw it at a bird but missed， and it went straight to the plate.”

In Toms hand was his fathers gold pocket watch⑧！

Notes： ①be used to 習(xí)慣于 ②perch n. 停歇 ③fun n. 愛(ài)好 ④crack n. 破碎聲 ⑤kitchen? n. 廚房 ⑥sob v. 抽泣 ⑦fragile adj. 易碎的 ⑧gold pocket watch 金懷表