大学英语自学教程

LESSoN ELEVEN

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TEXT A

The Great American Garage Sale

Not long ago, Charles Erickson and his family decided to do some spring housecleaning. __ (Sort) through their possessions, they came up with some 1,500 old, __ (want) items -- all sorts of things (they wanted to get rid of). The Ericksons decided to do what a lot of other Americans are doing these days--have a garage sale. They posted homemade signs throughout the neighborhood, ran an advertisement in the local newspaper, then set out the unwanted objects on the front yard of their home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and waited to see if any one would come. The Ericksons neednt have worried. Eager buyers bought all but 50 of the items in one weekend, leaving the family $442 richer.

Garage sale, yard sale, basement sale -- whatever theyre called and wherever theyre held, Americans are having them in ever-increasing numbers.

The variety of things put up for sale is really wonderful -- dishes, books, used clothing, tools, tires, empty bottles, bicycles, furniture. A man in Atlanta, Georgia, even sold a full-size replica of a 1931 Ford.

You wouldnt believe the stuff (people will buy), says Mrs. Jerry McNeely of Houston, Texas, who has held two garage sales with friends. on the other hand, you wouldnt believe some of the things (people will put out to sell).

Why would Americans want to shop by searching among someone elses cast-offs?

Rising living costs are considered by almost everyone as a reason both for holding sales and for attending them. The seller makes a little extra money and the buyer saves quite a lot, since garage-sale items usually are priced at a very small part of their original cost.

But beyond that, theyre fun. Garage sales have become suburban social events, drawing people of all ages. Neighbors enjoy meeting new people, and some families even serve drinks and cakes. one psychologist suggests that people are fed up with the computerization of their lives -- they may be searching for their roots. Many of the younger buyers say they are turned off by the poor quality of modern goods and are looking for remnants of a stronger and firmer era, when things were built to last.

Some people have made garage-sale shopping into a hobby; they spend their weekends going from sale to sale, hoping to run across a real treasure. Says one long-time weekend bargain hunter, In the back of your mind you have the hope of finding some fabulous painting stored away somewhere or something else of great value for a bargain price.

Diana McLellan, a reporter for the Washington Star-News, wrote: The garage sale is like the quality of mercy -- it blesseth him (that gives) and him (that takes). It separates clothes, toys, pots, cups, forks and knives from their reluctant owners and places them in loving new homes.

How long will all this enthusiasm continue? Says one recent seller, Some day the people who are buying are bound to be faced with the same problem we had -- getting rid of this stuff.

The Blacks

You need have come here.

You needn’t have given him money.

Clothes ---- clothing

Attracting

I enjoy listening to music.

My brother enjoys making friends.

The psychologist suggests that we be patient with the kids.

I have made raising dogs into a hobby.

Misunderstanding separates my friend from me.