14. A Strange Thing.

Peter had always wanted a car, so when he was old enough, he started to beg his motor to give him driving lessons. Usually children are very bad about learning from their parents, so they would rather be taught by someone else, but Peter's wages were not high enough to pay a driving instructor, so he was patient when his mother corrected him.

They went out in the evenings and at weekends because Peter's mother had a job which kept her busy the rest of the time. After a time Peter passed his driving test, and his mother bought him a small second-hand car for his birthday. She made him pay for the licence, insurance, petrol and so on, because she said that would make him careful about driving economically.

'Insurance companies would rather not trust young drivers much,' she said to Peter laughingly, 'and as a matter of fact they're often right, so do drive carefully; and you’d better learn everything about your engine so that you can do something about it if necessary.’

Peter promised to do as his mother said. He used his car every day to drive to work and back, and he tried to be as careful as possible, but he did not learn much about the engine of the car, because he found it too difficult to understand the detailed instructions in the book he had.

Then one weekend he said to himself, 'I should be learning about the engine of my car, but I'd rather go for a drive in the country.' The sun was shining, it was spring, and the fields and woods were beautiful.

He was driving along quietly between green fields when suddenly a red light came on in the car and it slowly came to a stop. Peter tried to start it again, but in vain. He got out, opened the bonnet of the car and checked the petrol supply. It seemed all right.

Then suddenly he heard a cough very near his left ear. He turned and saw an old horse looking at him over the fence. 'You'd better have a look at the sparking plugs,' the horse said, and then went off to eat grass again.

Peter was so surprised that he ran to a farm a few hundred metres down the road, saw the farmer at the gate and told him what had happened. 'Was it an old horse with a white nose?' the farmer asked. 'Yes? Yes!' said Peter excitedly. 'Ah, well,' answered the farmer, 'you'd better not listen to him. He doesn't know much about cars.'

Questions:

1. Peter started to take lessons from his mother as:

A. She was a professional instructor.

B. Parents are usually the best teachers for their own children.

C. He couldn't afford a driving instructor.

D. His mother had always been patient in teaching him.

2. Mother made him pay for the expenses its:

A. She was too economical and practical.

B. She wanted to encourage him to drive slowly.

C. Peter's wages were high enough to pay all these things.

D. She wanted to encourage him not to waste too much money on his car.

3. The car slowly came to a stop because of:

A. A shortage of petrol. B. Sparkling plugs.

C. A horse, standing on the road. D. There is no information in the text.

4. Peter ran to the farm because he was:

A. Astonished. B. Frightened. C. Excited. D. Embarrassed.

5. Why did Peter learn little about the engine of the car?

A. He didn't think it was important. B. He wasn't technically minded.

C. He had a personal mechanic.

D. He didn't have any instructions about the engines.