阅读理解A horse fair was an interesting place. There were young horses and many beautiful horses from the country. But there were also a lot of poor and thin horses.
At the horse fair there was a man with a gentle voice and kind grey eyes. He offered 23 pounds for me, but the salesman refused. Then a man with a very loud voice came. I was afraid he was going to buy me, but he walked away. Then the grey-eyed man came back again and said, "I'll give you 24 pounds to buy him."
"Done," said the salesman. "He's an excellent horse and if you want him for cab (出租马车) work, he can help you earn more than you pay for him. The horse is well worth the price."
Half an hour later we set off for London, along country roads, until we came to that great city. There were streets to the right, and streets to the left. We went into one of the small streets, and then into a very narrow street, with small and old houses.
My owner stopped at a house. The door opened, and a woman, a little girl and a boy came out.
"Is he gentle, Dad?"
"Yes, Dolly, as gentle as a little cat. And you can pat him."
Dolly, the little girl, patted my shoulder without fear. It felt so good! They led me into a comfortable, clean room, and after a delicious meal I lay down to sleep, thinking "I'm going to be very happy here".
My new owner's name was Jerry. His wife was called Polly and they had two children, Harry and Dolly. The next morning they came to see me. I loved it when they patted me and spoke in gentle voices.
"Let's call him ‘Jack', after the old horse, shall we, Harry?" said Dolly.
"Yes, sounds great!" said Harry.
The first week of my life as Jack, the London cab horse, was very hard. The noise, the people and the traffic on the streets scared me. But Jerry was a very good driver, and that helped me a lot. Jerry soon found that I was ready to work hard and do my best, and he didn't whip (鞭打) me.
He kept me very clean, and gave me as much food as I wanted. But the best thing was that I had Sundays off.
