温馨夜读 PART1 08 A Simple Gesture 举手之劳

 

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[00:00.88]A Simple Gesture 举手之劳

[00:08.64]Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed that

[00:13.35]the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying,

[00:18.16]along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder.

[00:23.20]Mark knelt¹ down and helped the boy pick up the scattered² articles.

[00:27.35]Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry part of the burden³.

[00:31.62]As they walked Mark discovered that the boy’s name was Bill, 

[00:35.36]that he loved video games, baseball and history,

[00:38.73]that he was having a lot of trouble with his other subjects 

[00:42.24]and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.

[00:44.97]They arrived at Bill’s home first 

[00:47.60]and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television.

[00:51.42]The afternoon passed pleasantly with a few laughs 

[00:55.26]and some shared small talk, then Mark went home.

[00:58.53]They continued to see each other around school, 

[01:01.71]had lunch together once or twice,

[01:04.03]then both graduated from junior high school.

[01:06.98]They ended up in the same high school

[01:09.30]where they had brief contacts over the years.

[01:12.67]Finally the long awaited⁴ senior⁵ year came, and three weeks before graduation, 

[01:17.49]Bill asked Mark if they could talk.

[01:19.67]Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met.

[01:24.16]“Do you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?”asked Bill.

[01:29.08]“You see, I cleaned out my locker 

[01:31.95]because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else.

[01:34.77]I had stored away some of my mother’s sleeping pills 

[01:38.18]and I was going home to commit⁶ suicide⁷.

[01:40.25]But after we spent some time together talking and laughing,

[01:44.40]I realized that if I had killed myself, 

[01:46.77]I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow.

[01:50.52]So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books that day, 

[01:54.31]you did a lot more. You saved my life.”

[01:57.53]Every little hello, every little smile,

[02:01.30] every helping⁸ hand saves a hurting heart.

[02:04.43]There’s a miracle⁹ called Friendship that dwells¹⁰ in the heart.

[02:08.14]Friends are a very rare¹¹ jewel, indeed.

[02:11.53]They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.

[02:15.03]They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, 

[02:18.90]and they always want to open their heart to us.

[02:21.49]Show your friends how much you care...

1 knelt   

v.跪( kneel的过去式和过去分词 )；(kneel的过去式与过去分词)

参考例句：

• They knelt down and prayed. 他们跪下来祷告。
• She knelt in supplication. 她跪地祷求。

2 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

3 burden   

n.负担，重载，担子，责任；vt.装货于，麻烦，使负担

参考例句：

• The burden fell on the eldest son.担子落在了长子身上。
• Too much praise is a burden.太多的赞扬是一种负担。

4 awaited   

v.等候( await的过去式和过去分词 )；等待；期待；将发生在

参考例句：

• A stack of files awaited me on my desk. 我桌上有一堆文件正待我去处理。
• her long-awaited new novel 她的令人期待已久的一部新小说

5 senior   

adj.年长的；资格较老的，地位较高的；n.年长者，前辈；大学高年级学生

参考例句：

• My brother is senior to me by two years.我哥哥比我年长两岁。
• They are senior students.他们是高年级学生。

6 commit   

vt.把…交托给，提交；犯，干；使承担义务，使作出保证

参考例句：

• He couldn't commit himself on any issue.他不愿在任何问题上表态。
• A thinking person must commit himself to working for peace.一个有头脑的人必须致力于为和平而工作。

7 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 miracle   

n.奇迹，令人惊奇的人或事

参考例句：

• The doctors said that his recovery was a miracle. 医生们说他的复原是件奇事。
• It is simply a miracle that rice should grow in such a place.稻子竟能在这样的地方生长，这实在是个奇迹。

10 dwells   

居住，住( dwell的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A philosopher dwells in the realm of ideas. 哲学家停留在概念的王国里。
• She dwells too much upon her past. 她过于详细地叙述她的过去。

11 rare   

adj.稀罕的，罕有的，珍贵的，稀薄的，半熟的，非常的；adv.非常

参考例句：

• It is rare to see a man over 160 years old.很少见到一个人能活到160岁。
• The zoo has a lot of rare animals in it.这个动物园有许多珍奇的动物。