英语口语教程（Oral Workshop）--初级 Lesson 36

 

Lesson 36 

                                             Text A 

                                     Three Wishes

    Once upon a time , there lived a woodman and his wife. They were very poor, and they lived in a cottage on the edge¹ of a forest. Every day, the woodman would set out early in the morning to chop² down trees.  

    As the woodman was travelling through the forest one day, he saw a fine old oak³ tree. "That will make plenty of planks," he thought, as he felt the blade⁴ of his axe⁵ to make sure it was sharp. He was about to strike the tree with the axe , when he heard someone crying out: "Please don't hurt this tree. " 

    The woodman looked around him and saw a tiny fairy. "If you do not hurt this tree , " she said , "I will grant⁶ you and your wife three wishes. "

    "I won't hurt the tree," said the woodman kindly⁷. Then the fairy vanished⁸!

    That evening, the woodman walked slowly home. He was feeling very hungry and could not wait for his supper. 

    "Is my supper ready?" the woodman asked his wife.

    "Not for at least two hours," replied his wife. So the woodman sat in a chair by the fire.

    "I wish I had a big black sausage to eat right now," he said out loud. 

    And suddenly, a delicious sausage appeared on the table before him."Why has that black sausage suddenly appeared?" the woodman's wife asked. 

    So the woodman told his wife the story about the fairy. But his wife was very angry. "You have wasted the first of our wishes," she said crossly. "I wish that sausage were on your nose!"

    And with that, the sausage jumped up and stuck fast on the woodman's nose. His wife could not pull it off and nor could he, so the only thing to do was to wish it on the table again, which the woodman did.

   What a waste of three wishes! The only thing the woodman had was a good supper of black sausage. 

                                            Text B 

                               They Threatened Me With a Knife 

POLICE INSPECTOR⁹:   Good evening , sir. I understand that you have been robbed¹⁰. 

MR LEE:   I certainly have. 

P. L:   When did this happen? 

MR LEE:   About two hours ago. 

P. L:   Why didn't you report it before? 

MR LEE:   I couldn't. I was bound¹¹ and gagged. 

P. L:   Please tell me exactly what happened. 

MR LEE:   I was sitting in this room watching television when someone knocked on the door. Without thinking, I opened it. 

P. L:   That wasn't very wise , sir. 

MR LEE:   I know. I was expecting my wife, you see, and thought it was her. 

P.L:   You should never open a door without looking to see who it is. 

MR LEE:   Yes , I know. I regret it very much. 

P.L:   What happened? 

MR LEE:   Two men pushed into the flat. One of them threatened me with a knife while the other bound and gagged me. 

P.L:   Did you get a good look at them? 

MR LEE:   I'm afraid not. They were both wearing stockings¹² over their faces. 

P.L:   What did they take? 

MR LEE:   My wallet, with $200 in it, my wristwatch. some of my wife's jewellery¹³ from our bedroom, and a silver photoframe. 

P. L:   They don't seem to have done much damage to the flat. 

MR LEE:   No. They had just begun to search when the dogs next door began to bark. They ran off then leaving me bound and gagged. It was some time before my wife returned and released¹⁴ me. I phoned the police at once. 

P.L:   My men began searching the area as soon as we received your call. I can't promise you that we'll recover your property¹⁵ but we'll certainly do our best. 　

      Question on Text B 

7 . Read the following passage once. Underline¹⁶ the key words while reading and retell the story to your partner. 

    Now I know why birds sit on telephone lines. They listen.

    I am either nine or ten years old. At the orphanage¹⁷ they call me Miguel.

    When I want to feel improtant, I say, "Call me Don Miguel. " I used to act important all the time because I felt I wasn't. 

    Back then, no one liked me very much because I didn't like other people.

    But last year, I began to learn two important things: I was learning¹⁸ to see, not just look. And I was learning to listen, not just hear.

    I used to lie in the dark and make up relatives that I didn't have. My favorite relative was a nice old man who spoke¹⁹ Spanish, like me. 

    One day a man came to see me. He said he was my uncle. "I don't have an uncle," I said.

    "Now you do , " he said.

    He was an old man who liked children. He had a boy once who went to Korea²⁰. His daughter moved to the City. He said the City can be a difficult place in which to live. He taught me how to see and listen. I don't know if he is my uncle or not; neither did he, but he came to see me often. I guess if you act like an uncle all the time, you are one. 

    I was not a good student before my uncle came along. He took me walking in the fields. At one point he spread his arms and said. "It is all here. "

    "What?" I said.

    "Everything you need to know," he replied. 

    At first it appeared to be nothing more than just a few trees. I thought I was nowhere. Then he had me close my eyes. First I heard the breeze²¹ in the grass, then in the trees. I also heard a faraway train and a barking dog. For a while I heard nothing. I was almost scared. He said to listen harder.

    I heard my heart beat.

    beause I used to be so sad, I had almost forgotten that I had a heart. 

    Once I asked him who he was.

    "An experiment , " he said.

    "What kind of an experiment?" I said.

    He grinned and said, "Nobody knows. Like you, there is no one in the world like me. So who is to say what I will be. " 

    One day in the field he showed me the way the breeze made the trees move. The rustling²² of the leaves made a sound that frightened a nearby bird. It flew away.

    We watched the bird drop an acorn²³.

    "The bird , " he said , "can make a seed move. From that seed the oak can grow fifty feet tall. It will be a friend to those who want one. " 

    I always knew that trees were there, but I never knew they were real like me.

    One Sunday I was angry. When my uncle came, I said : "I don't have anything. I wish I had something. "

    "You have everything worth having," he said. "And I will give you even more. I will give some secrets of the Universe. Do you believe me?"

    "Yes," I said, wanting to believe him. 

    He gave me three small seeds.

    "Put each seed into a small box filled with dirt. Then care for them. Talk to them if you wish. They will grow with you. "

    Now they are in larger boxes. One of the plants has grown up to my knee. I sometimes wonder what else it is up to. 

    Another time we were walking in the field when we saw two birds on a telephone line. They seemed so peaceful. Then suddenly they flew away. My uncle just laughed.

    "See," he said."Someone said something they didn't like.Be careful what you tell the birds."

    One night I passed by the office of the orphanage. A man I don't like very much was on the phone. He was angry and loud. 

    When he'left, I went into the office and picked up the phone. I heard the funniest sound.

    "Listen," I said. "Listen, birds. Come on back, never mind what he says. We like you. "

    One day-Unele did not come: I waited and waited but he did not come. The man I don't like at the orphanage said Uncle was sick. 

    "May I go and see him?" I asked.

    "No," he said. "He may be contagious²⁴. "

    "May I call him?"

    "No, " he said. "I'll call him for you. "

    "Don't do that," I said.

    "Why not?" .

    "You'll make the birds fly away. "

    I sneaked²⁵ into the office one night and called Uncle.

    "Are you all right?" I asked.

    "Yes, but I must go away. "

    "Why?"

    "To make room for something else. "

    "Will you come back?"

    "I will help you remember me, if you want me to. "

    "I do. . . . I do. . . ."

    When I went to bed at night, I would try to imagine that he was there. He was harder and harder to see. One night, he was not there at all. There was only a green field. 

    I went back to our field. It was raining. The sky was dark, the way I was inside. I looked for Uricle everywhere. I called his name.

    I was angry for a while. I said some things out loud that I shouldn't have said. Two birds flew out of the tree.I made them get wet.

    On the way back, I saw something that was only an inch or two tall. It was where that bird dropped the acorn. I didn't tell anybody, but I knew.

    Someday Uncle will be fifty feet tall.

1 edge   

n.边(缘)；刃；优势；v.侧着移动，徐徐移动

参考例句：

• Sight along the edge to see if it's straight.顺着边目测，看看直不直。
• She lived on the extreme edge of the forest.她住在森林的最边缘。

2 chop   

n.厚肉片，排骨，砍，交换，戳记，商标；vt.剁碎，砍，切，割断；vi.砍，突然转向

参考例句：

• He struck off the branch with a single chop of the ax.他一斧子就砍掉了那根树枝。
• She cut down the seedling with one chop.她一刀就把小苗砍倒了。

3 oak   

n.栎树，橡树，栎木，橡木

参考例句：

• The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
• The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。

4 blade   

n.刀刃，刀片；叶片

参考例句：

• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。
• He is a good blade.他剑术高明。

5 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

6 grant   

vt.同意给予，授予，承认；n.拨款；补助款

参考例句：

• If you grant my request, you will earn my thanks.如果你答应我的要求，就会得到我的感谢。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

7 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

8 vanished   

adj.消失了的v.消失( vanish的过去式和过去分词 )；突然不见；不复存在；绝迹

参考例句：

• He walked through—and vanished. Poof! Like that. 他走了过去，然后就嗖的一下子不见了。
• The magician vanished in a puff of smoke. 魔术师在一股烟雾中突然不见了。

9 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

10 robbed   

v.抢夺( rob的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫；掠夺；使丧失

参考例句：

• Would you be able to identify the man who robbed you? 你能够认出那个抢你东西的人吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They stood looking on while the man was robbed. 正当那个人被抢劫时，他们却站在那儿袖手旁观。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 bound   

adj.一定的，必然的；受约束的，有义务的

参考例句：

• I feel honor bound to repay the money I borrowed.我觉得有责任归还我借的钱。
• If he signs that paper,he will be bound hand and foot.如果他签署那份文件，他就会受到束缚。

12 stockings   

n.长袜( stocking的名词复数 )；靺；袜子

参考例句：

• a pair of silk stockings 一双长筒丝袜
• She wears a pair of sheer stockings. 她穿着一双透明的丝袜。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 jewellery   

n.[总称]珠宝；珠宝饰物 (=jewelery)

参考例句：

• She never wears jewellery.她从不戴首饰。
• The police recovered the stolen jewellery.警察追回了失窃的珠宝。

14 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

15 property   

n.财产，所有物，所有权，性质，特性，（小）道具

参考例句：

• He has made over his property to a hospital.他已将财产转交给了一家医院。
• Oil has the property of floating on water.油有浮在水上的特性。

16 underline   

n.下划线；加下划线；vt.在…下面划线；强调

参考例句：

• Underline all the sentences you do not know.在你不懂的所有句子下面划一条线。
• Please underline the noun clauses in the passage.请用线画出短文中的名词性从句。

17 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

18 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

19 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

20 Korea   

n.朝鲜(亚洲)

参考例句：

• Korea lies to the east of China.韩国位于中国东面。
• Korea and China are separated by only the Yalu River.朝鲜和中国只隔一条鸭绿江。

21 breeze   

n.微风；轻而易举的事；vi.来去匆匆，急速走

参考例句：

• A little breeze is blowing in from the window.微风从窗户里吹进来。
• The clouds are pale and a light breeze is blowing.云淡风轻。

22 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

23 acorn   

n.橡实，橡子

参考例句：

• The oak is implicit in the acorn.橡树孕育于橡子之中。
• The tree grew from a small acorn.橡树从一粒小橡子生长而来。

24 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

25 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。