英语听力精选进阶版 11245

 

05Aesop's Fables¹  

The bundle of sticks

By Sharri McGarry

Mrs Mckenzie had six strong sons. 

They were Peter, Paul and Patrick, Philip, Frankie and Fred. The only trouble was they couldn’t stop arguing with each other! 

When Mrs Mckenzie wanted a well dug  – do you think six strong sons could do that? 'We'll dig a hole here! ' said Peter.  'No – over here! ' said Patrick.

And each of the six strong sons grabbed a spade and started digging different holes in different parts of the garden! 'That's no use at all, ' she sighed.Mrs Mckenzie asked her six strong sons to row her across the river to see her friend.  'We'll do it! ' cried 

Peter and Paul. They leapt into the boat and sat down facing the front and picked up oars². 'No we will!' shouted Patrick and Philip. And they sat down facing backwards³ and picked up the oars.

And though they pulled at the oars until the sweat dripped off them – they were rowing the boat in opposite directions and the boat went absolutely nowhere! 'Oh that 's no use at all, ' she sighed.

One day there was a notice in the paper. 'Grand Competition to build the biggest barn in the county! ' it read.  '￡600 prize! ' 'I'll win that! ' said Peter.  'No I'll win it!' said Paul. 

Patrick, Philip, Frankie and Fred all disagreed…and they all fell to arguing. 

Suddenly, Mrs Mckenzie jumped to her feet.  'Quiet!' she said. Then she climbed up on her chair.  'Quiet!' she shouted. Then she climbed up right on top of the table. 'WILL YOU BE QUIET! ' she roared. Six sons went very, very quiet. They looked up at their mother in aston-ishment. 

'That's better,' Mrs Mckenzie said. 

'Now, you! Fetch me one of those big bundles of sticks that we keep for the fire. ' 'Yes Mum! ' said Peter. 

He ran out the door and came back with sticks tied together in abundle as fat as your arm.  'Here you are Mum,' he panted. Mrs Mcken zie folded her arms.  'Now, my fine strong son, break that bundle in two!' 

Peter smirked⁴ at his brothers. 

'Easy! ' he boasted, and he took the bundle in both hands. He bent⁵ the bundle and he bowed the bun-dle but he could not break the bundle. 'Well?' said Mrs Mckenzie, tapping her foot. 

Peter hung his head in shame.  'I can ' t do it!' 'Pass the bundle to Paul,' said Mrs Mckenzie. 'Ha, ha, ha! Watch this, ha, ha!' sneered⁶ Paul. He bent the bundle and he bowed the bundle but he could not break the bundle. And neither could Patrick, Philip, Frankie or Fred.

'Give it to me! ' said Mrs Mckenzie. 

She took the bundle of sticks and untied⁷ the string. 

She gave one stick to each of her sons.  'Can you break that?' she asked. CRACK! Went the sticks as the six strong sons easily broke them. 

'And what have you broken?' asked Mrs Mckenzie.  'Er.. .a stick? ' asked Peter, looking down at his hands. 

'Yes,' Mrs Mckenzie nodded.  'But between you, you have broken the bundle of sticks.' The six strong sons looked at each other. 

'One of you wasn' t strong enough,' explained Mrs Mckenzie, 'but when you all worked together… '

'We were much stronger!' cried 

Peter, Paul, Patrick, Philip, Frankie and Fred.

And so they were.

And do you know that when they went to the competition, the six strong sons of Mrs Mckenzie all worked together to build the biggest barn in the county and they won that prize money .  All together. 

1 fables   

n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说

参考例句：

• Some of Aesop's Fables are satires. 《伊索寓言》中有一些是讽刺作品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Little Mexican boys also breathe the American fables. 墨西哥族的小孩子对美国神话也都耳濡目染。 来自辞典例句

2 oars   

n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
• The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

4 smirked   

v.傻笑( smirk的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He smirked at Tu Wei-yueh. 他对屠维岳狞笑。 来自子夜部分
• He smirked in acknowledgement of their uncouth greetings, and sat down. 他皮笑肉不笑地接受了他的粗鲁的招呼，坐了下来。 来自辞典例句

5 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

7 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。