英语听力精选进阶版 11247

 

07Aesop's Fables¹  

The North Wind and the Sun

By Kate Stonham

It was a fine but very cold winter’s day as the Sun shone down on the snow-covered earth below.

‘What a beautiful sight,’ it thought.  

‘And look at the little white sails of the ships on the blue sea. I want to take my time travelling across the sky today.  After all, what’s the rush?’

Suddenly, a freezing cold blast of air screeched² past – and nearly blew the Sun along with it.

‘Out of my way, Sun,’ roared the Wind.  ‘See those ships?  I’m going to blow them right off course.  

They won’t know what’s hit them…’  

The Wind blew and blew – it blew so hard that the ship’s sails ripped apart. All the Sun could do was watch as the sailors shivered in the icy blast, shook their fists and cried out in anger. 

‘Not again, Wind,’ sighed the Sun.  

‘Why do you have to cause misery³ and chaos⁴ all the time?’ 

‘Because I like showing just how strong I am,’ replied the Wind. 

‘You sit in the sky and do nothing except shine, but I am full of force and energy.’ 

‘Hmmm…’ said the Sun, looking thoughtful. ‘I have an idea. Let’s have a contest to see which of us is the stronger.’

‘I know who will win,’ said the Wind. ‘We shall see,’ replied the Sun. ‘Do you see that man down there?’ 

The Wind looked where the Sun was pointing. A young man was walking along a windy road through the mountains. It was so cold, he was wearing a heavy winter coat to keep warm.  

‘Let’s see which one of us is strong enough to take his coat off him,’ suggested the Sun.

‘Easy, I can do that in no time,’ boasted the Wind. ‘Go on then,’ said the Sun. I’ll watch you from behind a cloud. ’  

The Wind blew and blew. It blew so hard that the birds had to cling to the trees to stop being swept away.  

The man shivered and did up the top button of his coat as the snow swirled⁵ in the air. The Wind kept on blowing – but the more it did so, the tighter the man pulled his coat around him to keep warm. 

‘I give up,’ gasped⁶ the Wind at last.  

‘I’ve got no more puff⁷ left.’ 

‘Now it’s my turn,’ said the Sun as it emerged from the cloud.  

The Sun gently breathed in the cold air. The stronger it breathed in, the larger and rounder it seemed to glow.  

On the white earth below the air was becoming warmer. The Wind watched in awe⁸ as the snow began to melt. Icicles were dripping and even the thick ice on the lakes was starting to thaw⁹ and crack. 

The man looked round in wonder at the melting landscape. It had been such a long, cold winter that it was a joy to feel the warmth of the Sun on his face. He undid¹⁰ his top but-ton, then a second… 

‘What a lovely day it’s turning out to be,’ the man thought. ‘It’s too warm for this heavy winter coat.  

Everything is so bright and beauti-ful, I just want to enjoy the Sun and rest a while – I might even have a little nap.’  

The Wind was beside itself with annoyance¹¹ as the man sat under the shade of a large rock and took off his coat. It was so annoyed it kept making little angry puffs¹². ‘Your icy blasts hardened his heart 

and made him determination to keep his coat on,’ said the Sun.  ‘But my glowing rays opened his heart - and his coat buttons.  Look, I’ve cheered up those poor sailors too. ’ 

The sailors on the broken ships were cheering and waving up at the Sun. ‘Now they can mend their sails – and I shall carry on shining until their ships can sail again,’ said the Sun. 

Down below on the Earth, the young man looked up at the Sun as if he had heard him speak. 

‘That Wind – it was strong. But the Sun is stronger still,’ he murmured to himself, before nodding off for a restful sleep.  

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 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

4 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

5 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。

6 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

8 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

9 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

10 Undid   

v. 解开, 复原

参考例句：

• The officer undid the flap of his holster and drew his gun. 军官打开枪套盖拔出了手枪。
• He did wrong, and in the end his wrongs undid him. 行恶者终以其恶毁其身。

11 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

12 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句