英语听力精选进阶版 11252

 

13Aesop's Fables¹  

The Ant and the Grasshopper²

By Rob John

One hot summer’s day a Grass-hopper sat on a blade of grass enjoying the sunshine.

‘What a fine day,’ he said. ‘The sun’s shining and I’ve got as much grass as I can eat.’

The Grasshopper spent the whole morning stuffing his face until he couldn’t eat another thing. 

‘Right,’ he said. ‘Now I’ll make some music.’

He rubbed his back legs against his wings and made a loud buzzing sound. 

‘Lovely,’ said the Grasshopper. 

‘Nothing better than the sound of a happy Grasshopper.’

‘Give it a rest,’ said a passing Ant.

‘What?’ said the Grasshopper.

 ‘I’m trying to work here,’ said the Ant. ‘You’re giving me a headache.’

‘You don’t like my music?’ said the Grasshopper.

‘Not my kind of thing,’ said the Ant. 

‘Anyway ain’t got time to stand around talking about music. Got stuff to do.’

‘Stuff?’ said the Grasshopper. ‘What stuff have you got to do on a lovely sunny morning like this?’

‘Gotta get this food shifted,’ said the Ant. 

The Grasshopper noticed that the 

Ant was dragging along a huge ear of corn. 

‘That looks like hard work, mate,’ said the Grasshopper.

‘Tell me about it,’ said the Ant.

‘What you doing with it?’ said the Grasshopper.

‘Taking it to our nest,’ said the Ant. 

‘What’re you doing that for?’ 

‘Food for the winter,’ said the Ant. 

‘Gotta get ready for the winter.’

‘Why?’ said the Grasshopper. 

‘Winter won’t come for ages. Won’t be winter till...the winter.  It’s summer now. Why worry about the winter?’

‘We always worry about the winter.’ said the Ant. ‘We spend all summer gathering⁴ up food for the winter. 

It’s what we Ants do.’

‘It’s not what Grasshoppers⁵ do,’ said the Grasshopper. ‘We Grass-hoppers know how to enjoy the 

summer. Eat...sleep...make  some cool music...It’s a fine life. We Grasshoppers know how to live, see.’

‘Right,’ said the Ant. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’

‘Don’t go Ant, mate,’ said the 

Grasshopper. ‘Stick around. Pass the day with me.’

‘Sorry.’ said the Ant. ‘Like I said , I got stuff to do.’ 

The Ant dragged his ear of corn and struggled off across the field.

‘Please yourself,’ called the Grass -hopper. ‘I’m not bothered. I got stuff to do too. Got all this grass to eat. Got the sun to enjoy. Not gonna waste a lovely day like this talking to Ants.’

‘Have you ever seen a more silly creature than an Ant?’ shouted the grasshopper.

It was winter. The Grasshopper was cold. Too cold to hop³. Too cold to make his music. And he was hungry. 

He’d spent all day looking for some -thing to eat. Suddenly he saw the Ant. 

‘Hello Ant,’ he shivered. ‘Remember me?’

‘Yep,’ said the Ant.

‘Cold,’ isn’t it,’ said the Grasshop per.

‘Nice and warm in our nest,’ said the Ant.

‘Not so much to eat now is there,’ said the Grasshopper

‘We’ve got plenty,’ said the Ant. 

‘Our store rooms are full of seeds and corn. Got loads of food. Enough to see us safely through to Spring.’

‘Loads of food, eh?’ said the Grass-hopper. ‘Look...mate...I don’t sup -pose I could...? I don’t suppose you’d be able to give me...?’

‘You said you’d never seen a more silly creature than an Ant,’ said the Ant.

‘I didn’t mean that,’ said the Grass -hopper. ‘That was just a joke. Oh come on. Just a couple of ears of corn. You can spare it. I’ve got nothing.’

‘Sorry...mate,’ said the Ant. ‘If you save up on the days when you have plenty then there’ll never be a day when you have nothing.’

The Ant hurried down into his warm nest knowing that he’d never ever see that Grasshopper again. 

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 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

3 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 grasshoppers   

n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的

参考例句：

• Grasshoppers die in fall. 蚱蜢在秋天死去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are usually a lot of grasshoppers in the rice fields. 稻田里通常有许多蚱蜢。 来自辞典例句