英语听力精选进阶版 11259

 

20Aesop's Fables¹  

The Lion and the Elephant

By Jan Payne

It was nearly morning and the  Lion had just gone to bed.

He pulled the grass duvet over his head and closed his eyes. 

He was just about to fall asleep when a noise sounded across the plain.

‘COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!’ It was the  Cockerel crowing.  ‘COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!’ 

The Lion put his paws over his ears.

‘Go away,’ he cried, ‘go away !’

But the Cockerel didn’t want to go away. He wanted to tell the world what a beautiful morning it was.The Lion kept his head under the duvet.

‘That noise is driving me mad,’ he said. It was the same every morn-ing. The sun came up and the Cockerel crowed. And each time he heard it the Lion hated it more. It made him feel afraid.

‘Why is it,’ he asked himself, ‘that someone like me, who is brave and strong and fearless should be afraid of the sound of a harmless cockerel?’He decided² to talk to the other animals. 

‘Monkeys,’ he asked, ‘does the sound of the  Cockerel make you feel afraid?’

‘No,’ said the monkeys together. 

‘We’re not afraid of anything.’ 

‘Hippopotamus³,’ asked the  Lion, 

‘you are big and strong like me. Is there anything that frightens you?’

The hippopotamus was bathing in the river. He blew a stream of bubbles out of his nose.

‘Nothing frightens me,’ he said.

‘Not even the sound of a  cockerel crowing.’

‘Especially not the sound of a cockerel crowing.’

Ashamed of his weakness the Lion turned away. A crocodile was sunbathing⁴ near by.

‘Are you afraid of anything, Croco-dile?’ the  Lion asked.

The crocodile thought for a moment.

‘Jam sandwiches!’ he answered.

The Lion thought this was a strange thing for the crocodile to be afraid about, but he didn’t argue.

Just then an elephant lumbered⁵ out of the forest.

‘If anyone can answer my question, 

he can,’ thought the Lion.

‘Elephant, can I speak to you ?’ he asked.

‘Not today, Lion,’ said the Elephant, shaking his head. ‘I have a prob-lem.’

‘Is it a serious problem?’ asked the Lion.

‘It is to me,’ said the  Elephant. And he shook his head so hard the Lion thought the elephant’s ears would come off.

‘I’ve got a serious problem too,’ said the Lion.

‘Well, you tell me your serious problem and I’ll tell you mine,’ said the  Elephant.

So the Lion told the Elephant all about how afraid he was of the crowing of the cock.

‘I sympathise with you, Lion,’ said the  Elephant. And he gave his head another massive shake.

‘Do you see a small insect buzzing around?’ he continued.

The Lion could just make out a gnat⁶ near the Elephant ’s head.

‘If that insect flies inside my ears,’ continued the Elephant, ‘I am positive I am done for.’

‘You mean you are afraid of a tiny gnat?’ queried⁷ the Lion.

‘Yes,’ said the Elephant. 

The Lion thought about this for a minute. It was hard to believe that such a strong, wise and clever animal could be afraid of so small a thing.

Now the Lion felt sorry for the Elephant.

‘Your fear is worse than mine,’ he told him. ‘I am sorry now I troubled you at all.’

‘I’m glad you did,’ said the  Elephant.

The next morning when the Cock crowed the  Lion turned over in bed and went back to sleep.

‘It’s just a noise,’ he told himself, ‘it can’t possibly hurt me.’

And he was right.

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 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 hippopotamus   

n.河马

参考例句：

• The children enjoyed watching the hippopotamus wallowing in the mud.孩子们真喜观看河马在泥中打滚。
• A hippopotamus surfs the waves off the coast of Gabon.一头河马在加蓬的海岸附近冲浪。

4 sunbathing   

n.日光浴

参考例句：

• tourists sunbathing on the beach 在海滩上沐浴着阳光的游客
• We've been sunbathing on the beach. 我们一直在海滩上晒日光浴。

5 lumbered   

砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• A rhinoceros lumbered towards them. 一头犀牛笨重地向他们走来。
• A heavy truck lumbered by. 一辆重型卡车隆隆驶过。

6 gnat   

v.对小事斤斤计较，琐事

参考例句：

• Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.小事拘谨，大事糊涂。
• He's always straining at a gnat.他总是对小事很拘谨。

7 queried   

v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问

参考例句：

• She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）