英语听力精选进阶版 11265

 

26Aesop's Fables¹  

The Old Lion and the Fox

By Tracey Hammett

'It isn’t easy being old,' said Lion one day as he looked in the mirror. 

'Look at my fangs², they 're all worn down and my claws are short and stubby! ' 

'I'm so hungry, I could eat a herd³ of wildebeests,' Lion grizzled,  'but I'm not very good at hunting these days, I'm too slow! I need to think of an easy way to catch my dinner.'  Then he had an idea.

'I f I can' t get to my dinner, I'll make my dinner come to me! I'll pretend that I'm sick and all the animals will feel sorry for me… they'll come to visit and as soon as they do I 'l l gobble them up !'

Lion put his plan to work straight away. He settled himself in his den⁴, put on his poorly face and let out a sorrowful growl⁵.

'Oh woe⁶ is me , oh woe is me, I 'm feeling sick as sick can be! ' he groaned⁷.

Bird came flitting by…

'Oooh poor lion, you look very skinny! '  she said.

'That's  because I'm poorly and I haven⁸' t felt like eating!' lion fibbed.

'Let me check you r temperature, ' chirped⁹ bird and she hopped¹⁰ inside lion 's jaws¹¹ with her thermometer.

Then Lion nabbed her – grrr,  grrr , snap…and put her in his dinner sack.

'Bird's aren' t very filling,' said Lion, 'let’s see what else I can catch. '

He put on his poorly face again and let out another sorrowful growl.

'Oh woe is me , oh woe is me, I 'm feeling sick as sick can be! ' 

Monkey jumped down from a tree to help.

'What's wrong with you Lion? ' he asked.

'I feel weak and wobbly!' Lion fibbed.

'Well you are looking a bit skinny… let me look at your tongue ,'  said monkey kindly¹². He peered inside lion 's jaws…

Then Lion nabbed him – grrr snap… and put him in his dinner sack.

'There isn ' t much meat on a mon-key,' grizzled Lion,  'I'll have to keep trying .

I need one more creature…some-thing bigger I hope.'

He let out another sad roar.

'Oh woe is me, oh woe is me, I'm feeling poorly as can be!'

'That's a shame,' said Fox, appear-ing at the door of Lion 's den.

'I think I might have a thorn in my throat, ' grizzled Lion.  'Maybe you can pull it out.'

Fox looked at all the footprints out-side Lion's den  - they were leading inside, but they didn ' t come out again.  

She spotted¹³ Lion’s dinner sack too… it was wriggling¹⁴.

'Hmmm,' she thought! 'Lion is up to something, I 'd better be careful. ' 

'I'll pull out the thorn in your throat, ' Fox told  Lion, 'b ut it's a tricky¹⁵ job, I want you to close your eyes and keep very still.

Lion closed his eyes tight, opened his jaws and got ready to snap

He waited and he waited then sud-denly Fox shouted You can open your eyes now  /ion. 

Lion opened his eyes just in time to see Fox running off with his pre-cious dinner sack.

Drat, thought Lion,  there goes my dinner!

When Fox reached the wood she opened /ions dinner sack and set the creatures free.I'll set you free this once, Fox gruffed

 But never fall for Lion’s bluffs¹⁶ 

Fos if you do not use your brains\ oull end up in his sack 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 fangs   

n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座

参考例句：

• The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

4 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

5 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

6 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

7 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

9 chirped   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 )

参考例句：

• So chirped fiber gratings have broad reflection bandwidth. 所以chirped光纤光栅具有宽的反射带宽，在反射带宽内具有渐变的群时延等其它类型的光纤光栅所不具备的特点。
• The crickets chirped faster and louder. 蟋蟀叫得更欢了。

10 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

11 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

12 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。

13 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

14 wriggling   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕

参考例句：

• The baby was wriggling around on my lap. 婴儿在我大腿上扭来扭去。
• Something that looks like a gray snake is wriggling out. 有一种看来象是灰蛇的东西蠕动着出来了。 来自辞典例句

15 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

16 bluffs   

恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁

参考例句：

• Two steep limestone bluffs rise up each side of the narrow inlet. 两座陡峭的石灰石断崖耸立在狭窄的入口两侧。
• He bluffs his way in, pretending initially to be a dishwasher and then later a chef. 他虚张声势的方式，假装最初是一个洗碗机，然后厨师。