英语听力精选进阶版 11266

 

27Aesop's Fables¹  

The Eagle and the Jackdaw

By Sue Reid

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‘Oh my, look at that bird!’ a Jack-daw exclaimed to her husband one day. High above the nest a great eagle was soaring. 

‘Oh isn’t he magnificent,’ she sighed watching him circle and swoop². She leant over the nest to take a better look. Perched next to her was her husband who pushed back his shades and looked out to see what the fuss was all about.

‘Hmm. He’s just an eagle,’ he grumbled³. ‘I’m as fine a bird as him!’ The nest was full of things he’d collected. Rings, bottle tops, feathers. 

The jackdaw smiled, looking at the glittering heap. ‘Mrs Jackdaw,’ he said to his wife. ‘You are a lucky bird. Look at all the beautiful things I’ve brought you.’ 

‘Humph!’ grumbled the jackdaw’s wife. ‘What use is it? You can’t eat feathers and bottle tops! If only you brought back something useful for a change.’

The jackdaw was very cross. He stared at the eagle as it swooped⁴ downwards⁵. Suddenly he heard a bleat⁶. The eagle had seized a lamb that had got separated from the flock in the pasture below.

The lamb bleated⁷ and struggled. 

But it was no use. The eagle had him firmly gripped in his talons⁸. Up and up he flew again, higher and higher, the lamb swinging from his claws.  

The jackdaw had had enough. ‘I’ll show her,’ he muttered to himself.  

‘I’m just as big and strong as that eagle. She’ll see.’ He hopped⁹ out of the nest. 

Then flapping his wings he flew down to a bush.

His eyes gleamed as they lit on the farmer’s prize ram¹⁰.  ‘ Won’t she be surprised when I bring that ram back for tea?’ he chuckled¹¹. And putting on his fiercest expression down he plopped, onto the ram’s back.  

‘Up we go!’ he cawed happily, flap-ping his wings and rising up into the air again. But all that was swinging from  his claws was a bit of wool. He dropped down again and tugged¹³ a bit harder.  

But he couldn’t budge¹⁴ the ram. Up and down the jackdaw jumped, furiously flapping his wings and tug¹² ging at the ram’s woolly coat. 

But  he couldn’t lift the ram.

‘Silly old bird,’ said Mrs Jackdaw, who was watching.  ‘He thinks he’s an eagle!’

The jackdaw pulled and he tugged, but the more he tugged and the more he pulled the more his claws got caught in the ram’s woolly coat until he could hardly move at all. 

Leaning by the gate, a shepherd had been watching. He ran up to the ram. ‘Silly old bird, ’ the shep-herd said taking out a pair of scis-sors to clip his wings. ‘I’m taking you home with me. Can’t have you messing with my flock.’

When he got home that night the shepherd put the jack-daw down on the table. ‘Come and see what I’ve brought you,’  he  said  to  his  children.                

The children crowded round the table. 

‘What sort of bird is it, Father?’ one of them asked.  ‘ Well I call it a jack-daw, but he thinks he’s an eagle,’ the shepherd chuckled. He gave the jackdaw a stern look. ‘Perhaps you’ve learned your lesson now,’ he said. The jackdaw hung his head.

Up in the jackdaw’s nest, his wife stretched out happily. ‘I’ve seen the last of him,’ she said. ‘And good riddance too. Useless bird. Fancy thinking he was an eagle!’

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 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

3 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

4 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

5 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

6 bleat   

v.咩咩叫，(讲)废话，哭诉；n.咩咩叫，废话，哭诉

参考例句：

• He heard the bleat of a lamb.他听到小羊的叫声。
• They bleat about how miserable they are.他们诉说他们的生活是多么悲惨。

7 bleated   

v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的过去式和过去分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说

参考例句：

• The lost lamb bleated. 迷路的小羊咩咩的叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She bleated her disapproval of her son's marriage to Amy. 她用颤抖的声音表示不赞成儿子与艾米的婚事。 来自辞典例句

8 talons   

n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部

参考例句：

• The fingers were curved like talons, but they closed on empty air. 他的指头弯得像鹰爪一样，可是抓了个空。 来自英汉文学 - 热爱生命
• The tiger has a pair of talons. 老虎有一对利爪。 来自辞典例句

9 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。

10 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

11 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

12 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

13 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。