英语听力精选进阶版 11275

 

37Aesop's Fables¹  

The too fat Fox and the Tortoise

By Nicky Grischotti

A bitter wind blew the last leaves 

from the trees as Fox made his way 

across the fields in search of food.

The lake had been frozen for weeks 

and the livestock² were tucked up 

safe and warm in the farmer's win-ter barns. Fox couldn ' t remember 

when he had last eaten. His skinny 

ribs³ stuck through his patchy, 

moth-eaten coat, his teeth chat-tered and the hard frosty ground 

hurt his paws as he walked.

'Not a chicken, not a bird, not a 

puny⁴ little rabbit…not a scrap⁵ of 

food for a fox to eat…I shall surely 

die of cold and hunger,' he mut-tered miserably⁶ as he huddled⁸ up 

against a gnarled old tree trunk for 

shelter.

Earlier that morning, not far from 

where our Fox was crouching⁹, Mrs 

Tom Cobbler was busy fussing 

around her husband and shooing 

him out of the farmhouse¹⁰.

'Here's yer shopping list Mr Tom 

Cobbler - one nice, juicy leg of 

pork, 2 kilos of potatoes, half a bag 

of carrots, 2 onions and some big, 

firm cooking apples for our Sunday 

lunch. Now don’t you go forgetting 

anything Mr Tom Cobbler. You’re 

the most forgetful man I ever 

knew!' and she waved a dishcloth 

at him.

'Yars, Mrs Tom Cobbler…er I mean… 

no dear, I won’t forget. ' And he 

stuffed the shopping list in his trou-ser pocket and walked off to mar¹¹ ket.

It was a long, cold walk to market 

and it was a long, hard walk back 

with his rucksack full of his wife's 

Sunday shopping.

Mr Tom Cobbler decided¹² to sit down 

for a moment 's rest beside a tree.  

(The very tree our Mr Fox was 

going to huddle⁷ close too later on.)

After his rest and before he set off 

down the lane he looked about for 

a place to hide his shopping bag 

and saw a hollow in the tree trunk.

'Ah, that 'll do, he said . 'T hat'll keep 

it safe from foxes – that hole 's far 

too small for a plump ol' fox to 

climb through .'  And off he tramped 

up the hill towards the farmyard.

Well…what a nice surprise for our 

Mr Fox crouching beside that very 

same tree later that morning. His 

sly foxy nose began to twitch…and 

he sniffed¹³ the cold wintry air…there 

was a whiff of FOOD nearby! And it 

seemed to be coming from the hol-low of the very tree he sat against.  

And because he was so very 

starved and thin – our TOO THIN 

MR FOX was able to slip easily 

through into the hole. And what 

did he find inside? That 's right! All 

Mrs Tom Cobbler's Sunday dinner!

And what did he do with it? That's 

right! He gobbled it all up , lickity-quick. 

And he felt very full indeed…SO 

full in fact that our TOO THIN FOX 

had become TOO FAT FOX in a 

matter of ten minutes flat! Too fat 

in fact to fit back through the hole.

So our Mr Fox had to wait and wait 

for days and days until his plump 

little tummy turned thin once 

more…and he could climb back out 

through the hole of the tree again 

and off in search of food.

Which just goes to show – that if 

you wait long enough – the prob-lem might go away.

And what happened to old Mr Tom 

Cobbler that day?

Well, Mrs Tom Cobbler wasn ' t happy 

at all that he'd lost the Sunday 

roast - so he had turnip¹⁴ soup and 

potato peel pie instead!

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 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

3 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

4 puny   

adj.微不足道的，弱小的

参考例句：

• The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。
• Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙，身体还不壮，还不能干活。

5 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

6 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 huddle   

vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人

参考例句：

• They like living in a huddle.他们喜欢杂居在一起。
• The cold wind made the boy huddle inside his coat.寒风使这个男孩卷缩在他的外衣里。

8 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

9 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

10 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

11 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

12 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。

13 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 turnip   

n.萝卜，芜菁

参考例句：

• The turnip provides nutrition for you.芜菁为你提供营养。
• A turnip is a root vegetable.芜菁是根茎类植物。