英语小达人 377 A Math Teacher's Story

 　　A Math Teacher's Story数学老师的魔法Years ago, I was taking an algebra¹ class over the summer, and had a teacher who liked to reminisce about his past with funny stories. He relates that he had been a math teacher in the Air Force, where it was his duty to force sleepy young recruits to stay awake for an hour of math at 8:00 in the morning in a large, warm, dimly-lit auditorium². One day, he came into the auditorium and saw his class even sleepier and less attentive³ than usual. He realized that something drastic would have to be done.

　　记得多年前，一位非常喜欢缅怀过去，满腹幽默故事的老师教了我整个夏天的代数课。一次，他讲起了从前执教的经历。他曾是空军部队的数学老师，每天早晨八点要到一个宽敞、温暖而光线昏暗的大礼堂上一个小时的课。他要让那群昏昏欲睡的新兵学生保持清醒，认真听讲。有一天，他刚走进教室就发现学生们睡眼惺忪，无精打采，比平时还糟。他意识到必须采取强有效的措施了。

　　Now this classroom was very old, and the blackboards, which had been nailed on to the walls with old black iron nails, had become loose over the years. As a result, these black nails jutted⁴ almost invisibly from the blackboard and this teacher kept banging his hands on them while erasing⁵ the board. He decided⁶ to put them to good use.

　　当时，他上课的教室十分陈旧。黑板是用黑铁钉钉在墙上的，但在使用多年后已经松动了，所以原本突出的黑铁钉现在几乎看不到了，再加上，老师边擦黑板边把钉子往里按紧，这下就更隐蔽了。他决定要好好利用这几样道具。

1 algebra   

n.代数学

参考例句：

• He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。
• The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。

2 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

3 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

4 jutted   

v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• A row of small windows jutted out from the roof. 有一排小窗户从房顶上突出来。
• His jaw jutted stubbornly forward; he would not be denied. 他固执地扬起下巴，一副不肯罢休的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

6 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。