早读英语精华本基础篇lesson20

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.

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.

With enough of a flourish to guarantee the class's attention, he went to the front of the room, near one edge of the board. Then, clearing his throat, he drew a coathook right near one of the protruding⁷ nails. He proceeded to hang his coat and hat on the hook that he had drawn⁸ in chalk (really on the nail, of course). Then he went on to give that day's lecture. He told us that the entire class had their eyes to the front of the room throughout the lecture. He didn't know if they'd heard a single word he'd said, but at least they looked attentive.

At the end of the class, the lecturer would usually leave by a small door near the blackboards, while the class would leave through the large doors at the back of the hall. When class was over, he took his coat and hat, erased⁹ the coathook, and left through the small door--and was followed by the entire class, lining¹⁰ up to go past the blackboard to see how he'd done it.

几年前，我花了整整一个夏天来修代数这门课。教这课的老师总喜欢回忆以前发生的趣事。他说他以前在空军部队里教书，在那里他的工作就在早晨八点的时候，强迫一群睡意正浓的新兵在一间即温暖又灯光昏暗的大教室里精神百倍的上一个小时的数学课。一天，当他走进礼堂的时候，发现他的学生们比平时更加昏昏欲睡，注意力分散，于是他想必须做点有刺激性的事。

　　 上课的教室已十分破烂，黑板是用那些老式的黑铁钉钉在墙上的。经过这么多年，钉子已经松动了。由于钉子的颜色和黑板一样，都是黑色，即使突出来也不明显的。再加上，老师边擦黑板边把钉子往里按紧，这下就更加隐蔽了。老师便打算充分利用这些钉子。

　　 于是他在众目睽睽之下，走到前面，靠近黑板的一边，轻咳了一下（以便引起注意）。在那突出的黑钉子旁边画了一个挂衣钩。随后便将自己的外衣和帽子挂在了那个粉笔画的衣钩上（其实当然是挂在了那钉子上）。然后就继续讲课。他说全班同学盯了前方整整一节课。可他却怀疑学生是否听进去了一个词，不过至少他们都精神百倍。

　　 通常讲完课，讲师都是从黑板边的一个小门离开，而同学门都是走教室后面的大门。可今天下课的时候，当老师摘下外套和帽子，擦掉那个衣钩，从小门离开的时候，却发现整个班的同学都跟随在他后面排成队走过黑板去看看老师刚才究竟是如何做的。

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。

7 protruding   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸

参考例句：

• He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。
• There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。