56. This Hole in the Ground

　　There was once a farmer who lived near a road.

　　It was not a busy road, but from time to time, cars passed the farm.

　　Near the farm gate, there was a large hole in the road.

　　This hole was always full of water, and the drivers of the cars could not see how deep the hole was. They thought it was probably shallow¹.

　　Then when they drove² into the hole, they could not drive out because it was so deep .

　　The farmer did not spend much time working on his farm. He spent most of it watching the hole.

　　When a car drove into it, he pulled the car out with his tractor³ and charged⁵ the driver a lot of money for doing this.

　　One day, the driver of a car said to him, "You must make a lot of money pulling cars out of this hole night and day."

　　"Oh, no, " the farmer said." I don' t pull cars out of the hole at night. At night I fill the hole with water."

Notes:

　　(1) from time to time偶尔

　　(2) tractor n. 拖拉机

　　(3) charge⁴ v.收费；要价

Exercises:

根据短文选择正确答案：

　　① Where did the farmer live?

　　A. near a road

　　B. in a hole in the road

　　C. in a large cu

　　D. under a tractor

　　② Many mm went into the hole because the drivers_____ .

　　A. were going too fast to stop

　　B. did not see the hole

　　C. did not know the hole was very deep

　　D. liked driving through water

　　③ What did the farmer all day?

　　A. pulled mm out of the hole in the road

　　B. filled the hole with water

　　C. laughed at the drivers of the cars

　　D. worked on his farm

　　④ How did the farmer make money?

　　A. from growing things

　　B. from selling water

　　C. from pulling cars out of the hole

　　D. from filling the hole with water

　　⑤ What did the farmer do at night?

　　A. He pulled cars out of the hole.

　　B. He sat there watching the hole.

　　C. He filled the hole with water.

　　D. He dug⁶ the hole deeper and deeper.

56.地坑

　　从前，有个农夫住在马路边上。

　　这不是个繁忙的路段，偶尔有汽车从农场路过。

　　就在农场大门的旁边，路当中有个大坑。

　　坑里总是充满了水，汽车司机根本看不出坑有多深。他们会以为很浅。

　　司机们一旦把车开进坑里，就别想再开出来，因为坑太深了。

　　农夫也不怎么在农场里干活，大部分时间他都在注视着这个坑。

　　当一个汽车开进坑里，他就用他的拖拉机把它拉上来，然后为此向司机索要很多钱。

　　一天，一位汽车司机对他说：“你日日夜夜把汽车往外拉，肯定挣了很多钱。”

　　“哦，不，”农夫说，“我夜里不干这活儿，夜里我得朝这坑里注水。”

练习参考答案：

①A②C③A④C⑤C

1 shallow   

adj.浅的，肤浅的，浅显易懂的；n.(pl.)浅滩，浅处；v.变浅

参考例句：

• The dish is too shallow to serve soup in.盘子太浅，盛不了汤。
• His analysis was always shallow.他的分析总是很肤浅的。

2 drove   

vbl.驾驶，drive的过去式；n.畜群

参考例句：

• He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
• They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。

3 tractor   

n.拖拉机，牵引车

参考例句：

• You must oil the tractor every day.你必须每天给拖拉机加油。
• He has a tractor.他有一台拖拉机。

4 charge   

n.指控；费用；冲锋；电荷；炸药；主管；被托管人；嘱咐；vt.控诉，加罪于；使充满

参考例句：

• The cook is in charge of the kitchen helper.这位厨师负责管理厨工。
• The policeman said he would take charge of the gun.那个警察说他来看管这支枪。

5 charged   

adj.充满感情的；紧张的，可能引起激烈反应的v.填充

参考例句：

• Both men were charged with assault. 两人均被控侵犯他人身体罪。
• The youth was charged with three counts of burglary. 那位年轻人被控犯有三次盗窃罪。

6 dug   

n.动物的乳房[乳头]v.挖，掘( dig的过去式和过去分词 )；（如用铲、锨或推土机等）挖掘；挖得；寻找

参考例句：

• He dug a deep hole in the garden. 他在花园里挖了个深坑。
• We dug a deep pit in the yard. 我们在院子中挖了个深洞。