57.A Prospective Horse Buyer

　　Then there was the preacher who decided¹ to sell his horse. A prospective² buyer was impressed with the animal, but the preacher said, " I must warn you-he only responds to 'church talk'. Go is 'Praise the Lord', and stop is 'Hallelujah"'.

　　"I've worked with horses all my life," said the buyer, "and I've never heard of anything like this." Mounting the horse, he said skeptically, " Praise the Lord." The horse began to trot³. He repeated "Praise the Lord" and the horse broke into a gallop⁴. Suddenly the buyer saw a cliff dead ahead. Frantic⁵, he yelled "Hallelujah", and they came to a stop a foot from the edge.

　　Wiping the sweat from his brow, the buyer said, "Praise the Lord!"

Notes:

　　(1) prospective adj.预期的；可能的

　　(2) preacher n.传教者

　　(3) impress v.给予强烈影响；留下深刻印象

　　(4) respond v.有反应

　　(5) Praise the Lord感谢上帝

　　(6) Hallelujah哈里路亚（赞美上帝之语）

　　(7) skeptically adv.怀疑地

　　(8) trot v.小跑

　　(9) gallop n.疾驰；飞奔

　　(10) dead adv.完全地；绝对地

　　(11) dead ahead正前方

Exercises:

根据短文判断下列句子正（T）、（F）：

　　① The preacher decided to sell his horse to buy another.

　　② The buyer liked the horse at his first glance.

　　③ The buyer didn't believe what the preacher had said.

　　④) Suddenly the buyer saw a deep river ahead.

　　⑤ The buyer shouldn't have said "Praise the Lord" when they came to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

57.欲买马之人

　　传教士决定卖掉他的马。一位欲买马之人看中了这匹马，但传教士说：“我必须警告你----他只懂‘教堂语言’。走是‘感谢上帝’，停是‘哈里路亚’。”

　　“我一生都在同马打交道，”买马之人说，“这样的事我还是头一次听到。”他跨上马，将信将疑地说：“感谢上帝。”马开始小跑。他重复说“感谢上帝”，马开始飞奔起来。突然买马者看到前面是一个悬崖。他吓坏了，匆忙喊道：“哈里路亚。”他们在离悬崖只有一英尺的地方停了下来。

　　买马之人擦了擦额头上的汗珠，说道：“感谢上帝！”

练习参考答案：

①F②T③T④F⑤T

1 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。

2 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

3 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。

4 gallop   

v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展

参考例句：

• They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
• The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。

5 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。