134. The Nice Wedding Gift

　　We attended the wedding of an acquaintance's son. Because we did not know the young man or his bride, we decided¹ to send them a practical household gift, a fire extinguisher. Apparently², the couple mass-produced their thank-you notes because we received a card saying: "Thank you very much for the nice wedding gift. We look forward to using it soon.

Notes:

　　(1) acquaintance n.熟人

　　(2) practical adj.实用的

　　(3) household n.全家的人

　　(4) extinguisher n.灭火器

　　(5) apparently adj.明显地

　　(6) mass-produce 大批量生产

Exercises:

根据短文选择正确答案：

　　① Whose wedding did the couple attend?

　　A. their friend's

　　B. the man's brother's

　　C. of an acquaintance's son

　　D. of the woman's sister

　　② Why did they decide to send them a fire extinguisher?

　　A. Because they did not know the young man or his bride.

　　B. Because they knew that soon there would be a fire.

　　C. Because it was practical.

　　D. A &C.

　　③ How were the thank-you notes produced?

　　A. They were written by hand

　　B. They were mass-produced.

　　C. They were copied on a machine.

　　D. They were painted in varied³ colors.

　　④ What does the last sentence mean?

　　A. We look forward to using it to put out a fire in our house soon.

　　B. We'll put out the fire on our neighbour's house by using it.

　　C. We'll send it to someone else.

　　D. We'll carry it wherever we go.

134.漂亮的结婚礼物

　　我们参加了一个熟人的儿子的婚礼。由于我们都不认识那个年轻人和他的新娘，所以我们决定送给他们一个实用的全家礼----一个灭火器。很明显，这对新人大批量制作了他们的感谢信，因为我们收到了一张卡片，上面写着：“非常感谢您的漂亮的结婚礼物，我们期待着不久就用到它。”

练习参考答案：

①C②D③B④A

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 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。