Mr. Fox is Dead

    Mr. Rabbit was¹ a very bad little beast³; he was always doing things that made⁴ other persons⁵ angry and they wanted to catch him. But it was very hard to catch Mr. Rabbit.
    One day Mr. Wolf said⁶ to Mr. Fox, "We will catch Mr. Rabbit and eat him tonight. You go to your home and get into bed. I shall⁷ say that you are dead⁸. Then Mr. Rabbit will come near you to look at you, and you will jump up and catch him."Mr. Fox ran⁹ home and got¹⁰ into bed. Mr. Wolf went to Mr. Rabbit' house. He stood¹¹ at the door and called, "Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Rabbit.""What is it?" said Mr. Rabbit.
    "Have you heard about poor Mr. Fox? It is so sad!""No," said Mr. Rabbit, "I have not heard anything about Mr. Fox.""He is dead!" said Mr. Wolf.
    Mr. Wolf went away. Mr. Rabbit went to Mr.Fox's house to see what he could¹² see. He looked in through the window, and there he saw¹³ Mr. Fox on the bed with his eyes shut¹⁴, looking like a dead fox. Mr. Rabbit thought¹⁵, "I must see if he is dead or not. For if he is not dead, he will catch me when I go near to him."Mr. Rabbit went into Mr. Fox's house; he looked at Mr. Fox and said, "Mr. Wolf says that Mr. Fox is dead but he does not look like a dead fox. You can always know if a fox is dead, for dead foxes always open their mouths.
    Mr. Fox heard this, and he thought, "I will show him that I am dead." So he opened his mouth.
    When Mr. Rabbit saw Mr. Fox open his mouth he knew that Mr. Fox was not dead. Mr. Rabbit jumped up and ran out of the house as² quickly as he could.

1 was   

v.(is,am的过去式)是，在

参考例句：

• He said he was right.他说他是正确的。
• He was cold and hungry.他又冷又饿。

2 as   

conj.按照；如同

参考例句：

• He got work in a hotel as a waiter.他在一家旅馆找到了当服务生的工作。
• In the hotel,the old men were drinking away as usual.在旅馆里，这些老人和往常一样喝个不停。

3 beast   

n.野兽，牲畜，兽性；凶残的人，举止粗鲁的人

参考例句：

• He is a beast.他是个恶棍。
• When he's drunk,he's a beast.他喝醉时很野蛮。

4 made   

v.make的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They were not made in china.它们不是中国制造的。
• The monkey made a long arm for the peach.猴子伸臂去摘桃子。

5 persons   

n.人( person的名词复数 )；（语法）人称

参考例句：

• She brought several persons of good credit to witness to her reputation. 她带来几位很有声誉的人物为她的名誉作证。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• An average of 1500 persons pass here every day. 每天平均有1500个人经过此地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 said   

v.动词say的过去式、过去分词

参考例句：

• He said to me that he could not come.他对我说他不能来。
• He said to his mother that he would do it by himself.他对他的母亲说他将自己独立做那件事。

7 shall   

v.aux.（主要用于第一人称）将

参考例句：

• I shall always love you.我将永远爱你。
• Which club shall we join?我们要参加哪个社团？

8 dead   

adj.死的；无生命的；死气沉沉的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• Mary threw away the dead flowers.玛丽把枯萎的花扔掉了。
• He was dead asleep.他完全睡着了。

9 ran   

vbl.run的过去式

参考例句：

• He ran,and then slowed down to a walk.他跑着，然后放慢速度步行。
• As soon as Marie opened the door,the dog ran in.当玛丽一打开门，狗就跑了进来。

10 got   

v.(get的过去式)得到，猜到，明白

参考例句：

• I just got some bad news.我刚得到一些坏消息。
• I have got far too much work to do.我要做的事太多了。

11 stood   

vbl.stand的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She stood up when they came in.当他们进来时，她站了起来。
• The child stood by the side of his mother.孩子站在母亲身边。

12 could   

v.能，可能(can的过去式)；aux.v.(can的过去式)能；可以

参考例句：

• Could I open the window?我可以打开窗子吗？
• I could wait ten minutes.我可以等十分钟。

13 saw   

vbl.看见(see的过去式)；n.锯；v.用锯子锯

参考例句：

• Would you like to saw a tree for me?你能为我锯棵树吗？
• The moment I saw you,I knew you were angry with me.我一看到你，就知道你在生我的气。

14 shut   

adj.关闭的，合拢的，围绕的；v.关上，闭起，幽禁；vbl.关上，闭起，幽禁

参考例句：

• It's time to shut up shop and go home.该闭店回家了。
• Shut up.I'm trying to think.闭嘴，我在想问题。

15 thought   

n.想法，思想，思维，思潮，关心，挂念；v.vbl.think的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• It was just a thought.这仅仅是一个想法。
• She thought he had a cold.她认为他感冒了。