The Land of the Halt

    Many years ago in a small territory，there was not one of the in-habitants who did not stutter when he spoke，or halt in walking；both these defects，moreover，were considered accomplishments¹ A stranger saw the evil，and thinking how they would admire his walking，went about without halting in the usual manner of our race．Everyone stopped to look at him，and all those who looked，laughed，and holding their sides to repress their merriment，shouted，“Teach the stranger how to walk properly！”
    The stranger considered it his duty to cast the reproach from himself．“It is not I but you who half．”he cried，“You must accustom² yourselves to giving up so awkward a habit！”This only increased the uproar，when they heard him speak；he did not even stammer，which was sufficient to disgrace him，and he was laughed at throughout the country．Habit will render the faults which we have been accustomed to from youth，beautiful；in vain will a stranger attempt to convince usthat we are in error．Exercises：
    回答下列问题：
    ① What were the strangest things in the town？
    ② What did the stranger think about this？
    ③ How did they react to his behaviour？
    ④ What do we learn from this？

1 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 accustom   

vt.使适应，使习惯

参考例句：

• It took him a while to accustom himself to the idea.他过了一段时间才习惯这个想法。
• It'shouldn't take long to accustom your students to working in groups.你的学生应该很快就会习惯分组学习的。