Lesson17 A Tiring Party
Mr. Harris and his wife moved to another town, and they met a lot ofinteresting people. They often went to dinner or to parties at otherpeople's houses. So Mr. and Mrs. Harris decided to host a big party, too.
They chose a date, and then Mrs. Harris began to write out invitations. Oneof the sentences in the invitation said,"Mr. and Mrs. Harris would like thepleasure of your company at the party in their residence. The time isbetween 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.""That isn't very nice, is it?"Mr. Harris said. "You're telling our gueststhat they must go at 8:30. So Mrs. Harris just wrote, "The party begins at6:30 p.m."A lot of guests came, and they all enjoyed their time. In fact, they stayeduntil midnight when a policeman arrived. He said, "You must stop the partybecause someone has complained."Mr. Harris didn't want to argue with the policeman. All the guests went homequickly. When Mr. and Mrs. Harris were alone again, she asked, "It was asurprise, wasn't it? Who complained about the noise?""I did," Mr. Harris answered in a tired voice.
residence 住处
累人的聚会
哈里斯夫妇刚搬到一个小镇，并结识了很多有趣的人。两人经常到别人家里吃晚饭或聚会。他们于是决定也举办一个盛大的聚会。
他们选了个日子，然后哈里斯夫人开始写请帖。请帖里有这样一句话：“哈里斯先生和夫人很高兴大家光临在他们家里举办的聚会。时间为晚上六点半到八点半。”
“这样写不大好吧？”哈里斯先生说。“你是在告诉我们的客人必须在八点半离开。”
哈里斯夫人因此这样写：“聚会晚上六点半开始。”
聚会那天来了很多客人，而且他们都玩得尽兴。事实上，他们一直逗留到半夜直到来了一个警察。警察说：“你们必须结束聚会，有人已经投诉了。”
哈里斯先生不想和警察争论。客人们很快就走了。只剩下夫妇俩的时候，哈里斯夫人说：“真令人惊讶，谁会嫌吵呢？”
“我嫌吵，”哈里斯先生用疲惫的声音答道。 |