SHORT STORIES

（单词翻译）

 BELATED BIRTHDAY

    One day after work, I was¹ driving my two sons home from school when Christopher asked if we could² stop at a store³ so he could buy a birthday gift to take to school the next day. I said⁴, “sure, but why?” He 2)proceeded to tell me that tomorrow would⁵ be George Washington's  birthday, and he wanted to take him a gift.

     His older brother, Richard, looked at Christopher and said, “He's  dead⁶, stupid⁷!’

    Christopher quick reply⁸ was, “3)Darn, I knew we should have bought it sooner! "

YES ,SIR

　My three-year-old brother had⁹ been told several¹⁰ times to get ready for bed. The last time my mom told him, she was very 4)insistent. His response¹¹ was, “Yes, Sir!”Since¹² he was talking to our mother (and she is a woman), we did¹³ not expect¹⁴ him to call her “Sir”.

　“You would say, ‘Yes, Sir’ to a man. I am a lady, and you would say ‘Yes, Ma'am,’ to a lady,” Mom said. To 5)quiz him on his lesson, she then asked him, ‘What would you say to Daddy?”

　‘Yes, Sir!” came¹⁵ the reply.

　“Then what would you say to Mama?”

　“Yes, Ma'am!” he proudly¹⁶ answered.

　“Good boy! Now what would you say to Grandma?”

　 He lit up and said, “Can I have a 6)cookie?"

                      小小故事              

误期生日

   一天下班之后，我开车到学校接两个儿子回家时，克里斯托弗问我能否在商店前停一下车，他要买份生日礼物明天好带到学校去。我说：“当然可以了，不过是什么原因呢？”于是他告诉我说明天是乔治·华盛顿的生日，他想送他一份礼物。

   他哥哥理查德看着克里斯托弗说：“他已经死了，你这笨家伙！”

   克里斯托弗迅速回答道：“唉，早知道我们该早点买礼物就好了！”

是的，先生！

　 我三岁大的弟弟被叫了好几遍去上床睡觉。最后一次我妈妈用很坚决的语气对他说时，他回答：“是的，先生！”因为他在和妈妈说话（妈妈是女的），我们都没想到他会称呼她为“先生”。

　“对男士可以说‘是的，先生。’我是女士，对女士你要说‘是的，女士，’”妈妈说道。为了测一测他，她接着问他：“你对爸爸说什么？”

　“是的，先生！”他回答。

　“那你对妈妈说什么？”

　“是的，女士！”他骄傲地回答。

　“好孩子！那么你对奶奶说什么呢？”

　 他舔了舔嘴唇，说∶“我可以要块甜饼吗？”

2）Proceed进行，继续下去

3）darn  表示愤怒，厌烦等情绪

4) insistent  a. 坚持的   

5) quiz  v. 测验，提问      

6) cookie  n. 小甜饼，甜面包