英语趣味阅读.docx

Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more.-author-date英语趣味阅读英语趣味阅读Jim and Mary were both patients in a Mental Hospital. One day while they were walking by the hospital swimming pool, Jim suddenly jumped into the deep end. He sank to the bottom. Mary promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled Jim out.When the medical director became aware of Mary's heroic act he immediately reviewed her file and called her into his office. "Mary, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you're being discharged because since you were able to jump in and save the life of another patient, I think you've regained your senses. The bad news is Jim, the patient you saved, hung himself with his bathrobe belt in the bathroom,he's dead."Mary replied, "He didn't hang himself, I hung him up to dry."Jim和Mary都是精神病院里的病人。一天,他们沿着医院的游泳池散步,Jim突然跳入泳池的深水区,他沉到了底部。Mary立刻跳下去救他,她潜到水底,把Jim拉了上来。当院长听闻了Mary的英勇行为后,他立刻翻看了她的病历档案,把她叫进了自己的办公室,“Mary,我有一个好消息和一个坏消息要告诉你。好消息是你能跳入水中救其他病人,这说明你的意识已经恢复了,你可以出院了。坏消息就是,Jim,你救的那个病人,他还是用自己的浴袍带子在浴室上吊自杀了。”Mary说:“他没有自杀,是我把他吊起来好让他晾干。”FiveHundredTimes五百遍In the traffic court of a large mid-western city, a young lady was brought before the judge to answer a ticket given her for driving through a red light. She explained to his honor that she was a school teacher and requested an immediate disposal of her case in order that she might hasten on to her classes. A wild gleam came into the judge's eye. "You are a school teacher, eh?" said he. "Madam, I shall realize my lifelong ambition. Sit down at that table and write 'I went through a red light' five hundred times."在中西部一个大城市的交通法庭里,一位年轻女士被带到法官面前,她由于开车闯红灯被开了罚单。女士向法官解释,她是一名学校老师,请求法官马上处理她的案子,以便可以赶回去上课。法官眼中闪过一丝狡黠,说道:“你是学校的老师,对吗?女士,我马上要实现我毕生的愿望了。在那张桌子旁坐下,写我开车闯了红灯500遍。”Yourhorsecalled马打电话A guy is reading his paper when his wife walks up behind him and smacks him on the back of the head with a frying pan.He asks, "What was that for?"She says, "I found a piece of paper in your pocket with 'Betty Sue' written on it."He says, "Jeez, honey, 'Betty Sue' was the name of the horse I bet on." She shrugs and walks away.Three days later he's reading his paper when she walks up behind him and smacks him on the back of the head again with the frying pan.He asks, "What was that for?"She answers, "Your horse called."一个家伙正在看报纸,他的妻子走到他身后,用一只煎锅敲他的后脑勺。他问道:“这是为什么?”她说:“我在你口袋里发现了一张写有Betty Sue的纸条。”他说:“哎呀,亲爱的,Betty Sue是我赌的那匹马的名字。”她耸了耸肩,走了。 三天后他正在看报纸,妻子走到他身后,又用一只煎锅敲他的后脑勺。他问:“这又是为什么?”她答道:“你的马打电话来了。”好消息坏消息！An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings currently on display. "I've got good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman inquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all fifteen of your paintings.""That's wonderful!" the artist exclaimed, "What's the bad news?". With concern, the gallery owner replied, "The guy was your doctor."一名艺术家问画廊老板,最近有没有人对他展出的画感兴趣。“这有好消息和坏消息,”老板回答。“好消息是有一位先生咨询你的作品,他想知道在你死后你的画会不会升值。我告诉他你的画会升值,他就把你的15幅画全都买走了。”“真是太好了”,艺术家是喜形于色,“那坏消息是什么?”带着关心的口吻,画廊老板回答,“买画的人是你的医生”。Story 107 Fear is only six inches deep故事107  六英尺的恐惧A man walking in the night slipped from a rock.一个人在赶夜路时，突然从岩石上跌了下去。Afraid that he would fall down thousands of feet, because he knew that place was a very deep valley, he took hold of a branch that was hanging overthe rock.他吓得赶紧抓住了岩石上的树枝，因为他知道这一带有个深谷，一不小心就会跌入上千英尺的深渊。In the night all he coulds see was a bottomless abyss.一晚上，他唯一能看到的就是深不见底的峡谷。He shouted, his own shout reflected backthere was nobody to hear.他大呼救命，但只听到了自己的回音-没有人能听到他呼救。You can imagine that man and his whole night of scare.你可以想象一下他的处境和整晚的恐惧。Every moment there was death, his hands were becoming cold, he was losing his grip 死神随时都可能降临。他的手开始发凉，渐渐地抓不住了And as the sun came out he looked down and he laughed.当太阳升起的时候，他朝下看了看，笑了。There was no abyss. Just six inches down there was a rock.下面压根就没有什么深渊。在他下方六英尺的地方有一块大石头。He could have rested the whole night, slept well-the rock was big enough-but the whole night was a nightmare.岩石那么大，他本可以在那儿休息一个晚上，美美的睡上一觉，但昨晚他却在梦魇中度过。Fear is only six inches deep. 恐惧只是六英尺的距离而已。Now it is up to you whether you want to go on cling to the branch and turn your life into a nightmare, or whether you would love to leave the branch and stand on your feet.接下来，到了你做决定的时候了：你是想要继续抓着树枝过梦魇一般的生活，还是更喜欢把手从树枝上松开，双脚着地?There is nothing to fear.真的没有什么好害怕的。In the story what happened on the next day?A. The man found that there was no abyss but only a rock.B. The man lost his grip and fell in the abyss.C. The man waited until someone passed and saved him.Story 111 The Frog and the Well故事111 青蛙和井Two frogs lived together in a marsh.两只青蛙住在沼泽里。One hot summer the marsh dried up, so they had to leave it and look for another place.在一个炎热的夏季，沼泽干涸了，因此他们不得不离开去寻找新的湿地。They soon found a deep well.他们很快发现一口深井。One of them looked down and said to the other, "This is a nice cool place. Let's jump in and settle down here."其中一只向下看了看对另一只说：“这是个凉爽的好地方，就住这里吧。”The other frog was much wiser. He replied, "Dont be so fast, my friend. If this well dries up like the marsh, how should we get out again?"而另一只较明智，它说：“别着急,朋友，如果这口井也干了的话，我们怎么出来呢？”寓意：凡事应该首先考虑周到，然后再付诸行动。According to you knowledge, what will happen to the two frog if the well dries up like the marsh?A. They can give up the well and look for another place to live.B. They cant get out of the well, and have no choices but die in that dried well.Story 108 The ass in the lion's skin故事108  披着狮皮的驴An ass once found a lion's skin. He put it on, and walked towards the village.有头驴发现一张狮子皮，他披着狮子皮走进村庄。All fled when he came near,both men and animals.所有的人和动物见到他走过来都逃走了。The ass felt quite proud. He lifted his voice and brayed, but then everyone knew him.驴感到很得意，他高声地嘶叫，却被人认了出来。His owner came up and gave him a sound whipping.他的主人跑过来打了他一顿。Shortly afterwards,a fox came up to him and said, "Ah, I knew it was you by your voice."不久，一只狐狸也跑过来，对他说：“哦，你一张嘴我就知道你是驴。”How does the fox know that the lion is disguised by the ass?A. By his ower.B. By his skin.C. By his voice.Story 111 The Two Pots故事111 两口锅There were two pots on the bank of a river. One was made of brass, and the other was made of clay.河中漂流着一个瓦锅和一个铜锅。When the water rose they both floated off down the river. The earthen pot tried to stay away from the brass one.每当潮涨潮落时，瓦锅就尽量地远离铜锅。So the brass pot cried out, "Fear nothing, friend, I will not hit you."铜锅大叫：“别害怕，朋友，我不会撞你的。”"But I may come in contact with you," said the earthen pot. "If I come too close, whether I hit you or you hit me, I shall suffer for it."“但是我有可能会和你接触，”瓦锅对铜锅说，“如果我离你太近，无论是你碰到我，或者是我自己不小心碰到你，我都会碎的。”After that the earthen pot floated away.然后，瓦锅就漂走了。寓意： 与强硬的人相伴是很不安全的。Why did the earten pot float away from the brass pot?A. Because he hated to be with the brass pot.B. Because if he came near the brass pot, he will be broken.Story 110 The Thirsty Crow故事110 口渴的乌鸦 A crow felt very thirsty. He looked for water everywhere. Finally, he found a pitcher.一只乌鸦口渴了，到处找水喝。终于，他找到了一个大水罐。But there was not a lot of water in the pitcher.然而，水罐里面的水并不多。His beak could not reach it. He tried again and again, but still could not touch the water.他的尖嘴够不到水面，他试了一次又一次，都没有成功。When he was about to give up, an idea came to him.就在他想放弃的时候，他突然想到一个主意。He took a pebble and dropped it into the pitcher.乌鸦叼来了一块小石子投到水罐里。Then he took another and dropped it in.接着又叼了一块又一块石头放进去。Gradually, the water rose, and the crow was able to drink the water.渐渐地，水面升高了。乌鸦高兴地喝到了水。寓意: 有些东西虽然看起来微不足道，但如果积少成多，便会带来很大变化。Story 104 The Bat and the Weasels故事105  蝙蝠与黄鼠狼A bat who fell upon the ground and was caught by a Weasel pleaded to be spared his life.蝙蝠掉落在地上，被黄鼠狼叼去，他请求饶命。The Weasel refused, saying that he was by nature the enemy of all birds.黄鼠狼说绝不会放过他，自己生来痛恨鸟类。The Bat assured him that he was not a bird, but a mouse, and thus was set free.蝙蝠说他是老鼠，不是鸟，便被放了。Shortly afterwards the Bat again fell to the ground and was caught by another Weasel, whom he likewise entreated not to eat him.后来蝙蝠又掉落了下来，被另一只黄鼠狼叼住，他再三请求不要吃他。The Weasel said that he had a special hostility to mice.这只黄鼠狼说他恨一切鼠类。The Bat assured him that he was not a mouse, but a bat, and thus a second time escaped.蝙蝠改口说自己是鸟类，并非老鼠，又被放了。It is wise to turn circumstances to good account.这故事说明：我们遇事要随机应变方能避免危险。-