【英文读物】The Luckiest Girl in the School.docx

《【英文读物】The Luckiest Girl in the School.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《【英文读物】The Luckiest Girl in the School.docx（134页珍藏版）》请在淘文阁 - 分享文档赚钱的网站上搜索。

1、【英文读物】The Luckiest Girl in the SchoolNO I A Great ChangeWinona laid down the letter with an agitatedPg 8 gasp. The proposition almost took her breath away.What an idea! she exclaimed indignantly. Mother, of course you wont even dream of it for an instant! Id hate to go and live with Aunt Harriet. It

2、s not to be thought of!Well, I dont know, Winona! wavered Mrs. Woodward. We must look at it from all sides, and perhaps Aunt Harriets right, and it really would be for the best. Miss Harmons a poor teacher, and Im sure your music, at any rate, is not a credit to her. You played that last piece shock

3、ingly out of time. You know you said yourself that you were getting beyond Miss Harmon!Whatever impeachments Winona may have brought against her teacher, she was certainly not prepared to admit them now. She rejected the project of the Seaton High School with the utmost energy and determination, bri

4、nging into the fray all that force of character which her mother lacked. Poor Mrs. Woodward vacillated feeblyshe was generally swayed by whoever was nearest at the momentand I verily believe Winonas arguments would have prevailed, and the whole scheme would have been abandoned, had not Mr. Joynson o

5、pportunely happened to turn up.Mr. Joynson was a solicitor, and the trustee of Mrs. Woodwards property. He managed most of her business affairs, and some of her private ones as well. She had confidence in his judgment, and she at once thankfully submitted the question of Winonas future to his decisi

6、on.Pg 9The very thing for her! he declared. Do her a world of good to go to a proper school. Shes frittering her time away here. Send her to Seaton by all means. What are you to do without her? Nonsense! Nobodys indispensableespecially a girl of fifteen! Pack her off as soon as you can. Doesnt want

7、to go? Oh, shell sing a different song when once she gets there, youll see!Thus supported by masculine authority, Mrs. Woodward settled the question in the affirmative, and replied to her aunt by return of post.Naturally such a stupendous event as the exodus of Winona made a sensation in the househo

8、ld.Well, of all the rum shows! exclaimed Percy. You and Aunt Harriet in double harness! It beats me altogether!Its atrocious! groaned Winona. Im a victim sacrificed for the good of the family. Oh! why couldnt mother have thought of some other way of economizing? I dont want to win scholarships and g

9、o in for a career!Buck up! Perhaps you wont win! Therell be others in for the exam., you bet! Youll probably fail, and come whining home like a whipped puppy with its tail between its legs!Indeed I shant! flared Winona indignantly. Ive a little more spirit than that, thank you! And why should you im

10、agine Im going to fail? I suppose Ive as much brains as most people!Thats right! Upset the pepper-pot! I was only trying to comfort you! teased Percy. In my opinion youll be returned like a bad halfpenny,Pg 10 or one of those articles of no use to anybody except the owner. Aunt Harriet will be cheat

11、ed of her prey after all!If Win goes away, I shall be the eldest daughter at home, said Letty airily, shaking out her short skirts. Ill sit at the end of the table, and pour out tea if mother has a headache, and unlock the apple room, and use the best inkpot if I like, and have first innings at the

12、piano.You forget about the nursery governess, retorted Winona. If I go, she comes, and youll find youve exchanged King Log for King Stork. Oh, very well, just wait and see! It wont be as idyllic as you imagine. I shall be saved the trouble of looking after you, at any rate.What Im trying to ascertai

13、n, madam, said Percy blandly, is whether your ladyship wishes to take up your residence in Seaton or not. With the usual perversity of your sex you pursue a pig policy. When I venture to picture you seated at the board of your venerable aunt, you protest you are a sacrifice; when, on the other hand,

14、 I suggest your return to the bosom of your family, you revile me equally.Youre the most unsympathetic beast Ive ever met! declared Winona aggrievedly.When she analyzed her feelings, however, she was obliged to allow that they were mixed. Though the prospect of settling down at Seaton filled her wit

15、h dismay, Percys gibe at her probable failure touched her pride. Winona had always been counted as the clever member of the family. It would be too ignominious to be sent home labeled unfit. She setPg 11 her teeth and clenched her fists at the bare notion.Ill show them all what I can do if I take a

16、thing up! she resolved.In the meantime Mrs. Woodward was immersed in the subject of clothing. Every post brought her boxes of patterns, amongst which she hesitated, lost in choice.If I knew whether youre really going to stay at Seaton or not, it would make all the difference, Winona, she fluttered.

17、Its no use buying you these new things if youre only to wear them at home, but Id make an effort to send you nice to Aunt Harriets. I know shell criticize everything you have on. Dear me, I think Id better risk it! It would be such a nuisance to have to write for the patterns all over again, and how

18、 could I get your dresses fitted when you werent here to be tried on? Miss Jones is at liberty now, and can come for a weeks sewing, but shell probably be busy if I want her later. Now tell me, which do you really think is the prettier of these two shades? I like the fawn, but I believe the material

19、 will spot. What have you done with the lace collar Aunt Harriet gave you last Christmas? Shes sure to ask about it if you dont wear it!Having decided that on the whole she intended to win a scholarship, Winona bluffed off the matter of her departure.Ive changed my mind, thats all, she announced to

20、her home circle. It will be a great comfort to me not to hear Mamie scraping away at her violin in the evenings, or Letty strumming at scales. ThinkPg 12 what a relief not to be obliged to rout up Dorrie and Godfrey, and haul them off to school every day! Im tired of setting an example. You neednt s

21、nigger!The family grinned appreciatively. They understood Winona.Dont you worry! Ill set the example when youre gone, Letty assured her. Ill be as improving as a copy-book. I wish Id your chance; Id stand Aunt Harriet for the sake of going to a big High School. Younger sisters never have any luck! E

22、ldests just sweep the board. I dont know where we come in!Dont you fret, young un, youll score later on! cooed an indulgent voice from the sofa, where Percy sprawled with a book and a bag of walnuts. Remember that when youre still in all the bliss and sparkle of your teens, Winonall be a mature and

23、passe person of twenty-two. That eldest Miss Woodwards getting on, you know! people will say, and somebodyll reply: Yes, poor thing!They wont when Ive got a career, retorted Winona, pelting Percy with his own walnut-shells.You assured us the other day that you despised such vanities.Well, it depends

24、. Perhaps Ill be a lady tram conductor, and punch tickets, or a post-woman, or drive a Government van!If those are careers for girls, bag me for a steeple jack, chirped Dorrie.It was perhaps a good thing for Winona that such a short interval elapsed between the acceptancePg 13 of Aunt Harriets propo

25、sal and the date of the scholarship examination. The ten days were very busy ones, for there seemed much to be done in the way of preparation. Miss Jones, the dressmaker, was installed in the nursery with the sewing-machine, and demanded frequent tryings-on, a process Winona hated.I shall buy all my

26、 clothes ready made when Im grown up! she declared.They very seldom fit, and have to be altered, returned her mother. Do stand still, Winona! And I hope youre learning up a few dates and facts for this examination. You ought to be studying every morning. If only Miss Harmon were home, Id have asked

27、her to coach you. Im afraid shell be disappointed at your leaving, but of course she cant expect to keep you for ever. I heard a rumor that she means to give up her school altogether, and go and live with her uncle. I hope its true, and then I can take the little ones away with an easy conscience. I

28、 dont want to treat her badly, poor thing, but Im sure teachings not her vocation.Winona really made a heroic effort to prepare herself for the coming ordeal. She retired to a secluded part of the garden and read over her latest school books. The process landed her in the depths of despondency.Ill n

29、ever remember anythingnever! she mourned to her family. To try and get all this into my head at once is like bolting a weeks meals at a single go! I know a date here and there, and Ive a hazy notion of French and Latin verbs, and aPg 14 general impression of other subjects, but if they ask me for an

30、ything definite, such as the battles of the Wars of the Roses, or a list of the products of India, Im done for!Go in for Post-Impressionism, then, suggested Percy. Write from a romantic standpoint, and dont condescend to mere facts. Stick in a quotation or two, and a drawing if possible, and make yo

31、ur paper sound eloquent and dramatic and poetical, and all the rest of it. Theyll mark you low for accuracy, but put you on ten per cent. for style, you bet! I know a chap who tries it on at the Coll., and it always pays.Its worth thinking about, certainly, said Winona, shutting her books with a wea

32、ry yawn.CHAPTER II An Entrance ExaminationThe Seaton High School was a large, handsome brick building exactly opposite the public park. It had only been erected two years ago, so everything about it was absolutely new and up-to-date. It supplied a great need in the rapidly growing city, and indeed o

33、ffered the best and most go-ahead education to be obtained in the district.It was the aim of the school to fit girls for various professions and careers; there was a classical and a modern side, a department for domestic economy, and a commercial class for instruction in business details. Art, music

34、, and nature study were well catered for, and manual training was not forgotten. As the school was intended to become in time a center for the county, the Governors had offered two open free scholarships to be competed for by girls resident in other parts of Rytonshire, hoping by this means to attra

35、ct pupils from the country places round about.On the morning of September 8th, precisely at 8.35, Winona presented herself at the school for the scholarship examination. There were twenty other candidates awaiting the ordeal, in various stages of nervousness or sangfroid. Some looked dejected, some

36、confident, and others hid their feelPg 16ings under a mask of stolidity. Winona joined them shyly. They were all unknown to one another, and so far nobody had plucked up courage to venture a remark. It is horribly depressing to sit on a form staring at twenty taciturn strangers. Winona bore for awhi

37、le with the stony silence, thenrather frightened at the sound of her own voiceshe announced:I suppose were all going in for this same exam.! It was a trite commonplace, but it broke the ice. Everybody looked relieved. The atmosphere seemed to clear.Yes, were all going inthats right enough, replied a

38、 ruddy-haired girl in spectacles, but there are only two scholarships, so nineteen of us are bound to failthats logic and mathematics and all the rest of it.Whew! A nice cheering prospect. Wish theyd put us out of our misery at once! groaned a stout girl with a long fair pigtail.Im all upset! shiver

39、ed another.Its like a game of musical chairs, suggested a fourth. Were all scrambling for the same thing, and some are bound to be out of it.The ruddy-haired girl laughed nervously.Suppose weve got to take our sporting luck! she murmured.If nineteen are sure to lose, two are sure to win at any rate,

40、 said Winona. Thats logic and mathematics and all the rest of it, too!Right you are! Thats a more cheering creed! It doesnt do to cry Miserere me too soon!Pg 17 chirped a jolly-looking dark-eyed girl with a red hair-ribbon. Never say die till youre dead, is my motto!Im wearing a swastika for a masco

41、t, said a short, pale girl, exhibiting her charm, which hung from a chain round her neck. I never am lucky, so I thought Id try what this would do for me for once. I know English history beautifully down to the end of Queen Anne, and no further, and if they set any questions on the Georges Ill be st

42、umped.Ive learnt Africa, but Asia would floor me! observed another, looking up from a geography book, in which she was making a last desperate clutch at likely items of knowledge. I never can remember which side of India Madras is on; I get it hopelessly mixed with Bombay.I wish to goodness theyd go

43、 ahead and begin, mourned the owner of the red hair-ribbon. Its this waiting that knocks the spirit out of me. Patience isnt my pet virtue. I call it cruelty to animals to leave us on tenter-hooks.Almost as if in answer to her pathetic appeal the door opened, and a teacher appeared. In a brisk, busi

44、ness-like manner she marshaled the candidates into line, and conducted them to the door of the head-mistress study, where one by one they were admitted for a brief private interview. Winonas turn came about the middle of the row.Pass in: as quickly as you can, please! commanded the teacher, motionin

45、g her onward.As Winona entered, she gave one hasty comprehensive glance round the room, taking in a genPg 18eral impression of books, busts and pictures, then focussed her attention on the figure that sat at the desk. It was only at a later date that she grasped any details of Miss Bishops personali

46、ty; at that first meeting she realized nothing but the pair of compelling blue eyes that drew her forward like a magnet.Your name?Winona Woodward.Age?Fifteen.Residence?Highfield, Ashbourne, near Great Marston.How long have you lived in the county of Rytonshire?Ever since I was born.Miss Bishop hasti

47、ly ticked off these replies on a page of her ledger, and handed Winona a card.This will admit you to the examination room. Remember that instead of putting your name at the head of your papers, you are to write the number given you on your card. Any candidate writing her own name will be disqualifie

48、d. Next girl!It was all over in two minutes. Winona seemed hardly to have entered the room before she was out again.Move on, please! said the teacher, marshaling the little crowd round the door. Will those who have seen Miss Bishop kindly go along the corridor.Several girls who had been standing in a knot made a sudden bol