【導(dǎo)讀】對(duì)于全世界的華人來(lái)說(shuō)，中國(guó)的新年是最重要的節(jié)日。人們也稱(chēng)它為春節(jié)或農(nóng)歷新年。歷春節(jié)的確切日期每年都在變化。但是春節(jié)一般都在1月1日到2月19日之間。這些生肖是鼠、牛、虎、兔、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗和豬。們到達(dá)終點(diǎn)的順序命名。聰明的鼠跳在牛背上，在最后時(shí)刻跳過(guò)牛的頭頂?shù)谝粋€(gè)到達(dá)終點(diǎn)！我的學(xué)校有一項(xiàng)針對(duì)作業(yè)的政策。學(xué)生每天晚上做作業(yè)的時(shí)間不應(yīng)該超過(guò)九十分鐘。花十一分鐘打電話(huà)向同學(xué)問(wèn)作業(yè)；花二十三分鐘抱怨老師為什么總是那么討厭，為什么不喜歡我們這些十幾歲的孩子；花八分鐘在洗手間里；花十分鐘找小吃；花七分鐘查看電視節(jié)目預(yù)告；花六分鐘告訴父母，老師從沒(méi)解釋過(guò)所布置的作業(yè)；一只癩蛤蟆在路邊看到一只青蛙。那是只又胖又老的青蛙。他坐在那里呻吟嘆息著。所以青蛙和癩蛤蟆一起沿著小路跳到一棵大橡樹(shù)下。

　　

【正文】 手 operate 操作 connoisseur 內(nèi)行，鑒賞家 enthusiast 熱心的人，熱情的人 energy 精力 romantic 浪漫主義者 suspect 懷疑 original 新穎的，獨(dú)創(chuàng)的 positive 肯定的 幽默 ——少年是什么樣的人？ 少年是 …… …… 一個(gè)隔著三個(gè)街區(qū)也能聽(tīng)到他最喜歡的歌手的聲音但卻聽(tīng)不到隔壁房間母親叫聲的人。 …… 一個(gè)不用上一節(jié)課就可以操作最新電腦的能手，但卻不會(huì)鋪床。 …… 兩種音樂(lè)的 鑒賞家 ——吵鬧的和非常吵鬧的音樂(lè)。 …… 一個(gè)充滿(mǎn)熱情，精力充沛的人，他可以騎車(chē)騎幾英里，但卻經(jīng)常因?yàn)橛X(jué)得太累而擦不 干碟子。 …… 一個(gè)浪漫主義者，他不經(jīng)常戀愛(ài)，一周絕對(duì)少于一次。 …… 一個(gè)每星期六都要睡到中午，卻總是懷疑房間需要打掃的人。 …… 是一個(gè)有獨(dú)創(chuàng)精神的思想家，他斷定他的母親不是從少年時(shí)期走過(guò)來(lái)的 15 28 Charles Chaplin One day a small boy called Charles Chaplin was walking along the street in London. It was a cold winter39。s day in 1900. He wanted to buy some bread, but he didn39。t have any money. His father had died when he was very young. He and his brother, Sid, had to work to help their sick mother. Although Charles was small, his dream was very big. He wanted to be a great man in the world of films, so he worked very hard to bee a good dancer and singer. Thirty years later, this same boy was among the most famous people in the world. Even if you do not understand English, you can enjoy his films, because no words are used in his films. dream 夢(mèng)想 dancer 舞蹈家 查爾斯 ?卓別林 一天，一個(gè)叫卓別林的小男孩在倫敦的大街上走著。那是 1900 年寒冬的一天。卓別林想買(mǎi)一些面包，但他沒(méi)有錢(qián)。他的父親在他還很小時(shí)就去世了。他和他的兄弟西德必須工作以幫助生病的母親。 卓別林年紀(jì)雖小但他有很大的理想。他想成為電影世界的偉大人物，所以他努力工作，希望成為有名的舞蹈家和歌唱家。 三十年后，這個(gè)小男孩成為了 世界上最著名的人之一。 即使你不懂 英語(yǔ) ，你也可以欣賞他的電影，因?yàn)樗碾娪笆菬o(wú)聲的 29 A Seaside Piic One morning last April, Joan was lying in bed when the telephone rang. It was her friend, Dave, who invited her out for a piic at the seaside. Later that day she left her flat and walked to the bus stop to catch the bus. Joan was wearing a Tshirt and skirt as it was quite hot. As she sat on the bus she looked out of the window. The sun was shining. She saw a plane going over a forest and some horses in the fields. Before long she arrived at the seaside and met Dave. They went down to the beach and had their piic next to a rock. They had sandwiches and crisps, and Dave painted a picture. They had a lovely day. flat 公寓 （英國(guó) 英語(yǔ) ） forest 森林 crisp 油炸馬鈴薯片 海灘野餐 去年四月的一天早上，當(dāng)瓊還躺在床上時(shí)，電話(huà)鈴響了。電話(huà)是她的朋友戴夫打來(lái)的，她想邀請(qǐng)瓊?cè)ズ┮安汀? 那天晚些時(shí)候，瓊離開(kāi)了公寓，去公共汽車(chē)站乘車(chē)。因?yàn)樘鞖夂軣?，瓊穿著Ｔ恤衫和裙子。?dāng)她坐在車(chē)上時(shí)，她看著窗外。陽(yáng)光明媚。她看到一架飛機(jī)飛過(guò)一片森林，看到田野里的馬。 一會(huì)功夫，她就到了海邊，碰到了戴夫。他們走下海灘，在一塊巖石邊野餐。他們一起吃三明治和馬鈴薯片，戴夫還畫(huà)了一幅畫(huà)。他們度過(guò)了開(kāi)心的一天。 16 30 A Dish Washer Some people have dogs or cats as pets. One woman in New York keeps a monkey as her pet. This monkey can wash dishes. He washes the dishes for the woman every day. He likes to wash dishes and never breaks a dish. Sometimes he washes the same dishes over and over. If the woman tries to stop him, he then gets angry. He begins to throw the dishes in all directions. But this does not happen very often. The woman39。s husband is very happy with the monkey. The husband never needs to help his wife wash the dishes. The monkey does all this work. The husband says that he cannot understand how anybody, a person or a monkey, can like to wash dishes so much. direction 方向 洗 碗 工 有些人的寵物是貓或狗。紐約的一位婦女養(yǎng)了只猴子當(dāng)寵物。這只猴子會(huì)洗碗。他每天為這個(gè)婦女洗碗。他喜歡洗并且從未打破過(guò)一個(gè)碗碟。有時(shí)他會(huì) 一遍遍地清洗同一個(gè)碗。如果這個(gè)婦女試圖阻止，猴子就會(huì)發(fā)脾氣，并開(kāi)始朝四面八方扔碗碟。但這種情況不常發(fā)生。 女人的丈夫非常滿(mǎn)意這只猴子。他從不需要幫自己的妻子洗碗。猴子包辦了這些活。這個(gè)丈夫說(shuō)他無(wú)法理解，不管是誰(shuí)，人還是猴子，怎么會(huì)如此喜歡洗碗呢。 31 A Young Pioneer Long ago, when the western part of the United States was still a wilderness, a young boy, called Kit, not yet twenty years old, went from his home in the East to learn about the new country. He wanted to know what lay beyond the Rocky Mountains. Kit39。s father had taught him to shoot straight, but he learned more about hunting and trapping in the country of the Indians. Kit was always calm in times of danger. He was strong and brave. Most of the Indians liked and respected him for his honesty. For many years, Kit lived in the West. He taught other white men many things. Probably the most important thing he taught them was how to get along with the Indians. wilderness 荒野 pioneer 先鋒，先驅(qū) hunting 打獵 trapping 誘捕 respect 尊敬 honesty 誠(chéng)實(shí)，正直 get along with 與 …… 相處 年輕的先驅(qū) 很久以前，美國(guó)西部還是一片荒野，一個(gè)年輕的男孩，名叫基特，還不滿(mǎn)二十歲，從東部的家鄉(xiāng)來(lái)到這里，要了解這個(gè)新的國(guó)家。他想知道在落基山脈那邊有什么。 17 基特 的父親教會(huì)他瞄準(zhǔn)射擊，但他在印第安人的村莊里學(xué)到了更多的打獵和狩獵的本領(lǐng)。 基特在危險(xiǎn)的時(shí)刻總是很沉著。他強(qiáng)壯勇敢。大多數(shù)印第安人因?yàn)樗恼\(chéng)實(shí)而喜歡并尊敬他。 基特在西部生活了很多年。他教會(huì)其他白人很多東西。也許他教會(huì)他們的最重要的東西就是如何與印第安人相處 32 A Robot Babysitter In 2020 Japan made a new robot. It can take care of a child. The new robot is called iPapero. It weighs pounds, and has a body of by and by inches. iPapero is a small robot, but it has many special skills. It can recognize and remember up to ten faces and use its eight separate electronic ears to understand human voices even in noisy situations. It also plays games with children when they are unhappy, or sing songs or ask quizzes to entertain the child. If the child is bored, iPapero will change new songs and quizzes so that it doesn39。t repeat itself. The robot babysitter even has a cell phone to call a parent when the child asks for his mother. babysitter 保姆 separate 分開(kāi)的 electronic 電子的 situation 情形，境遇 entertain 使快樂(lè) quizzes 猜謎，問(wèn)答比賽（ quiz 的復(fù)數(shù)） 看小孩的機(jī)器人 2020 年，日本制造了一個(gè)新的機(jī)器人。它會(huì)照看小孩。這個(gè)新機(jī)器人叫做 iPapero。它 磅重，身體是 英寸。 iPapero 是個(gè)小機(jī)器人，但它有很多特殊的技能。它能識(shí)別和記憶多達(dá)十張臉，即使是在吵鬧的情況下，它也能用它八只分開(kāi)的電子耳朵聽(tīng)懂人的聲音。當(dāng)孩子們不高興時(shí)，它還和他們玩游戲、唱歌或猜謎語(yǔ)讓他們開(kāi)心。如果孩子感到無(wú)聊了，他會(huì)換新的歌和謎語(yǔ)，這樣就不會(huì)重復(fù)。這個(gè)照看小孩的機(jī)器人甚至還裝有移動(dòng)電話(huà)，當(dāng)孩子找媽媽時(shí)，可以用它打電話(huà)給父母 33 The Eagle and the Raven An eagle was trying to break open a nut in his beak when a raven landed on a branch beside him. The raven eyed the nut hopefully, You39。ll never break it like that,he said. If I were you I would fly up in the sky as high as I could, then drop the nut onto the rocks. It39。s the only way you39。ll get at the kernel. The eagle flew up into the sky, then let the nut fall down, down,