100个儿童英语小故事: A Cheerful Temper 好心情

 

066 A Cheerful Temper¹

A long time ago, there was a young man named Billy. Billy inherited² the warm and good characteristics of his father. "My father had such a good personality. He was the horse-keeper of a funeral carriage."

"No matter how hard the work was, he always smiled. I got the habit of visiting the church cemetery³ from my father and of reading the newspaper, too."

"He said reading the newspaper would help my studying a lot. Sometimes, I take a walk to the church cemetery by myself. I learned⁴ a lot from my father." One day, he saw a tombstone while he was walking down to the church cemetery. "The man who was buried right here was miserable⁵ before he died."

"Even though he had a good job and made enough money for living, he got angry easily. Maybe he was too narrow- minded. For all of his entire life, he worried and got angry, then he was buried here." Billy went to another grave⁶ and saw another tombstone.

"This man right here was happy before he died, I guess. He was from a good family of high class. He spent his life enjoying everyday." Billy got close to the other grave and saw its tombstone.

"The man under this tombstone makes me sad. He spent all of his life hoping to come up with one extraordinary idea. One day, when he had the wonderful idea, he died from the shock. Maybe he is not resting peacefully even now."

Next, he came to another grave and saw the tombstone. "A very stingy woman lies in this grave. She used to tell her neighbor that she was raising a cat, but she just made the noise of a cat 'Mew, mew'. Maybe she was the stingiest woman."

He stopped in front of another tombstone and looked down. "In this grave, a young lady from a good family lies. She used to sing a song whenever she was at a party, but she sang the same song every time." He walked to the next grave.

"There is a widow⁷ here. She always said good things with her mouth, but she said bad things in her mind. She used to visit from house to house and say bad things about her friends and neighbors."

"Whoever was buried and stayed in their own caskets without moving a finger, then, they will be born again with good personalities⁸. Some day, when the time to end my life comes, I will write down this on my tombstone, 'A Man with Good Personality'."

1 temper   

n.恶劣的心情，心绪焦躁；性情，脾气

参考例句：

• The man lost his temper and struck out wildly.那人因发怒而大打出手。
• One day the man flew at me in a temper.一天,那个人冲着我大发脾气。

2 inherited   

adj.通过继承得到的，遗传的；继承权的v.继承( inherit的过去式和过去分词 )；经遗传获得（品质、身体特征等）接替（责任等），继任

参考例句：

• She had not inherited her mother's forgiving nature. 她没有承袭她母亲的宽厚天性。
• She inherited a fortune from her father. 她从她父亲那里继承了一大笔财富。

3 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

6 grave   

n.墓穴，坟墓，雕刻工，抑音；adj.庄重的，严肃的，重大的，低沉的；vt.雕刻

参考例句：

• Marriage is the grave of love.婚姻是爱情的坟墓。
• This is a very grave matter indeed.这问题的确非常严重。

7 widow   

n.寡妇

参考例句：

• Martha was a very rich young widow.玛莎是个很有钱的年轻寡妇。
• All this money was appropriated for the support of his widow.所有这些钱作为给他的遗孀的抚养费。

8 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。