精美英文欣赏:Sign Language 手语(上)

There is one language¹ that is in use in every country in the world. The people who use it are young and old, thin and fat, short and tall. It is everybody's second language. It is easy to understand, although² you can not hear it. It is sign language.

有一种语言在全球每个国家都在用。使用这种语言的人或年轻或年老，或瘦或胖，或高或矮。这是每个人的第二语言。尽管不能听到它，但是它很容易理解。这就是手语。

When you wave³ to a friend who is across⁴ the street, you are using sign language. When you smile at someone⁵, you are saying⁶, "I want to be friendly⁷." but you are not using speech⁸. You are using sign language. When you raise⁹ your hand in class, you are saying, "Please ask me. I think I know the correct¹⁰ answer."

当你向街对面的朋友挥手的时候，你是在用手语。当你对某人微笑的时候，你仿佛在说“我想很友好地对待你”，但是你没有真正地说。你在用手语。当你在课堂里举手，就等于说：“提问我吧，我有正确答案了。”

Babies who can not talk can point at things. They are using sign language. A policeman who wants to stop traffic¹¹ holds up his hand. He is using sign language. Winston Churchill's famous¹² "V-for-Victory" was¹³ sign language, too.

不能说话的宝宝能够指东西。他们在使用手语。一个交通警察举起手意味着阻拦车辆。他在使用手语。温斯顿·丘吉尔著名的V字形胜利的手势也是一种手语。

Many years ago, a French¹⁴ priest¹⁵, Charles Michel de l'Epee, became¹⁶ interested¹⁷ in education¹⁸ for deaf¹⁹ people. He invented²⁰ a finger alphabet²¹. It is still in use. People can make signs for letters and spell words with their hands, and deaf people can read and understand them.

很多年前，一个法国的牧师，查尔斯·米歇尔·德莱皮，开始对失聪的人的教育感兴趣。他发明了手语至今仍被使用。人们使用手表示字母，用手拼写单词，失聪的人可以读懂和理解它们的意思。

1 language   

n.语言

参考例句：

• Is English a hard language to learn?英语是一种难学的语言吗？
• Language is a wonderful thing.语言是极好的东西。

2 although   

conj（=though）虽然，即使，纵然，尽管

参考例句：

• Although my car is very old,It'still runs very well.我的汽车虽然很旧，但仍然跑得很快。
• Although he worked hard,he failed in the exam.虽然他很努力，但他考试没有及格。

3 wave   

n.波，波浪，波动；v.波动，挥动，起伏

参考例句：

• The flag waved in the wind.旗帜在风中飘扬。
• The waves stopped.波浪停止了。

4 across   

adv.横过，使...被理解(或接受)；prep.穿过，横过

参考例句：

• He walked across the road carefully.他小心地过马路。
• You can go across the bridge.你可以越过这座桥。

5 someone   

pron.某人，有人

参考例句：

• I can hear someone knocking.我听到有人敲门。
• Someone wants to see her.有人找她。

6 saying   

n.谚语，俗话，格言；动词say的现在分词

参考例句：

• Saying and doing are two things.说和做是两码事。
• I know a chinese saying.我知道一句中国谚语。

7 friendly   

adj.友好的，和气的

参考例句：

• He's not friendly to others.他对别人不友好。
• People here are very friendly.这儿的人很友好。

8 speech   

n.讲话，演说

参考例句：

• I did not lose a word of his speech.他的演说我没有听漏一个字。
• We were listening in to the Prime Minister's speech.我们正在收音机旁听首相的广播演说。

9 raise   

v.提高，举起；饲养，养育；引起，惹起

参考例句：

• Why didn't you raise the question at the meeting? 这问题你怎么没有在会上提出来？
• He went to ask for a raise.他要求增加工资。

10 correct   

adj.正确的；vi.改正，纠正；vt.改正

参考例句：

• She gave a correct answer.她给了个正确的答案。
• Choose the correct one from these words.选择正确的词填空。

11 traffic   

adj.交通的；n.交通；vi.交易，买卖

参考例句：

• That will help the traffic.这会促进交通状况。
• He had a traffic accident.他出了交通事故。

12 famous   

adj.著名的，驰名的，闻名遐迩的；极好的；擅长的

参考例句：

• The hotel is famous for its suppers.那个酒店以晚餐而著称。
• He is famous for his learning.他以有学问而出名。

13 was   

v.(is,am的过去式)是，在

参考例句：

• He said he was right.他说他是正确的。
• He was cold and hungry.他又冷又饿。

14 French   

adj.法国(人)的，法语的；n.法语；vt.剁肉，蔬菜切成长条

参考例句：

• She reads French quite well,but doesn't speak it.她法语的阅读能力相当强，但不会讲。
• The only French city she enjoyed was Paris.巴黎是她惟一喜欢的法国城市。

15 priest   

n.神父，牧师，司铎，司祭，领导者，神甫；vt.使成为神职人员

参考例句：

• He confessed to a priest that he had sinned.他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。
• The priest visited all the old people in the parish.牧师探望了教区里的所有老人。

16 became   

v.(become的过去式)成为

参考例句：

• He became a doctor at the age of 27.他27岁时成了一名医生。
• He became a millionaire when he was still young.他还年轻时就成了百万富翁。

17 interested   

adj.感兴趣的；拥有权益的；有成见的v.使…感兴趣(interest的过去分词)

参考例句：

• to be interested in wildlife conservation 对野生动物保护感兴趣
• I told him I wasn't interested, but he wasn't deterred. 我已告诉他我不感兴趣，可他却不罢休。

18 education   

n.教育；培养

参考例句：

• He had a good education.他受过良好的教育。
• We mustn't cut the cost of education.我们不应该削减教育经费。

19 deaf   

adj.聋的

参考例句：

• Deaf people can't hear.聋人听不见。
• She was deaf to my advice.她对我的劝告充耳不闻。

20 invented   

n.虚拟v.发明，创造( invent的过去式和过去分词 )；编造

参考例句：

• Esperanto was invented as an auxiliary language. 世界语是作为辅助语发明的。
• Who invented the steam engine? 谁发明了蒸汽机？

21 alphabet   

n.字母表，符号系统

参考例句：

• There are 26 letters in the English alphabet.英语字母表中有26个字母。
• The last letter of the alphabet is Z.字母表的最后一个字母是Z。