What a Mess!

                                            Lesson 12

                                             Text A

                                     What a Mess!

     Bill Lane¹ has just touched some wet paint.

　　MR FIELD:
You mustn't touch the wet paint, Bill.
BILL:
I'm sorry. I won't do it again.
MR FIELD:
Try to be more careful in future.
BILL:
I shall. I wasn't as careless as John Sampson. He walked across that wet cementover there.
MR FIELD:
The workmen³ oughtn't to leave it without a no tice.
BILL:
The headmaster asked them not to do so.
MR FIELD:
Then why isn't there a notice?
BILL:
They went to their stores to get one. Here they come with it now!
MR FIELD:
But look at them! They've forgotten about the wet cement² and they're walkingacross it to put up the notice!　
 
Text B

                                A Tall and Slim Girl

    At five feet six inches , Rosa was taller than every other student in the sixth grade. She worried about this alt the time, in school and at home. Her mother told her to stand up straight and be proud that she was so tall and slim.
   "Someday , " her mother said , "you'11 be happy that you're tall. "
This made Rosa happier, but she was still afraid her classmates were making fun of her behind her back. One day , all this changed when Mr Ransom⁴, the coach from the youth club , asked Rosa to play center on their basketball team. He said that Rosa was a good ball player and her height would make her valuable as center. Now, she really was proud to be tall. She was someone special.

                                Questions on Text B

7. Read the following passage once. Underline⁵ the key words while reading and retell tbe story to your partner.

                               Better Be a Stupid Man
    It was a beautiful spring morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun was warm but not too hot . so Mr Andrews was surprised when saw an old gentleman at the bus-stop with a big, strong black umbrella i' his hand.
    Mr Andrews said to him, "Are we going to have rain today, do you think?"
    "No , " said the old gentleman , "I don't think so. "
    "Then are you carrying the umbrella to keep the sun off you?"
    "No, the sun is not very hot in spring. "
    Mr Andrews looked at the big umbrella again, and the gentleman said, "I am an old man, and my legs are not very strong, so I really need a walk- ing-stick. But when I carry a walking-stick, people say, `Look at that poor old man' , and I don't like that. When I carry an umbrella in fine weatber, people only say, `Look at that stupid man'. "
 
 

1 lane   

n.(乡间)小路(巷)；车(跑，泳)道；航道

参考例句：

• There is a shop at the end of this lane.这条胡同的顶头有一家商店。
• The champion is running in lane five.冠军跑在第五跑道上。

2 cement   

n.水泥；胶结材料；vt.粘结；巩固

参考例句：

• We need 100 tons of cement at most for this project.这项工程满打满算有一百吨水泥就足够了。
• Let's cement the parts together.咱们来把这些部件粘接在一起吧。

3 workmen   

n.技术工人，工匠( workman的名词复数 )；工人；工匠；工作者；体力劳动者

参考例句：

• The workmen sawed and hammered all day. 工人又锯又锤，干了整整一天。
• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人

4 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

5 underline   

n.下划线；加下划线；vt.在…下面划线；强调

参考例句：

• Underline all the sentences you do not know.在你不懂的所有句子下面划一条线。
• Please underline the noun clauses in the passage.请用线画出短文中的名词性从句。