高中英语人教版必修第三册20

[00:01.28]Miss Aurelie lived alone on the farm all her life.
[00:06.82]She never thought of marring, and she had never been in love.
[00:11.55]At the age of twenty she was shed¹ to marry somebody, but she did not accept,
[00:17.01]and at the age of fifty she had not yet lived to regret it.
[00:21.45]So she was quite alone in the world, except for her dog,
[00:25.70]the negroes² who lived with her and worked her crops,
[00:29.18]the chickens, a few cow, her gun and her religion.
[00:34.04]One morning Miss Aurelie’s young neighbor came to her,
[00:38.03]accompanied by her four small children.
[00:40.96]She carried the little baby in her arms and dragged the youngest son by an unwilling³ hand,
[00:47.83]while two little girls followed behind.
[00:50.96]Her face was red from tears.
[00:53.50]She had been called to a neighboring village to take care of her sick mother while her husband was away in Texas.
[01:01.23]She came to ask Miss Aurelie to take care of the children while she was away.
[01:06.59]After she had left,
[01:07.92]Miss Aurelie stood looking at the children,
[01:10.95]and thought of a plan of how to take care of them.
[01:14.06]She began by feeding them.
[01:16.62]If Miss Aurelie’s responsibilities⁴ had begun and ended there,
[01:20.67]it would have been easy, because there was enough food in the house.
[01:24.90]But little children are not little pigs:
[01:27.93]they require and demand attention and care for, which Miss Aurelie was not prepared.
[01:33.86]She was, indeed, very bad in her management of the children during the first few days.
[01:40.18]How could she know that the oldest girl always wept⁵ when spoken to in a loud and commanding tone⁶ of voice?
[01:48.04]She became used to little boy’s love of flowers only after he had picked all the most beautiful ones from the garden to study their botanical⁷ construction.
[01:58.60]At night, when she ordered them one and all to bed,
[02:02.72]they kept standing⁸ before her, as if they didn’t understand.
[02:07.06]Only after Miss Aurlie had given them a bath,
[02:10.30]told the little boy a bed-time story and sang sweet songs to the little baby,did they al fall asleep.
[02:17.93]Taking care of a small band of such young children is not easy for a woman of little experience.
[02:25.35]Miss aurelie learnt something every day,
[02:28.38]and by the end of two weeks she had grown quite sued⁹ to these things,
[02:33.23]and she no longer complained.
[02:35.06]It was also at the end of two weeks that Miss Aurelie, one evening saw the children’s young mother coming from the railway station.
[02:43.89]As she drew near, the young woman’s face showed that her home-coming was a happy one.
[02:50.03]But her coming, neither announced nor expected,
[02:54.18]made Miss Aurelie very upset.
[02:56.54]The children had to be found.
[02:58.57]Where was the naughty boy?
[03:00.61]Where were the two girls?
[03:03.04]As for the baby, she was safe enough in Miss Aurelie’s arms;
[03:07.38]and she had screamed with delight¹⁰ at sight of the familiar blue wagon¹¹ which was bringing her mother back to her.
[03:14.82]The excitement was all over, and they were gone.
[03:18.97]How quiet it was when they were gone!
[03:21.53]Miss Aurelie stood in front of her farm house, looking and listening.
[03:26.29]She could no longer see the cart¹². She could no longer hear the noise of its wheels,
[03:32.24]but she could still hear the glad voices of the children in the distance.
[03:37.00]She went into the house.
[03:39.45]There was much work to be done, for the children and made a mess,
[03:44.08]but she did not immediately start cleaning up.
[03:46.13]Miss Aurelie seated herself beside the table.
[03:49.68]She looked around, and then she let her head fall down upon her bended arm, and began to cry.
[03:57.02]Oh how she cried!
[03:59.27]Not softly¹³, as women often do.
[04:02.40]She cried very loudly.
[04:05.04]She did not notice her dog licking her hand

1 shed   

n.车棚，小屋，脱落之物，分水岭；vt.使流出，放射，脱落，散发，摆脱；vi. 流出

参考例句：

• There are a lot of straws in the shed.棚子里有许多稻草。
• His nose told him that he was getting near the cow shed.他的嗅觉告诉他，他正走近牛棚。

2 Negroes   

n.黑种人，黑人( Negro的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• White supremacists devise new Methods: To disenfranchise Negroes. 白人至上论者想出新的方法以剥夺黑人的公民权。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Abraham Lincoln called on his people to fight for freedom for all—Negroes and Whites. 亚伯拉罕·林肯号召他的人民为所有的人——黑人和白人的自由而战斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

4 responsibilities   

责任( responsibility的名词复数 )； 职责； 责任感； 责任心

参考例句：

• the disproportion between the extra responsibilities and the small salary increase 额外的责任与小幅增加的薪金之间的不相称
• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。

5 wept   

（通常因悲伤）哭泣( weep的过去式和过去分词 )； 流泪； 悲哀； 哀悼

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears, and wept freely. 她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• She wept bitter tears over the loss of her lover. 她为失去了恋人而哭泣。

6 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。

7 botanical   

adj.植物学的；n.植物性药材

参考例句：

• I am not very familiar with botanical names.我不太熟悉植物学方面的名称。
• How many stops are there to the Botanical Garden?去植物园要坐几站？

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 sued   

v.（为要求赔偿损失而）起诉( sue的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；请求；要求（尤用于法庭）

参考例句：

• The company sued for defamation. 这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。
• He sued the newspaper for libel. 他起诉那家报社犯有诽谤罪。

10 delight   

n.高兴，愉快；vt.给（某人）乐趣；使愉快；vi.喜爱

参考例句：

• Your new book is a real delight!你的新书真讨人喜欢！
• He takes delight in annoying me.他以惹我生气为乐。

11 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

12 cart   

n.（二轮或四轮）运货马车，手推车；vt.用马车装载，用手提（笨重物品），强行带走

参考例句：

• We use this to cart the goods.我们用这个来拉运货物。
• Let's go over and help them pull the cart.咱们过去帮他们拉车。

13 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。