背诵为王 第 三 册 第 52 课

Lesson52 A Lesson of Life
Mrs. Hammond was old and blind, but she was very independent¹ and tried to dothings by herself. She would go for long walks alone once a day and was ableto find her way back by using her guiding stick. She had never lost her wayuntil this day.
This day when she was out for a walk, she found the trees on her pathsmissing because some villagers² had cut them down. So she couldn't find herway back. Before she knew what to do, she heard the sound of water near herfeet. "Water?" she said aloud to herself. "I must be on a bridge. I"ve beentold that there's a river nearby, but I'm not familiar³ with its exactposition. How can I get back from here?"At once she heard a man's friendly voice near her. It said "excuse me, can Ihelp you?
"How kind of you! Mrs. Hammond answered. "Yes, please. I'm afraid I've gotlost. Can you please help me get home?
"Certainly," the man answered. And they began walking. The man took Mrs.
Hammond to her house, and she invited him in and told the man how gratefulshe was that she had met him.
"Don't thank me," he answered. "I want to thank you.""Thank me?" Mrs. Hammond said. "What for?""Well," the man answered, "I was trying to throw myself intothe river and drown⁴ myself. But I'm not going to do it now."

生命的教训
 　　哈蒙德夫人又老又盲，但她很独立，尽量自己做事。她每天都要独自到较远的地方散步一次，因为有导路棍，所以能找回家。她从未迷过路，直到有一天。
这天哈蒙德夫人出去散步，因为村民砍倒了她每天走的小路上的树，她发现树不见了。
这下她找不回去了。就在不知道该怎么办时，她听见脚边有流水声。“有水？”她大声嘀咕。“我准是在桥上，别人告诉过我附近有条小河，可我并不知道它的准确位置。这可怎么回去呢？”
立刻一个男人友善的声音在她耳边响起：“需要帮忙吗？”
“您真好！”哈蒙德夫人答道。“是的，谢谢。我怕是迷路了。您能帮我回到家吗？”
“没问题，”男子说。然后他们开始走，男子把哈蒙德夫人送到家门口，哈蒙德夫人邀他进屋，并说她非常高兴遇到他。
“别谢我，”男子说道，“我要谢谢你。”
“谢我？”哈蒙德夫人问，“为什么谢我？”
“嗯，”男子说，“我刚才正要跳河自溺，但现在不想了。”

1 independent   

adj.独立自主的；不须依赖的，不受约束的

参考例句：

• He is very far from being independent.他现在还远不能自立。
• We must fight for independent and free.我们必须为独立和自由而奋斗。

2 villagers   

n.在乡村住的人，村民( villager的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The powerful lords were guilty of grinding the villagers under their heels. 那些大领主的罪过是以权势欺压村民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war. 在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 familiar   

adj.熟悉的，常见的，亲密的；n.熟友，常客

参考例句：

• I've only just come here.I'm still not familiar with the work.刚到这里，工作很生。
• The man seemed familiar,but I could not quite place him.这人很面熟，但是我记不清在哪儿见过他。

4 drown   

vt.淹没，淹死；使沉湎，使迷恋

参考例句：

• The loud cheers drown out his shouts.欢呼声盖过了他的喊叫声。
• Don't play by the river in case you fall in and drown!不要在河边玩耍，以免你掉到河里淹死。