多功能英语阅读01 The Toy

The Toy

It was 1952 and my father was away at war,leaving my mother and me behind to face hardship alone.I was ten.My mother was a surgeon and worked at the local clinic a few blocks from where we lived.We both resided in a medieval apartment in the city.It was noisy and cold in the winter,whereas humid in the summer.My mother argued with the landlord constantly,as did the other tenants¹.To their dismay,the landlord made promises,which he never kept.My mother's only revenge for this devil was that he would burn in hell someday.I learned a valuable lesson that year which carries on to this day.

The bell rang and thoughts of Christmas were the only thing on my mind.I raced home from school in the fresh snow that fell while i was in school.It lay there on the ground,white and smooth,waiting for my boots to disturb its beauty.I stopped briefly² to gather some snow in my hands,packing ti tight,then I threw it at Susie as I ran past her.

"Danny,I'm telling your mother on you,"she cried.I laughed and run away.

The five-story building where I lived was made of brown bricks.There was a large,cement stoop in front of the building as you entered.A spiral staircase reached up to our apartment and continued to the top of the building.At the very top of the steps was a door that led you to the terrace.The summer brought many parties up there.Sometime I would go up there and watch old man Macinni tending to his pigeons.

The apartment was enpty when I arrived and a note was attached to the refrigerator.My mother was working a double shift and left me instructions for the day.I became angry and ripped the note in several pieces.We had planned on making Christmas biscuits and apple pies together,but my mother spoiled it by working.

I sulked for several minutes,and then realized I was alone.My mother hid the Christmas presents somewhere in her bedroom and I found this to be the perfect opportunity to investigate.I carefully rummaged³ through her closet,finding most of the gifts wrapped in linen⁴ cloth.All but one toy,a model airplane.

I took the airplane to the living room and played with it for a long time.I was still mad at my mother and I hurled⁵ the airplane into the air.I was so crisp and crashed down on the floor,breaking one of its wings.

I stood frozen with my eyes and mouth wide open,staring down at the plane.Oh boy,am I in trouble!Picking up the broken parts of the plane,I thought,how was I going to explain this?I had not got even a coin in my pocket.Where did my mother buy the plane?How can I make some money to replace it? Who would give me a job now? On Chrismas Eve! Then I heard my mother coming through the door. This is awful! Why was she coming home now? I raced to my room, hiding the broken plane under my sweater.

"Danny?"

"Yeah Mom?" I came home to take a present to one of my patients," she shouted back at me.

I sat on my bed, unable to come up with a good explanation for the toy missing in her closet. The silence was torture. I did not hear my mother asking herself, where did that toy go? Or yell for me to come in her room. All I heard was a gentle knock on my door. I slowly went to the door and opened it. My mother stood there, leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded in front of her. She stared at the lump that protruded⁶ from my belly⁷.

After telling my mother the horrible truth, she made me put my coat on and told me to follow her. We left bowed down as we walked. The avenue was illuminated⁸ with Chrismas lights. People busied the streets with their arms full of packages. I thought they all were staring at me for the terrible thing I had done. I knew why my mother was taking me to she worked. The county clinic bore many tales.

Climbing the steps without catching⁹ our breath,we entered the clinic. We climbed more steps and reached the floor where my mother worked. Several nurses my mother knew greeted us with a "Merry Christmas". My mother returned the greetings without stopping as we continued down a lobby. We stopped outside a ward¹⁰ and I peeked¹¹ inside the dim ward. There in a bed was a lad who looked very sick.

"That boy is going to die, Danny," my mother told me."Possibly today, maybe tomorrow. He loves planes. I knew his mother could not afford to buy him one. So I did. I count my blessings¹² every night and think of this boy and how grateful I am that you are not in that bed."

The words cut hard and sharp in my heart. The tears rolled down my face and I was so guilty. I ran as fast as I could, down the lobby and out of the clinic. I ran home and into my room where I cried myself to sleep.

Nowadays, 30 years have elapsed, I am sitting behind my desk at my electronic enterprise, waiting for my wife. Susie and I married when we graduated from high school. On Christmas Eve, Susie and I take toys for the little infants at the local shelters. Hitherto, we have never missed this seasonal¹³ tradition.

1 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

2 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

3 rummaged   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查

参考例句：

• I rummaged through all the boxes but still could not find it. 几个箱子都翻腾遍了也没有找到。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods. 海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

4 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

5 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 protruded   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The child protruded his tongue. 那小孩伸出舌头。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The creature's face seemed to be protruded, because of its bent carriage. 那人的脑袋似乎向前突出，那是因为身子佝偻的缘故。 来自英汉文学

7 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

8 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

9 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

10 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

11 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

12 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。