多功能英语阅读10 Self-Glorifying

Lucky

I was an electrician at a nickel mine on a plateau in southern Boone Province

on the last Friday of September 1996. It was a little cold for September, and fall

was definitely in the air.

While I was in the shop office talking to a customer, I noticed a small dirty

white ball of fur in the corner, no bigger than a softball. It turned out to be a

puppy. It was one of the shop dog's puppies.

You see, every nickel mine has a shop dog. It's a dog that's wandered in, or

was dropped off by somebody, and it's been adopted by the porters and welders¹. It

usually lives around the shop, though occasionally one of the employees will take

it home, if it's sick, or extraordinarily² cold.

This particular shop has a female shop dog. A typical Boone hound--about 5

pounds of dirty fur, and as friendly as any animal could be. I'd seen this dog a few

times on my trips to this nickel mine.

On one of its trips home, the shop dog had apparently³ gotten pregnant, because

it had four offspring; born at the mine slum. According to the earnest superintendent⁴

I was talking to, three of the puppies had been eaten by bears, and this

was the last puppy.

The superintendent told me that shop dog was taken home, but that no

one wanted to take this puppy, so he offered it to me. I thanked him, but

declined. I love dogs, but I didn't really have a home suitable for a dog.

I left and went home.

That evening at dinner, I told my wife and daughter about the puppy, and the

story behind it. They both gave me ten kinds of hell for not bringing the puppy

home. I assured them that this puppy was just too cute to leave behind, and I

was sure someone would take it.

I thought about that puppy every day.

The following Wednesday was a cold, rainy early October day. At about 2:00

in the afternoon I was traveling down a haul road at a different nickel mine when I

saw a dong limping up the side of the rode. It had been hit by some vehicle, probably

a nickel lorry. My heart tugged⁵. It was cold, and rainy, and all I could think

about was that little puppy. So...off I went. It's about 100 miles between these

nickel mines, so, by the time I got there, it was dusk. I stopped at a supermarket

on the way to buy two hamburgers, figuring this puppy, if it was still there (and

alive), had to be hungry. I drove up to the top of the mountain, only to find the

gate closed. I turned my little truck around and backed into it. Even though it bent⁶

my bumper⁷ a bit, it wasn't that difficult to knock down. I made it to the shop around

dusk. That was the last place I'd seen the puppy. I didn't bring a flashlight,

so I wandered around quickly trying to find it before it got dark. I looked for

quite a while, carrying the hamburgers, hoping that would help find him. In case

you don't know, bears have an sense of smell. I knew that every bear for two

miles around could smell those hamburgers. I didn't find the puppy. I sat back

down in my truck. It was almost dark. I turned on my headlights, and, as I was

sitting there wondering what to do, figuring that I was too late, I saw this little

wisp of white. I could make out the little puppy's tail wagging.

On the way down the hill, I passed a black bear coming up.

When I got him home, I gave him a bath in the washtub in the basement. He

was nasty, covered in nickel dust. He looked pitiful, but fluffy⁸ as a feather

duster. My wife and daughter instantly fell in love with him.

But, I had still decided⁹ that weren't going to keep him. We just didn't

have a house for a dog. I knew that once I took him to the pound, he was too

cute for someone not to adopt.

The next day I took him to the veterinarian. I figured I'd get him checked by

a vet¹⁰ before I took him to the pound. I think in my own way I was debating with

myself. He was a cute little guy, and I love dogs.

The vet examined him. He weighed several pounds, had parasites¹¹ such as

ticks, and was barely ten weeks old. She asked me "you're a lucky little dog,"

and he licked her. And I cried. And I knew right then that I had a dog.

Not only that, but the vet named him "Lucky" too.

I guess maybe he is lucky that i found him. But, to tell you the truth, I

think I'm the lucky one.

1 welders   

n.焊接工( welder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifty welders were declared redundant. 已公布削减五十名焊工。 来自辞典例句
• Arcs more readily than AC welders, with longer arcing. 起弧比交流电容易，电弧加长一倍。 来自互联网

2 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

5 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

7 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

8 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

11 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。