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大学英语精读第一册 Unit Five: A Miserable,Merry Christmas

时间:2005-04-20 16:00来源:互联网 提供网友:鱼尾巴   字体: [ ]
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TEXT

A miserable1 and merry Christmas? How could it be?

A Miserable, Merry Christmas

Christmas was coming. I wanted a pony2. To make sure that my parents understood, I declared that I wanted noting else.
"Nothing but a pony?" my father asked.
"Nothing," I said.
"Not even a pair of high boots?"
That was hard. I did want boots, but I stuck to the pony. "No, not even boots."
"Nor candy? There ought to be something to fill your stocking with, and Santa Claus can't put a pony into a stocking,"
That was true, and he couldn't lead a pony down the chimney either . But no. "All I want is a pony," I said. "If I can't have a pony, give me nothing, nothing."
On Christmas Eve I hung up my stocking along with my sisters.
The next morning my sisters and I woke up at six. Then we raced downstairs to the fireplace3. And there they were, the gifts, all sorts of wonderful things, mixed-up piles of presents. Only my stocking was empty; it hung limp4; not a thing in it; and under and around it -- nothing. My sisters had knelt down, each by her pile of gifts; they were crying with delight, till they looked up and saw me standing5 there looking so miserable. They came over to me and felt my stocking: nothing.
I don't remember whether I cried at that moment, but my sisters did. They ran with me back to my bed, and there we all cried till I became indignant6. That helped some. I got up, dressed, and driving my sisters away, I went out alone into the stable, and there, all by myself, I wept. My mother came out to me and she tried to comfort me. But I wanted no comfort. She left me and went on into the house with sharp words for my father.
My sisters came to me, and I was rude. I ran away from them. I went around to the front of the house, sat down on the steps, and, the crying over, I ached. I was wronged, I was hurt. And my father must have been hurt, too, a little. I saw him looking out of the window. He was watching me or something for an hour or two, drawing back the curtain so little lest I catch him, but I saw his face, and I think I can see now the anxiety upon on it, the worried impatience7.
After an hour or two, I caught sight of a man riding a pony down the street, a pony and a brand-new saddle; the most beautiful saddle I ever saw, and it was a boy's saddle. And the pony! As he drew near, I saw that the pony was really a small horse, with a black mane and tail, and one white foot and a white star on his forehead. For such a horse as that I would have given anything.
But the man came along, reading the numbers on the houses, and, as my hopes -- my impossible hopes -- rose, he looked at our door and passed by, he and the pony, and the saddle. Too much, I fell upon the steps and broke into tears. Suddenly I heard a voice.
"Say, kid," it said, "do you know a boy named Lennie Steffens?"
I looked up. It was the man on the pony, back again.
"Yes," I spluttered through my tears. "That's me."
"Well," he said, "then this is your horse. I've been looking all over for you and your house. Why don't you put your number where it can be seen?"
"Get down," I said, running out to him. I wanted to ride.
He went on saying something about "ought to have got here at seven o'clock, but--"
I hardly heard, I could scarcely wait. I was so happy, so thrilled. I rode off up the street. Such a beautiful pony. And mine! After a while I turned and trotted9 back to the stable. There was the family, father, mother, sisters, all working for me, all happy. They had been putting in place the tools of my new business: currycomb, brush, pitchfork -- everything, and there was hay in the loft10.
But that Christmas, which my father had planned so carefully, was it the best or the worst I ever knew? He often asked me that; I never could answer as a boy. I think now that it was both. It covered the whole distance from broken-hearted misery11 to bursting happiness -- too fast, A grown-up could hardly have stood it.

NEW WORDS

miserable
a. causing unhappiness; very unhappy 悲惨的
merry
a. cheerful, full of lively happiness, fun, etc. 欢乐的,愉快的
pony
n. a small horse 矮种马;小马
boot
n. 长统靴
candy
n. (AmE) sweets 糖果
sticking
n. 长(统)袜
chimney
n. 烟囱
eve
n. 前夕
fireplace
n. 壁炉
mixed-up
a. (different things) put together 混合的,混杂的
limp
a. soft; not stiff12 or firm 软的;松沓的
kneel
v. go down or remain on the knee(S) 跪下
indignant
a. angry at sth. unfair 气愤的;愤慨的
stable
n. building for keeping and feeding animals, esp. horses 马厩
weep
v. cry 哭泣;流泪
rude
a. not at all polite 粗鲁的,不礼貌的
wrong
vt. treat unjustly 委屈
curtain
n. 窗帘
lest
conj. for fear that 唯恐,以免 
anxiety
n. fear caused by uncertainty13 about sth. 焦虑
impatience
n. inability to wait calmly 不耐烦,急躁
patience
n.
brand
n. 商标,牌子
brand-new
a. entirely14 new and unused 崭新的
saddle
n. 马鞍
mane
n. 马鬃
forehead
n. that part of the face above the eyes and below the hair 前额
kid
n. child
splutter
v. speak quickly and confusedly (from excitement, etc.) 语无伦次地说
scarcely
ad. hardly, almost not 几乎不,简直不
scarce
a.
thrill
vt. excite greatly 使非常激动
trot8
vi. run or ride slowly, with short steps (马)小跑
currycomb
n. a special comb used to rub and clean a horse 马梳
pitchfork     
n. 干草叉
hay
n. dried grass 干草
loft
n. a room over a stable, where hay is kept 草料棚
broken-hearted
a. filled with grief15; very sad 心碎的;极其伤心的
misery
n. the state of being very unhappy, poor, ill, lonely, etc. 悲惨;不幸;苦难
happiness
n. the state of being happy 快乐;幸福
grown-up
a. & n. (of) an adult person 成人(的)

PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS

make sure
ct so as to make something certain 确保;查明
nothing but
nothing other than; only 除了...以外没有什么;仅仅,只不过
stick to
refuse to give up or change 坚持,不放弃
hang up
fix (sth,) at a high place so that it does not touch the ground 挂起
or something
(used when the speaker is not sure) 诸如此类
catch sight of
see suddenly or for a moment 看到,发现
draw near
mover near 接近
break into
suddenly start (to cry, laugh, etc.) 突然...起来
in place
in the right place 在适当的位置

PROPER NAMES

Santa Claus   
  圣诞老人
Christmas Eve 
  圣诞前夜
Lennie Steffens  
 伦尼.斯蒂芬斯


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
2 pony Au5yJ     
adj.小型的;n.小马
参考例句:
  • His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
  • They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。
3 fireplace YjUxz     
n.壁炉,炉灶
参考例句:
  • The fireplace smokes badly.这壁炉冒烟太多。
  • I think we should wall up the fireplace.我想应该封住壁炉。
4 limp X9DzZ     
adj.软弱的,无精神的,松沓的;vi.蹒跚;n.跛行
参考例句:
  • His limp is result of a car accident last year.他的跛足是去年一次车祸所致的结果。
  • He gave her a limp,cold handshake.他有气无力且冷淡地与她握了一下手。
5 standing 2hCzgo     
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。
6 indignant 2bGzq     
adj.愤怒的,愤慨的,义愤的
参考例句:
  • The indignant customer complained to the manager.那个愤怒的顾客向经理投诉。
  • Even a written apology failed to placate the indignant hostess.甚至一纸书面道歉都没能安抚这个怒气冲冲的女主人。
7 impatience OaOxC     
n.不耐烦,急躁
参考例句:
  • He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢,他显得不耐烦。
  • He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。
8 trot aKBzt     
n.疾走,慢跑;n.老太婆;现成译本;(复数)trots:腹泻(与the 连用);v.小跑,快步走,赶紧
参考例句:
  • They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
  • The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。
9 trotted 6df8e0ef20c10ef975433b4a0456e6e1     
小跑,急走( trot的过去分词 ); 匆匆忙忙地走
参考例句:
  • She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
  • Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。
10 loft VkhyQ     
n.阁楼,顶楼
参考例句:
  • We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
  • By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下,他们就可以多出两间卧室。
11 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
12 stiff 4G8z4     
adj.严厉的,激烈的,硬的,僵直的,不灵活的
参考例句:
  • There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
  • You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活,你必须用力推才能转动它。
13 uncertainty NlFwK     
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物
参考例句:
  • Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
  • After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后,压力开始产生影响了。
14 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
15 grief DfHxP     
n.悲伤,悲痛,悲伤的事,悲痛的缘由
参考例句:
  • Don't allow yourself to sink into grief,it can do no good.不要使自己陷入悲哀之中,这样一点好处也没有。
  • After her mother died,she abandoned herself to grief.母亲死后,她沉浸于悲痛之中。
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