Lesson 25
      Do the English speak English?
           英国人讲的是英语吗？

    First listen and then answer the question.
    听录音，然后回答以下问题。
    Why does the writer not understand the porter?

    I arrived in London at last. The railway station was big, black and dark. I did not know the way to my hotel, so I asked a porter. I not only spoke English very carefully, but very clearly as well. The porter, however, could not understand me. I repeated my question several times and at last he understood. he answered me, but he spoke neither slowly nor clearly. 'I am a foreigner,' I said. Then he spoke slowly, but I could not understand him. My teacher never spoke English like that! The porter and I looked at each other and smiled. Then he said something and I understood it. 'You'll soon learn English!' he said. I wonder. In England, each person speaks a different language. The English understand each other, but I don't understand them! Do they speak English?

New words and expressions 生词和短语

railway  n. 铁路
porter  n. 搬运工
several  quantifier 几个
foreigner  n. 外国人
wonder  v. 感到奇怪

参考译文

    我终于到了伦敦。火车站很大，又黑又暗。我不知道去饭店的路该怎么走，于是向一个搬运工打听。我的英语讲得不但非常认真，而且咬字也非常清楚。然而搬运工却不明白我的话。我把问话重复了很多遍。他终于听懂了。他回答了，但他讲得既不慢也不清楚。“我是个外国人，”我说。于是他说得慢了，可我还是听不懂。我的老师从来不那样讲英语！我和搬运工相视一笑。接着，他说了点什么，这回我听懂了。“您会很快学会英语的！”他说。我感到奇怪。在英国，人们各自说着一种不同的语言。英国人之间相互听得懂，可我却不懂他们的话！他们说的是英语吗？

 
                Lesson 26
          The best art critics
             最佳艺术评论家

    First listen and then answer the question.
    听录音，然后回答以下问题。
    Who is the student's best critic?

    I am an art student and I paint a lot of pictures. Many people pretend that they understand modern art. They always tell you what a picture is 'about'. Of course, many pictures are not 'about' anything. They are just pretty patterns. We like them in the same way that we like pretty curtain material. I think that young children often appreciate modern pictures better than anyone else. They notice more. My sister is only seven, but she always tells me whether my pictures are good or not. She came into my room yesterday.
    'What are you doing?' she asked.
    'I'm hanging this picture on the wall,' I answered. 'It's a new one. Do you like it?'
    She looked at it critically for a moment. 'It's all right,' she said, 'but isn't it upside down?'
    I looked at it again. She was right! It was!

New words and expressions 生词和短语

art  n. 艺术
critic  n. 评论家
paint  v. 画
pretend  v. 假装
pattern  n. 图案
curtain  n. 窗帘，幕布
material  n. 材料
appreciate  v. 鉴赏
notice  v. 注意到
whether  conj. 是否
hang  v. 悬挂，吊
critically  adv. 批评地
upside down 上下颠倒地

参考译文

    我是个学艺术的学生，画了很多画。有很多人装成很懂现代艺术的样子，总是告诉你一幅画的“意思”是什么。当然，有很多画是什么“意思”也没有的。它们就是些好看的图案，我们喜爱它们就像我们喜欢漂亮的窗帘布一样。我觉得小孩子们往往比任何人都更能欣赏现代绘画，他们观察到的东西更多。我的妹妹只有7岁，但她总能说出我的画是好还是坏。昨天她到我房里来了。

 
                Lesson 27
               A wet night
                  雨夜

    First listen and then answer the question.
    听录音，然后回答以下问题。
    What happened to the boys in the night?

    Late in the afternoon, the boys put up their tent in the middle of a field. As soon as this was done, they cooked a meal over an open fire. They were all hungry and the food smelled good. After a wonderful meal, they told stories and sang songs by the campfire. But some time later it began to rain. The boys felt tired so they put out the fire and crept into their tent. Their sleeping bags were warm and comfortable, so they all slept soundly. In the middle of the night, two boys woke up and began shouting. The tent was full of water! They all leapt out of their sleeping bags and hurried outside. It was raining heavily and they found that a stream had formed in the field. The stream wound its way across the field and then flowed right under their tent!