The Bear，the Monkey and the Pig
A bear，with which a piedmontese earned his living，was trying out on two feet a dance which he had not learned very well．Wishing to act like a man，he said to a monkey，“How is it？”The monkey，who was a connoisseur，answered，“Very bad．”
“I believe，”replied the bear，“that you are not very kind to me．What，my appearance is not graceful 1？I do not do the step accurately 2？”
The pig was present and said，“Bravo！You are doing well．Amore excellent dancer has never been seen，nor will be seen．”
The bear，on hearing this，took stock of himself，and in a modest manner，exclaimed thus：
“When the monkey disapproved 3 of me，I began to doubt；but since the pig praised me，I must have danced very badly．”
Let an author keep this maxim 4 as his gift：If the wise man does not approve，bad！If the fool applauds，worse！
Exercises：
回答下列问题：
① What did the bear want to do？
② What did the monkey think about his dancing？
③ What did the pig think about his dancing？
④ What did the bear think of his dancing after he heard what the pig and the monkey said？
- His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
- The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。
- It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
- Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。
- My parents disapproved of my marriage. 我父母不赞成我的婚事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing. 她不赞成儿子不加选择地收看电视。 来自《简明英汉词典》