时间:2018-11-28 作者:英语课 分类:疯狂英语2002年


英语课

 


 


School 1)volunteers don’t get paid money, but sometimes we receive special gifts. One morning, just before Christmas vacation, I was selling tickets to our grade school’s last evening performance of The Nutcracker. The evening before had been a 2)sellout. People had lined the walls of the 3)auditorium 1. Some had even 4)peeked in from outside to watch the show.


One of my customers that day was a parent. “I think it’s awful that I have to pay to see my own child perform,” she announced, 5)yanking a wallet from her purse.


“The school asks for a voluntary 6)donation 3 to help pay for scenery and costumes,” I explained, “but no one has to pay. You’re welcome to all the tickets you need.”


“Oh, I’ll pay,” she 7)grumbled. “Two adults and a child.”


She 8)plunked down a ten-dollar bill. I gave her the change and her tickets. She stepped aside, 9)fumbling with her purse. That’s when the boy waiting behind her emptied a pocketful of change onto the table.


“How many tickets?” I asked.


“I don’t need tickets,” he said. “I’m paying.” He pushed the coins across the table.


“But you’ll need tickets to see the show tonight.”


He shook his head. “I’ve already seen the show.”  


I pushed the pile of 10)nickels, 11)dimes and 12)quarters back. “You don’t have to pay to see the show with your class,” I told him. “That’s free.”


“No,” the boy insisted. “I saw it last night. My brother and I arrived late. We couldn’t find anyone to buy tickets from, so we just walked in.”


Lots of people in that crowd had probably “just walked in.” The few volunteers present couldn’t check everyone for a ticket. Who would argue, anyway? As I’d told the parent ahead of this boy, the donation was voluntary.


He pushed his money back to me. “I’m paying now, for last night,” he said.


I knew this boy and his brother must have squeezed 7 into the back of that crowd. And being late to boot, they couldn’t possibly have seen the whole show. I hated to take his money. A pile of coins in a kid’s hand is usually carefully saved 13)allowance 8 money.


“If the ticket table was closed when you got there, you couldn’t pay, I reasoned.


“That’s what my brother said.”


“Nobody knows the difference,” I assured 9 him. “Don’t worry about it.”


Thinking the matter was settled, I started to push the coins back. He put his hand on mine.


“I know the difference.”


For one silent moment our hands bridged the money.


Then I spoke 10. “Two tickets cost two dollars.”


The pile of coins added up to the correct amount. “Thank you,” I said.


The boy smiled, turned away and was gone.


“Excuse me.”


I looked up, surprised to see the woman who had bought her own tickets moments earlier. She was still there, purse open, change and tickets in hand.


“Why don’t you keep this change,” she said quietly. “The scenery is beautiful, and those costumes couldn’t have been cheap.” She handed me a few dollar bills, closed her purse and left.


Little did that boy know that he had given us both our first gift of the Christmas season. CE


 


14、没人知道其中不同


 


当学校义工是没有报酬的,但有时我们会收到特别的礼物。圣诞假期前的一天早上,我为学校最后一晚的演出《胡桃夹子》卖票。票在前一天晚上全卖光了。礼堂内的观众甚至有靠墙站着看的,有的甚至还从礼堂外往内窥望。


那天,有一位家长向我买票。我觉得这太糟糕了,来看自己的孩子表演竟然还得掏钱,她嚷嚷着,边从手提袋中猛地拽出钱包来。


学校募集自愿捐款来支付演出布景和服装的费用,我解释道,但付款不是强制性的。你想要什么票可以随便拿。


噢,我还是买吧,她嘟囔着说,两个大人一个小孩。


她扔下一张十元的钞票。我找了她零钱并给了票。她走到一边,翻着袋子。正在这时,一个在她后面等着的男孩将一口袋的零钱全倒出在桌面上。


几张?我问。


我不买票,他说,我是来交钱的。他把硬币推过桌子这边。


可今晚看演出是要票的。


他摇摇头:我已经看过演出了。


我推回那一堆硬币角子。你和同学看演出是不要钱的,我告诉他,那是免费的。


不,男孩坚持着,昨晚我就看过演出了。弟弟和我来晚了。我们找不到卖票的人,就自己走了进去。


好多观众或许都是自己走进去的。义工寥寥可数,没法查每个人的票。又有谁会为此争论呢?就像我对这男孩前面的那位家长说的一样,捐款是自愿性质的。


他把钱推回给我。现在我为昨晚看演出付钱,他说。


我知道这男孩和他弟弟一定是拼力才挤到观众后头。迟到的他们不可能看到完整的演出。我极不愿意收他的钱。小孩子手里的硬币一般都是从零花钱里辛辛苦苦才省出来的。


如果你到的时候售票处已经关了门,你就不用付钱了,我劝他。


我弟弟也是这么说的。


没人会知道这有什么不同,我安抚他,别担心。


我以为该说的都说清楚了,便把硬币推了回去。他把手放在我的手上,说:


我知道有不同。


在好一会儿的沉默中,我们将钱推来搡去。


然后我说∶两张票是两美元。


那堆硬币正好够这个数。谢谢,我说。


男孩微笑着转身走了。


打扰了。


我抬起头来,惊讶地看到是前面买了票的妇女。她还在那儿,手提袋开着,手里拿着零钱和票。


不如你留着这些零钱吧,她静静地说,布景很漂亮,再说那些服装也不会便宜。她给我递来几块钱,然后合起袋子离开了。


那男孩并不知道,他送给了我们俩第一份圣诞礼物。CE


 


 


 


1) volunteer [vClEn5tiE] n. 志愿者


2) sellout [sel-aut] n. 脱销,客满的演出


3) auditorium [C:di5tC:riEm] n. 礼堂,会堂


4) peek 2 [pi:k] v. 偷看


5) yank [jANk] v. 猛拉


6) donation [dEu5neiFEn] n. 捐款


7) grumble 4 [5grQmbEl] v. 嘟囔,抱怨


8) plunk [plQNk] v. 砰地投掷


9) fumble 11 [5fQmbl] v. 摸索,乱摸


10) nickel 5 [5nikEl] n. 五分硬币


11) dime 6 [daim] n. 一角硬币


12) quarter [5kwC:tEr] n. 两角五分钱硬币


13) allowance [E5lauEns] n. 津贴,补助


 




1 auditorium
n.观众席,听众席;会堂,礼堂
  • The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
  • The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出,伸入观众席。
2 peek
vi.偷看,窥视;n.偷偷的一看,一瞥
  • Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
  • Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛,别偷看。
3 donation
n.捐赠,捐献,捐助;捐赠物
  • She made a personal donation to the fund.她以个人名义向基金会捐款。
  • Then next big donation of musical instruments came from Germany.第二笔音乐乐器的大型捐助来自德国。
4 grumble
vi.抱怨;咕哝;n.抱怨,牢骚;咕哝,隆隆声
  • I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
  • He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。
5 nickel
n.镍,(美国和加拿大的)五分钱
  • Nickel can be used for making coins.镍可做成钱币。
  • May I have a nickel?能给我五分钱吗?
6 dime
n.(指美国、加拿大的钱币)一角
  • A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
  • The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。
7 squeezed
squeeze(挤压)的过去式与过去分词
  • freshly squeezed orange juice 鲜榨橙汁
  • They squeezed too many people into the small room. 他们把太多的人塞进这间小房间里。
8 allowance
n.津贴,补贴,零用钱
  • My monthly allowance is 50 yuan.我每月的津贴是50元。
  • I have to work to earn my allowance.我非得工作挣零用钱。
9 assured
a.确实的,深信的
  • He spoke in a calm, assured voice. 他冷静自信地说。
  • The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
10 spoke
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
11 fumble
vi.笨拙地用手摸、弄、接等,摸索
  • His awkwardness made him fumble with the key.由于尴尬不安,他拿钥匙开锁时显得笨手笨脚。
  • He fumbled his one-handed attempt to light his cigarette.他笨拙地想用一只手点燃香烟。
学英语单词
acetobutylicum
adverse drug events
after - sale service department
akasic
angelism
anorchus
answering machine
antipodists
antipyrino-caffeinum citricum
auto-Transfusion
Axenfeld's test
Bashir
black-on-black
bolometric method
Bolshevize, bolshevized
Burry Inlet
chopper spectrophotometer
clotbusters
combination carrier
complementary MOS integrated circuit
consolatory
critical magnetic flux density
Current Coupon
decline of water table
detonation wave
diareses
direct coupling system
direito
Doppler navigation system
dot speed
eacc
ECE
Edwin Drood
efficiency expert
electron-pair production
ever-handy
fancy for
feigned issue
fjord oceanography
flax dodder
fordist model
full-louvered door
functional assembly
further development
genus batrachosepss
genus Helipterum
group incentive plan
haulered
home-repair
icteric phthisis
indexlink
infidels
international liquidity units
Isocainide
isogredient
Jewified
longitude difference
major conjugate arc
man made satellite
means of fastening
megahenry
Middendorfa, Mys
minister of economic affairs
Morro, R.
NEC necessary
nonvascular organisms
nuculana husamaru
overlay contact
parameter model
pop-up missile
Pulindas
pump surging
relative degree of development
Republic of Finland
Richard Haldane
running set
Rupert
Ruppia maritima
sack trucks
safety colour
sanitoriums
satellite position
seven-card stud
shaped joist
shoot-em-up
singularity line
splittail
step up n.
superintending
supersalts
swine rearing
talipes planus
Tintigny
transprosed
uncollegiate
ungroup
value broker
waive sb off
X-Machine
You never know your luck.
zinc dichromate