365个英语简短小故事-309. “Read All about It!”

PLOP! Alfred woke up, and immediately knew why he was awake—the paperboy. It was 5:30 a.m. A while later, he finally got back to sleep. Later that morning, he made a phone call. The customer service rep asked if he could help. Alfred couldn’t believe his ears; the rep had an Indian accent. Alfred was calling to complain about the Los Angeles Times, and he was talking to someone in India!

He told the rep to tell the paperboy to deliver the paper quietly—at 5:30 a.m. Alfred, like most normal human beings, was trying to sleep. The rep apologized, saying that he would notify¹ the route² supervisor³. Alfred said that this was the fourth time he had called in the last three weeks. He said he wanted to talk to the supervisor directly⁴. The rep said that he would leave a message for the supervisor to call Alfred. Alfred rolled his eyes; he had heard this before. He was beginning to wonder if a “route supervisor” even existed. By 6:00 p.m., the route supervisor hadn’t called.

That night, Alfred set his alarm for 5:20 a.m. The next morning, he walked downstairs. A few minutes later, the paperboy drove⁵ up. He ran over to Alfred’s apartment building. When he saw Alfred standing⁶ there, he handed him the paper. Alfred told him to stop throwing the paper onto the steps.

“You are waking me up. Place the paper on the steps quietly. Do not throw it—place it, okay?” The paperboy nodded, and ran back to his car. At 5:30 the next morning, Alfred woke up. The paper had just been thrown onto the steps. He heard the car drive off. Enough was enough. Even though he loved the convenience of home delivery⁷, Alfred’s sleep was far more valuable to him. Starting tomorrow, he would read the Times online.

 

1 notify   

vt.通知，告知，报告

参考例句：

• The court clerk will notify the witness when and where to appear.法院办事员将通知证人出庭的时间及地点。
• He will notify us where we are to meet.他将通知我们在什么地方集合。

2 route   

n.路径，途径，路线；vt.确定路线，按规定路线发送

参考例句：

• On the way home, we took an indirect route.回家的路上，我们绕了一个大圈。
• The plane did not fly the usual commercial route.飞机没有沿通常的商业航线飞。

3 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

4 directly   

adv.直接地，径直地；马上，立即

参考例句：

• I will telephone you directly I hear the news.我一听到消息，马上打电话给你。
• She answered me very directly and openly.她非常坦率地、开门见山地答复了我。

5 drove   

vbl.驾驶，drive的过去式；n.畜群

参考例句：

• He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
• They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。

6 standing   

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。

7 delivery   

n.交付；投递；分娩；解救者；演讲的风格

参考例句：

• The strike caused a great delay in the delivery of the mail.这次罢工严重地延误了邮件的投递。
• He was employed at the local grocery store as a delivery boy.他受雇于当地杂货店当送货员。