[00:00.00]Lesson 11   Christmas Spirit
[00:28.10]It was two days before Christmas.
[00:32.02]Everything went wrong with me.
[00:35.62]I was due at my post--the toy department at K-Mart--at eight.
[00:41.40]But I was ten minutes late,because I overslept.
[00:45.79]At ten o'clock the front doors of K-Mart opened.
[00:50.69]The flood of shoppers edged along to the toy department.
[00:55.78]Soon they began shouting in my ears,pushing me around or demanding angrily.
[01:02.86]I got used to it.
[01:05.81]It was an unpleasant duty for them to buy Christmas gifts for their kids.
[01:12.00]The Christmas spirit had disappeared.
[01:16.08]And it was the same for me.
[01:19.56]I still had to finish my Christmas shopping that evening.
[01:24.65]Yes!Christmas didn't mean much any more to us,
[01:29.54]except more work and headaches.
[01:33.43]Suddenly I felt a gentle touch on my arm and I turned round.
[01:39.22]It was one of the two kids I had been keeping an eye on for a while.
[01:45.00]He and his little sister had been looking at the cheapest toys.
[01:50.30]Before I even bent down to listen to him,
[01:54.89]I checked around for his sister.
[01:58.97]I thought he might be playing some trick on me while his sister stole something.
[02:05.16]I didn't see her,
[02:08.04]and the boy also seemed to be looking about to make sure she wasn't around.
[02:14.33]"Excuse me,sir.
[02:17.42]Do you think this would be a good gift for my little sister?"
[02:22.80] pointing at a bottle of soap bubble liquid. he said,
[02:26.88]"I don't want her to know about it,"
[02:30.48]he whishpered before I could even answer.
[02:34.58]He weemed to be sure that she would love it.
[02:38.88]So I just agreed with him and didn't say anything.
[02:43.68]He put his hand in the worn-out jeans and took out a handful of pennies.
[02:50.16]The bottle cost fifty-seven cents and he had forty cents.
[02:56.35]"It looks like you don't have enough money here."
[03:00.62]Then I advised him to try to find something else.
[03:05.52]he looked unhappy and went away to find something else.
[03:10.61]I watched him form the corner of my eye.
[03:14.69]he looked at other toys,but always came back to the soap bubbles.
[03:20.28]Somehow the boy struck me as different from other troublemakers.
[03:25.97]A few minutes later,I went back to him and asked if he had found anything yet.
[03:32.38]He just shook his head and looked very sad.
[03:36.77]"Well,let's see how much money you have again,"I suggested.
[03:42.96]He dropped the pennies in with the two dimes I had hidden in my hand.
[03:48.74]"Well,look here!"I said.  I must have counted wrong before.
[03:54.34]You have just enough money for those soap bubbles."
[03:58.82]His smile spread out to his ears again.
[04:03.31]He went out and met his sister at the door.
[04:07.30]He kept the bag closed
[04:10.68]so that his sister couldn't see the modest gift he had bought for her with his last pennies.
[04:17.66]It seemed to be quite an event in  my life.
[04:21.96]Somehow the rest of the day went much better.
[04:26.35]And when I went to buy Christmas presents that night,
[04:30.96]I looked for gifts instead of just fulfilling a duty.
[04:35.86]For the first time in years I had my Christmas spirit again.
[04:41.66]But I got some strange looks from my family
[04:46.15]when I came home with a bottle of soap bubbles.
[04:50.83]Words to watch
[05:10.73]spirit               toy                  minute               flood
[05:14.62]n.精神,心灵;(pl.)情绪n.玩具               n.分,分钟;一会儿,片刻n.洪水,水灾;大批,大量
[05:18.50]edge                 demand               duty                 gift
[05:22.30]n.,v.刃,边缘,挤进    n.,v.要求,需要       n.职务,义务,责任     n.赠品,礼物;天赋,才能
[05:26.09]gentle
[05:27.38]a.和蔼;轻轻的
[05:28.68]touch                arm                  cheap                bend
[05:32.68]n.,v.触,摸,碰;触动   n.手臂,臂状物;扶手   a. 便宜,贱           v.,n.(使)弯曲;曲折处
[05:36.67]check                trick                steal                point
[05:40.76]v.,n.制止,控制;检查  n.诡计,花招          v.偷,窃取            v.,n.指;点,小数点
[05:44.86]bottle               soap                 bubble               liquid
[05:48.95]n.瓶子               n.肥皂               n.泡,水泡,气泡       n.,a.液体;液体的,液态的
[05:53.04]whisper              jean                 penny                cost
[05:57.04]v.耳语,私语          n.(pl.)牛仔          n.便士,一分          n.,v.成本,费用,代价;值
[06:01.03]advise               watch                corner               strike
[06:05.03]v.忠告,劝告          v.,v.观看,注视;看管  n.角,角落            罢工;打,击,给...以印象
[06:09.02]drop                 hide                 dime                 count
[06:12.92]n.,v.滴;水滴;放,置   v.隐藏,隐瞒,躲藏     n.十美分             v.数,计算
[06:16.82]spread               close                modest               event
[06:20.93]v.伸展,展开;散布,传播v.关;结束;封闭       a.端庄的,朴素的;谦虚 n.事件,事变,大事
[06:25.03]present              strange              suggest              fulfil
[06:29.08]n.礼物,礼品          a.奇怪;陌生的,生疏   v.建议,提出          v.履行,尽(义务)