美国语文第二册 第7期:猫和小猫

 LESSON 8 第8课

servant  仆人

suddenly  突然

longer  长的

turned  转弯

lived  居住

tired  累

since 自从

five 五

anxious¹ 焦虑

trouble  麻烦

certain  某些

nearly  近的

dozen² 打

seven 七

attic³ 阁楼

strange   奇怪

great  大的

proper  适当的

coal  煤

seemed 似乎

PUSS AND HER KITTENS 猫和小猫

Puss, with her three kittens, had lived in the coal cellar⁴;  猫妈妈和她的三只小猫生活在煤窖里。

but one day she thought she would carry them to the attic. 一天， 猫妈妈想她得把它们搬到阁楼里。

The servant thought that was not the proper place for them; so she carried them back to the cellar. 仆人觉得那里没有合适的地方给它们住，又把它们搬回了煤窖。

Puss was certain that she wanted them in the attic;  猫妈妈实在很想让小猫住在阁楼里。

so she carried them there again and again, five, six, seven, — yes, a dozen times;  她一次又一次地把它们搬到阁楼里。五次、六次、七次……十几次了，

for each time the servant took them back to the cellar. 但每一次又被仆人移回到煤窖里。

Poor puss was nearly tired out, and could carry them no longer. 可怜的猫妈妈快要哭出来了，再也没有把小猫搬过去。

Suddenly she went away. Where do you think she went? 突然，她走了。你觉得她会去哪儿呢？

She was gone a long time. When she returned, she had a strange cat with her that we had never seen before. 她走了很长时间，回来时，却带来了一只我们从没见过的陌生的猫。

She seemed to tell him all about her great trouble, and he listened to her story. 她似乎已经把所有遇到的大麻烦告诉了他，他在听她的故事。

Then the strange cat took the little kittens, one by one, and carried them to the attic. 然后，这只陌生的猫带着小猫们一个一个地搬到了阁楼。 

After this he went away, and we have never seen him since. 之后，他走掉了，我们从此也没有见过他。

The servant then left the kittens in the attic, for she saw how anxious puss was to have them stay there. 仆人把小猫们留在了阁楼上，她看出猫妈妈是多么渴望把孩子们留在那儿啊！

Was not the strange cat kind to puss?  难道那只陌生的猫对猫妈妈不是非常友爱吗？

This lesson should teach children to be ever ready to help one another. 这堂课教会了孩子们应该随时乐于帮助他人。

1 anxious   

adj.忧虑的，焦急的；渴望的，急要的

参考例句：

• She is anxious about her job.她为工作而焦急。
• I'm sure Jordan will be anxious to see you.我确定乔丹急着要见您。

2 dozen   

n.十二个，几十，许多

参考例句：

• I'll have a dozen eggs.我买一打鸡蛋。
• I buy a dozen of socks.我买了一打袜子。

3 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

4 cellar   

n.地窖，地下室，酒窖

参考例句：

• He took a bottle of wine from the cellar.他从酒窖里拿出一瓶酒。
• The little girl hid away in the cellar.小姑娘藏在地下室里。