新思路单项技能教材 口语 （PETS）四级 39-40_new

A Real Beauty
[00:27.69]A young man comes to Pebble¹ Beach near Monterey,
[00:32.65]California on behalf of his boss,to acquire a beach house.
[00:39.21]The vendor² signs the contract,elated with the payment,
[00:38.21]and then the young man suddenly says:
[00:42.28]"There are some small details to be arranged before my boss moves in.
[00:48.35]We've covering all the costs,and you only have to get the job done."
[00:54.59]"What are the details?"
[00:57.83]"First,there is sand all the way between the house and the ocean shore.
[01:04.99]My boss likes it when there is grass covering his way to the beach.
[01:10.63]Next,there are rocks to the west.
[01:15.17]They obscure the sunset.
[01:19.25]My boss loves to watch the sunset over a straight horizon,
[01:25.20]so get these rocks down.
[01:28.97]And finally,my boss also loves to see some sea lions in the water.
[01:35.52]So buy at least 40 of them,
[01:39.57]and you have plenty of fish around here to feed them."
[01:44.25]In a few weeks,after all those jobs are done,the boss comes.
[01:50.31]He walks on the damp grass from the house to the ocean,
[01:55.17]seats himself comfortably in an  armchair,
[01:59.92]enjoys the sun setting down behind a perfectly³ straight coastline.
[02:05.67]And it really gives him a pleasant surprise
[02:10.03]to see so many sea lions near the shore.
[02:14.76]Some of them toss their heads from side to side,
[02:19.72]and others flip⁴ backwards⁵ and slowly glide⁶ out of sight,
[02:25.47]with their tails slapping the surface as they disappear into the water.
[02:31.14]"A real beauty,one of a kind,"he observes thoughtfully,
[02:37.98]"and it's something no money on Earth can ever buy."
[02:42.94]Three Friends
[03:09.30]A dying man had three best friends:Nick,Casey,and Peter.
[03:17.06]He gathered them at his bedside
[03:21.61]and handed each of them an envelope containing $10,000 in cash.
[03:28.14]He made them each promise that after his death,
[03:33.31]they would place the three envelopes in his coffin⁷.
[03:38.17]He told them that he wanted to have enough money to enjoy the next life.
[03:44.72]A week later the man died.
[03:48.67]At the wake,each of the three friends,one after another,
[03:54.83]put an envelope in the coffin and bid their old friend farewell.
[04:00.71]By chance,these three met several months later.
[04:08.16]Soon Nick,feeling guilty,blurted out a confession⁸
[04:15.00]saying that there was only $6,000 in the envelope he placed in the coffin.
[04:22.26]He felt,rather than waste all the money,
[04:27.02]he would donate it to the homeless in the subway stations.
[04:32.16]He asked for their forgiveness.
[04:36.13]Moved by Nick's sincerity⁹.
[04:39.89]Casey confessed that he too had kept some of the money
[04:45.35]for a worthy¹⁰ medical charity.
[04:49.43]The envelope,he admitted,had only $4,000 in it.
[04:55.18]He said,he too could not bring himself to waste the money
[05:00.95]so frivolously¹¹ when it could be used to benefit others.
[05:06.88]By this time Peter expressed his deep disappointment
[05:12.63]in the behavior of two of his most trusted friends.
[05:18.50]"I am the only one who kept his promise to our dead friend.
[05:24.36]I want you both to know that the envelope I placed in the coffin
[05:30.39]contained the full amount.
[05:34.02]Indeed,my envelope contained my personal check for $20,000,
[05:41.39]and I took your $10,000 as change."

1 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

2 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

5 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

6 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

7 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

8 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

9 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

10 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

11 frivolously   

adv.轻浮地，愚昧地

参考例句：

• She behaves frivolously, she is not at all sedate. 她举止飘浮，很不稳重。 来自互联网
• She spends her time frivolously enjoying the easy life. 她玩世不恭地消磨时间，享受著轻松的生活。 来自互联网