15. It Seemed like Hours

　　As a band instructor¹ at an elementary school, I require my students to turn in practice sheets signed by their parents so I can be sure they are putting in enough time. I had to laugh, however, when one parent wrote on her child's sheet, "Practiced 17 minutes, but it seemed like hours.

Notes:

　　(1) band n.乐队

　　(2) instructor n.指挥

　　(3) turn in上交；归还

　　(4) signed by their parents:由他们的父母签名的。这是一个分词短语作定语修饰sheets.

　　(5) so I can be sure they are putting in enough time:这样我才能确定他们投入了足够的时间。这是so that 引导的目的状语从句，其中that省略。

Exercises:

根据短文判断下列句子正（T）、误（F）：

　　① The author is a member of the musical band at the elementary school.

　　② The instructor requires the students to hand in practice sheets once a month.

　　③ The purpose of the instructor's requirement is to make sure that the students are putting in enough time.

　　④ One child practiced for several hours, but the parent mistook for only 17 minutes.

　　⑤ From the passage we can infer² that the parent is not keen³ on music.

15.犹如几个时辰

　　作为一个小学的乐队指挥，为了确保学生投入足够的时间练习，我要求他们上交由他们父母签字的练习单。可是有一次，一位家长的签字把我逗乐了。练习单上写着：“练习了17分钟，但犹如几个时辰。”

练习参考答案：

①F②F③T④F⑤T

1 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

2 infer   

vt.推论，推断；猜想

参考例句：

• People usually infer an unknown fact from a known fact.人们通常从已知的事实中推断未知的事实。
• From your smile I infer that you're pleased.从你的笑容，我断定你很高兴。

3 keen   

adj.热心的；敏锐的；激烈的；锋利的

参考例句：

• There is keen competition between the two motorcar firms.两家汽车公司之间存在着激烈的竞争。
• The children are mad keen to go to the zoo.孩子们非常想去动物园。