The Mouse

    A philosophical¹ mouse spoke² loudly in praise of nature's goodness for having made mice such particular objects of her regard and preservation³．“For，”she said，“one half of us are provided by her with wings；so that if all here below were extirpated⁴ by Grimalkin，she could easily restore our extinguished race by means of bats．”
    The good little mouse knew not that there were also flying cats．And thus does our pride chiefly rest on ignorance．Exercises：
    回答下列问题：
    ① Why did the philosophical mouse speak loudly in praise of nature's goodness？
    ② Were there any flying cats？
    ③ What leads to pride？

1 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

4 extirpated   

v.消灭，灭绝( extirpate的过去式和过去分词 )；根除

参考例句：

• Many species have been extirpated from large areas. 许多种动物已在大片区域内灭绝。 来自辞典例句
• The brigands have never been really extirpated from the neighborhood of Rome. 罗马附近的土匪实际上从来没有真正被消灭干净过。 来自互联网