为什么我总是考不了班里的第一名?

  The wolf and the fox wanted to eat the rabbit, but it wasn't easy to catch him. 

    One day the wolf said² to the fox, "You go home and lie³ in bed. I'll tell the rabbit that you are dead⁴. When he comes to look at you, you can jump up and catch him." That's a good idea," said the fox.

    He went home at once. The wolf went to the rabbit's house and knocked⁵ at the door. "Who is it?" asked the rabbit. "It's the wolf. I've come to tell you that the fox is dead." Then the wolf went away.

    The rabbit went to the fox's house. He looked in through the window and saw⁶ the fox lying⁷ in bed with his eyes closed⁸. He thought⁹, "Is the fox really dead or is he pretending¹⁰  to be dead? If he's not dead, he'll catch me when I go near him." so he said, "The wolf says that the fox is dead. But he doesn't look like a dead fox. The mouth of a dead fox is always open." When the fox heard this, he thought, "I'll show him that I'm dead." So he opened his mouth.

    The rabbit knew that the fox wasn't dead, and he ran¹¹ as¹ quickly as he could¹². 

狼和狐狸想要吃掉兔子，但是这只兔子太难抓到了。

    一天，狼对狐狸说：“你回家假装躺在床上。我去告诉兔子你已经死了。当他来看你的时候，你就可以跳起来抓住他了。”“真是个好主意！”狐狸说。

    于是他立刻回到家。狼去兔子的房前敲了敲门，“是谁啊？”兔子问道。“狼，我是来告诉你狐狸已经死了。”说完狼就走开了。

    兔子去狐狸家看情况。他通过狐狸家的窗户看到闭着眼睛的狐狸躺在床上。他想，狐狸是真的死了，还是在假装呢？如果他没有死，那么我走近他就会被他抓住。于是他说：“狼说狐狸死了。但是他看起来并不像死掉了呀。死去的狐狸通常都是张着嘴的。”狐狸听到这些话就想：我得证明自己是真的死了。于是他张开了嘴巴。

    这时兔子知道狐狸并没有死，他就以最快的速度跑开啦。

    这篇英语故事告诉我们：不要被假象迷惑，凡事多多求证才能防患于未然。

1 as   

conj.按照；如同

参考例句：

• He got work in a hotel as a waiter.他在一家旅馆找到了当服务生的工作。
• In the hotel,the old men were drinking away as usual.在旅馆里，这些老人和往常一样喝个不停。

2 said   

v.动词say的过去式、过去分词

参考例句：

• He said to me that he could not come.他对我说他不能来。
• He said to his mother that he would do it by himself.他对他的母亲说他将自己独立做那件事。

3 lie   

n.谎话；谎言；vi.躺；平放；展现；展开；位于；vt.说谎；躺

参考例句：

• We are looking for a place to lie.我们在找躺的地方。
• What did I lie about?我撒了什么谎？

4 dead   

adj.死的；无生命的；死气沉沉的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• Mary threw away the dead flowers.玛丽把枯萎的花扔掉了。
• He was dead asleep.他完全睡着了。

5 knocked   

v.敲，击，打( knock的过去式和过去分词 )；（心）怦怦跳；把…撞击成（某种状态）；批评

参考例句：

• His glasses had been knocked askew by the blow. 他的眼镜一下子被打歪了。
• He knocked three times and waited. 他敲了三下门就等着。

6 saw   

vbl.看见(see的过去式)；n.锯；v.用锯子锯

参考例句：

• Would you like to saw a tree for me?你能为我锯棵树吗？
• The moment I saw you,I knew you were angry with me.我一看到你，就知道你在生我的气。

7 lying   

躺

参考例句：

• He was correct in his assertion that the minister had been lying. 他认定部长说谎，事实果然如此。
• She bridled at the suggestion that she was lying. 她对暗示她在说谎的言论嗤之以鼻。

8 closed   

adj.关闭的；封闭的

参考例句：

• He closed his eyes.他闭上了眼睛。
• He was out of work when the factory closed.他在工厂倒闭后失业了。

9 thought   

n.想法，思想，思维，思潮，关心，挂念；v.vbl.think的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• It was just a thought.这仅仅是一个想法。
• She thought he had a cold.她认为他感冒了。

10 pretending   

v.假装( pretend的现在分词 )；伪装；（尤指儿童）（在游戏中）装扮；自诩

参考例句：

• He deceived her by pretending to be a famous movie star. 他冒充著名电影明星来骗她。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• "We have a mission to perform. Quit pretending." cried he angrily. 他生气地高喊一声：“我们有任务， 别装蒜。” 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 ran   

vbl.run的过去式

参考例句：

• He ran,and then slowed down to a walk.他跑着，然后放慢速度步行。
• As soon as Marie opened the door,the dog ran in.当玛丽一打开门，狗就跑了进来。

12 could   

v.能，可能(can的过去式)；aux.v.(can的过去式)能；可以

参考例句：

• Could I open the window?我可以打开窗子吗？
• I could wait ten minutes.我可以等十分钟。