1 重要性 It’s Important
Mother rat and his children are playing a game. Suddenly a big tabby cat comes near so the rats flee for lives hurriedly. The little rats are too young to run quickly, and they will be caught by the cat in no time. Just then the mother rat stops and turns round to howl at the cat regardless of personal safety: Bark, bark. She sounds like a dog. The cat gets muddled and runs away. Mother rat summons together the children which are seized with horror, saying in sincere words and earnest wishes: You see, how important it is to master a second language!
老鼠妈妈正带着孩子们做游戏，突然过来一只大花猫，老鼠们于是赶紧逃命。小老鼠们跑不快，眼看就要被猫逮住。这时，老鼠妈妈停了下来，转过脸奋不顾身地向猫咆哮:“汪，汪。”听起来有如一只恶狗。花猫慌了，落荒而逃。老鼠妈妈召集起惊魂未定的孩子，语重心长地说:“看，学一门外语多重要!”
2 贡献 Contribution
A friend of mine, a Sunday-school teacher, attended a church dinner with her husband, who doesn’t go to a church very often. The pastor asked each person to stand, introduce himself and describe his contribution. It became apparent to the husband that everyone else was deeply involved, he got more and more uncomfortable. But when it was his turn to speak, he rose to the occasion. Thinking of his six children, he said, "My name is Dave, and I supply the kids for the Sunday school.”
He got a standing ovation.
我的一位朋友是一个主日学校的教师。她和丈夫一起去参加教堂的晚餐会，而她的丈夫是不怎么去教堂的。牧师请每个人站起来做自我介绍，并讲述自己对教会的贡献。她的丈夫看出，别人都比他更关心教会的工作，他变得越来越不自在。但是，该他说话时，他很好地对付了这一局面。他想到自己有六个孩子，就说:“我叫大卫，我为主日学校提供了学生。”
他的话赢得一片掌声。
3 那是做什么用的 What Is It For
While proudly showing off his new apartment to friends, a college student led the way into the den. "What is the big brass gong and hammer for?” One of his friends asked. "That is the talking clock.” the man replied. “How does it work?”
"Watch,” the man said and proceeded to give the gong an ear shattering pound with the hammer. Suddenly, someone screamed from the other side of the wall, “Knock it off, you idiots. It’s two o’clock in the morning.”
一个学生带他朋友们参观他的新公寓，甚是得意。“那个大铜锣和锤子是干什么用的?”他的一个朋友问他。“那玩意儿厉害了，那是一个会说话的钟”，学生回答。“这钟怎么工作的?”
他的朋友问。“看着”，那学生走上前一把拿起铜锣和锤子，拼命地敲了一下，声音震耳欲聋。突然，他们听到隔壁墙那边有人狂叫，“别吵了，你这白痴! 现在是凌晨两点钟!”
4 钥匙? 接吻 Keys? Kiss
A friend of mine was giving an English lesson to a class of adults who had recently come to live in the United States. After placing quite a number of everyday objects on a table, he asked various members of the class to give him the ruler, the book, the pen and so on. The class went very smoothly and the students seemed interested and serious about the work that they were engaged in until when my friend turned to an Italian student and said, "Give me the keys." The man looked surprised and somewhat at a loss. Seeing this, my friend thought that the student hadn’t heard him clearly, so he repeated. "Give me the keys.” The Italian shrugged his shoulders. Then, he threw his arms around the teacher's neck and kissed him on both cheeks.
我的一位朋友在给一个成人学生班级上英语课。他们都是新近来美国生活的。在一张桌子上摆了许多日常用品之后，他请全班同学给他挑出尺子、书本、钢笔等。课进行得井然有序，学生们对自己所做的似乎很感兴趣，也很认真。后来轮到一名来自意大利的学生，我的朋友说:“给我钥匙。”那人看起来非常吃惊，也有点手足无措。看到这种情况，我的朋友想是他没有听清楚，于是又重复了一遍:“给我钥匙。”那位意大利学生耸了耸肩。接着，他伸出胳膊搂住老师的脖子在双颊上亲了两下。
5 新年决心书 New Year Resolution
Hoping to boost student interest in our reading center, I asked each teacher to write a New Year's resolution on a special form and send it to me. After I posted the resolutions on the bulletin board in the reading center, one young teacher stopped by, looked at them for a few minutes, and then left abruptly. Passing two teachers on their way in, she stormed, “My resolution isn’t posted, and mine was one of the first ones in.” I couldn't help but overheard, and the tone of her voice sent me flying to my desk in reach of a misplaced resolution. Looking rapidly through stacks of papers, I uncovered hers. It reads, “I resolve not to let little things upset me.”
为了激励同学们对我们阅读中心的兴趣，我请每位老师在一张特制的表格上写一篇新年决心书交给我。我将决心书张贴在阅览中心的布告牌上之后，一位年轻老师停下来看了几分钟，便抽身走开了。她越过两位老师闯了进来，大发雷霆道:“我的决心书竟然没有贴出来—而我的是第一批交上来的!”我在旁边听到了，看她气势汹汹的样子，我吓得赶紧跑回办公室去找那份放错了地方的决心书，飞快浏览了几叠纸之后，我打开了她的那一份，上面写着:“我决心不再为一些小事而烦恼。”
6 方法和手段Ways And Means
Working at a college with a preponderance of non – English - speaking students, my sister sometimes had difficulty in communicating with the newly arrived. Once as she was enrolling a young man, she reached a standstill at the question of birth date. No matter what words or motions she used, the young man remained puzzled. Finally, a Chinese student standing nearby asked my sister, "What do you need to know?” After my sister explained, the Chinese girl turned to the young man and hummed the first few words of “Happy Birthday to You”.
His eyes lit up in recognition as he explained, “May 12，1978.” The helpful student shrugged and said, "Same song, every country."
我妹妹在一所大多数学生都不会讲英文的大学里任教。她有时在与新生交谈时感到困难。有一次，她还在给一位新来的小伙子注册，她在问他的生日是哪天的时候，遇到了不可逾越的困难。无论她用什么词句或什么手势，这位年轻人不明白她的意思。后来，一位站在旁边的中国女学生问我妹妹:“您想要知道什么?”我妹妹向她解释后，这位中国女学生转向小伙子，嘴里哼起了“祝你生日快乐”歌的头几小节。
他眼里顿时流露出懂了的意思，说道:"1978年5月12日。”那位乐于助人的女学生耸耸肩说:“每个国家都唱这同一首歌。”
(from internet)
