Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain 原文 CHAPTER FIVE: The plan to free Jim When I heard that I nearly failed trough the floor but it was a big piece of luck. It was easy for me to be Tom Sawyer, because Tom was my best friend. He and his brother Sid lived with their Aunt Polly up in St. Petersburg, and I knew all about them. Now I learnt that Aunt Polly had a sister, who was Mrs. Phelps. She and her husband were Tom's Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas. And Tom was coming down south by boat to stay with them for a bit. We all sat there talking and I could answer all their questions about the Sawyer family. I was feeling really happy about this when suddenly I heard a boat on the river. 'Tom could be on that boat,' I thought, 'and he's going to walk in here and call out my name before I can stop him. I've got to go and meet him.' So I told the Phelpses that I would go into town to get my bags, which were at the boat station. I hurried up the road and before I was halfway to town, there was Tom Sawyer coming along. When he saw me, his mouth fell open and he looked a bit white in the face. 'Aren't you dead?' he said. 'Everybody said that you were murdered!' 'I'm not dead yet,' I said, 'but listen.…' I told him about my adventures, and Tom loved all that. Then I told him about the Phelpses and that they thought I was Tom Sawyer. 'What shall we do?' I asked him. Tom thought for a bit, and then he said, 'I know. You take my bags and say they're yours. I'll come to the house in about half an hour.' 'All right,' I said, 'but there's another thing. You know old Miss Watson's slave Jim, who ran away? Well, he's a prisoner here, and I'm going to help him escape.' 'Jim?' Tom said. 'But he's-' Then he stopped and thought. 'Right. I'll help, too. I'll make a really good plan.' He looked very excited. So I went back to the house with the bags, and Tom came along half an hour later. He knocked on the door and when his Aunt Sally opened it, he said he was Sid, Tom's brother. He wanted his visit to be a surprise for his dear old Aunt Sally, he said. Well, Aunt Sally was very pleased to see Tom and Sid. She thought it was wonderful. She and Uncle Silas were really nice people. When we were alone later, Tom and I talked about Jim's escape. I said I had a plan, and Tom listened to it. 'It's a good plan,' he said when I finished. 'But it's too easy! It's got to be a real escape, like a real adventure in a story-book. So we want something difficult and dangerous. Now, listen to this...' So he told me his plan. I knew it would be a good one because Tom's plans are always crazy and exciting. And we sure had a lot of fun with that plan! We knew that Jim was locked up in a hut outside the house. Every night we got out through our bedroom window and dug a hole right under the wall of the hut. It took us a week, and it was hard work. We talked to Jim secretly and told him about the plan, and he was really pleased. We also wrote secret letters to everybody. Tom said that people always do this in books. We wrote that there was a gang of slave-thieves coming up from the south. They wanted to steal Jim and get the three hundred dollars from his owner. Well, the Phelpses and their friends got very excited, and on the night of the escape I went into the sitting- room, and there was a crowd of men in there - all with guns! I ran and told Tom, and he said that this was really good. 'It's a real adventure now, all right,' he said, very excited. 'Perhaps they'll come after us, and shoot, and we'll all get killed!' Well, there wasn't time to think about it because it all happened so quickly. We got Jim out through the hole under the wall, and began to rundown to the river. But the men heard us and came after us. They began to shoot, and so we ran as fast as we could to the canoe. We got in it and went over to Spanish Island. My raft was there, and our plan was to escape on that and go on downriver. 'Now, Jim,' I cried, 'you're a free man!' We were all very happy, but Tom was the happiest of all, because he had a bullet in his leg. When Jim and I heard that, we weren't so happy. Tom wanted the adventure to go on, but Jim and I said that a doctor must look at Tom's leg. Tom was getting angry about this. But Jim said: 'You listen to me, Tom Sawyer. You say I'm a free man now, and perhaps I am. But old Jim is not going to run away and leave one of his friends with a bullet in his leg! So I'm staying right here until a doctor comes.' I knew Jim would say that. He was a good, true friend, and you can't say that about many people. Well, that was the end of the adventure, really. I went and found doctor in the town. He was a kind old man, and he said he would go over to the island. But Tom's leg got very bad, and the next day the doctor and some other men carried Tom home to the Phelpses' house. They brought Jim too, and they locked him up in the hut again. But the doctor said, 'Be kind to him, because he didn't run away and he stayed to help me with the boy.' They took Tom up to bed because his leg was really bad, and Aunt Sally sat with him while he slept. I didn't want to answer any questions so I kept out of everybody's way. When Tom woke up the next day, he felt better. I was in the room and he said to me, 'Jim's all right, isn't he?' I didn't know what to say because Aunt Sally was listening, and before I could stop him, Tom went on: 'We did it, Aunt Sally, Me and Tom here. We helped Jim escape.' He told her all about the digging and everything, and Aunt Sally's mouth was opening and closing like a fish. Then she got really angry with Tom. 'That slave is locked up again and he's going to stay there. And if I catch you again-' Tom suddenly sat up in bed. 'You can't do that!' he cried. 'Jim was old Miss Watson's slave, but she died two months ago. Before she died, she wrote that she wanted Jim to be free, and not a slave any more. Jim's a free man, not a slave!' Well, that was a surprise to me and Aunt Sally! She thought Tom was crazy. 'But Sid, why did you help him to escape, if he was free already?' she said. 'I wanted the adventure, of course!' said Tom. 'We made a really exciting plan and... Oh my!... AUNT POLLY!' We turned round, and there was Tom's Aunt Polly in the doorway! That was the second big surprise. Aunt Sally was really pleased to see her sister, and jumped up to put her arms round her. I got under the bed as fast as I could. There was trouble coming for me and Tom, that was for sure. Then Aunt Polly said to Tom, 'You always were a terrible boy, Tom Sawyer, and I want to know-' 'But Polly dear,' said Aunt Sally, 'this isn't Tom. It's Sid. Tom was here a minute ago. Where is he?' 'Where's Huck Finn, you mean,' replied Aunt Polly. 'Come out from under that bed, Huck Finn.' So Tom and I had to explain everything and Polly said that Aunt Sally road and told her that Tom and Sid were there. She knew that it wasn't true. So she decided to come and find out what was happening. But she said that it was true about Miss Watson, and that Jim was a free man now. We got Jim out of the hut, and Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas were really nice to him. Later, Tom, Jim and I had a long talk by ourselves. Tom talked and talked, and then he said, 'Let's all three of us run away one night, and go and have adventures in the wild country down south.' It sounded like a good plan to me. 'The only thing is,' I said, 'I haven't got any money to buy the right clothes and things. All my money back in St Petersburg will be in Pop's pockets by now.' 'No,' said Tom. 'Your money's all there. Your Pop never came back.' 'No, and he won't come back, Huck,' Jim said. I'm really pleased about that because it was very difficult to write a book and I won't do it again. But I think I'm going to have to run away before the others, because Aunt Sally wants me to live with her. I'll have to sleep in a bed and wear clean clothes and learn to be good, and I can't do that again. I've done it once already. The End, Yours Truly Huck Finn

提示 一、每期五个句子，均是从四六级听力真题中选取的长难句。 二、每个句子念三遍女声，一遍男声，再一遍女声。 三、如果觉得语速过快，可以在播放器上调慢语速，多听几遍。 原文 176. Maybe we should also ask Paul to bring his computer and speakers so that we can play some music. He has a great collection of different stuff. 也许我们还应该让保罗带上他的电脑和扬声器，这样我们可以放些音乐。他有很棒的音乐合集。 177. Native to the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the potentially deadly fish has poisonous hooks and a painful sting capable of killing people. 这种可能会致人死亡的鱼类原产于南太平洋和印度洋，其有毒的鱼钩是一种能致人死亡的痛苦毒刺。 178. It is possible that the wellbeing of pets is driven by the underlying nature of the owner, not simply by their conscious decisions and behaviors. 宠物的健康可能是由主人潜在的性格决定的，而不仅仅是取决于他们有意识的决定和行为。 179. You probably have to help younger children plan their session, but it's important that by the end of primary school it's second nature. 你很可能还需要帮助年幼的孩子安排做作业的先后顺序，但重要的是，等他们小学结束时，要让他们习惯成自然。 180. Officials at Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Arizona, are celebrating the birth of a baby elephant Zoo officials say the baby was born on Monday. 亚利桑那州图森市雷德公园动物园的官员们正在庆祝一头小象的出生。动物园官员说，小象在星期一出生。

听前提示 一、三遍英文，一遍中文，再一遍英文。 二、从听懂的词入手，理解句子含义。 三、根据中英文意思，听不懂的多听几遍。 词汇提示 1.senator 议员 2.censured 谴责 3.congressional 议会的 4.ethics 道德 5.committe 委员会 原文 41. Is it right for a doctor to decide when someone should die? 由医生来决定某人何时该死是对的吗？ 42. The ice on the lake is too thin to bear your weight. 湖上的冰太薄了，承受不了你的重量。 43. You needn't have taken an umbrella with you. 你其实没必要带伞。 44. I have too many things on my mind these days. 这几天我脑袋里的事情太多了。 45. I want to get a haircut before I go on the trip. 我想在出发去旅行前剪个头发。 46. You should look after the children from time to time. 你应该偶尔照顾照顾孩子。 47. I don't feel like taking a walk this morning. 我今天早上不想散步。 48. Did you enjoy yourself at the party last night? 你在昨晚的聚会上尽兴了吗？ 49. The senator was censured by the congressional ethics committee. 议员受到了议会道德委员会的谴责。 50. After she had lunch, she got ready to go out. 吃过午饭后，她准备好要出门了。

词汇提示 1.dense 密集的 2.thick 厚的 3.squirrel 松鼠 4.hostile 敌对的 5.cider 苹果酒 6.vinegar 苹果醋 7.spoiling 腐败的 8.mills 工厂 9.legends 传奇 原文 John Chapman : American Pioneer When the first Europeans came to North America, they found dense forests coming down right to the shore. So thick were the forests that it is said that a squirrel could travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River without once touching the ground. Clearing these trees to make room for fields and buildings was a very difficult task for the early settlers. Another difficulty was finding enough food in this new land. Many European crops would not grow in this climate. Carrying and storing seeds over a long period was also risky. Native Indians were often helpful in teaching the settlers how to find food. But sometimes there were no Indians nearby, or they were hostile. John Chapman is famous today because he helped the early settlers grow one important product – apples. Apples could be eaten fresh in the fall, or stored through the winter. They could be made into fresh apple juice or alcoholic cider. They could be dried, or made into apple sauce. Apples also could be made into vinegar, which was very useful for keeping vegetables from spoiling. John Chapman was born in Massachusetts in 1774, the year before the American Revolution began. John's father joined George Washington's army to fight for American independence from Great Britain. While the war was going on, John's mother died. In 1780, John's father married again, and soon John had lots of young brothers and sisters. John probably worked on his father's farm as he was growing up. Then he worked on neighboring farms. After the Revolutionary War, the population of the U.S.A. was expanding. Many Americans wanted to go west over the mountains to find land in Indian Territory. In the fall of 1797,young John Chapman headed west into Pennsylvania. On his way, he gathered left over apple seeds from the cider mills that he passed. As usual, John walked bare foot, but as he travelled snow began to fall. He tore strips off his coat and tied them around his feet. Then he made snowshoes out of tree branches. When he arrived in the west, he began to clear land and plant apple seeds. This began a pattern that would last Chapman's whole life. He would travel ahead of the settlers, clear land, and then sell his baby apple trees to the settlers when they arrived. When the area became too settled, Chapman would move further west, and start again. Many settlers regarded John Chapman as a strange character. He never bought new clothes, but wore whatever old clothes came his way. But he was always welcome at a settler's cabin. John was good at clearing land, telling stories, and growing apples. He liked children, and children liked him. He was a religious man and would read to the settlers about God and living together peacefully. At this time, there was conflict between the settlers and the Indians about land. John managed to be friendly with both groups. Every fall, John went east to gather more apple seeds. But John did warn the settlers if the Indians were planning to attack them. Then he would go further west and find some empty land to plant his seeds. During the warm weather, he tended all his fields of baby apple trees. Once they were properly grown, he sold the seedlings to settlers. When he had earned enough money, he bought land to grow more apple trees. In his own lifetime, he became known as Johnny Appleseed. Legends grew up about him. It was said that his bare feet could melt snow, and that he could leap across rivers. Johnny Appleseed never built himself a real home. He was a wanderer all his life, travelling west to Indiana and Iowa and back east again. He enjoyed sleeping outdoors, lying on his back, looking up at the stars and thinking about God and his world. He died in Indiana in 1845, and no one knows exactly where he is buried. But all through that region are hundreds of apple trees. These apple trees are the most fitting memorial to John Chapman - the legendary Johnny Appleseed. 翻译 约翰·查普曼:美国先驱 当第一批欧洲人来到北美时，他们发现茂密的森林一直延伸到海岸。 那里的森林非常茂密，据说一只松鼠可以从大西洋游到密西西比河，一次也不沾地。 清除这些树木为田地和建筑腾出空间对早期定居者来说是一项非常困难的任务。 另一个困难是在这片新的土地上找到足够的食物。 许多欧洲作物在这种气候下无法生长。 长时间携带和储存种子也有风险。 当地的印第安人经常帮助教移民如何寻找食物。 但有时附近没有印第安人，或者他们怀有敌意。 约翰·查普曼今天很有名，因为他帮助早期定居者种植了一种重要的产品——苹果。 苹果可以在秋天新鲜食用，也可以储存到冬天。 它们可以制成新鲜的苹果汁或含酒精的苹果酒。 它们可以晒干，或者做成苹果酱。 苹果也可以制成醋，这对防止蔬菜变质非常有用。 约翰·查普曼于1774年出生在马萨诸塞州，也就是美国独立战争开始的前一年。 约翰的父亲加入了乔治·华盛顿的军队，为美国从英国独立而战。 战争进行时，约翰的母亲去世了。 1780年，约翰的父亲又结婚了，不久约翰就有了许多年轻的兄弟姐妹。 约翰小时候可能在他父亲的农场工作过。 然后他在附近的农场工作。 独立战争后，美国的人口在增长。 许多美国人想向西翻越山脉，在印第安人的领地上找到土地。 1797年秋天，年轻的约翰·查普曼向西来到宾夕法尼亚州。 在路上，他从路过的苹果酒厂里收集了剩下的苹果籽。 像往常一样，约翰光着脚走路，但他走的时候开始下雪了。 他撕下几条外衣，绑在脚上。 然后他用树枝做了一双雪鞋。 当他到达西部时，他开始清理土地并种植苹果种子。 从此开始了一种模式，这种模式将持续查普曼的一生。 他会走在移民的前面，清理土地，然后在移民到达时把他的小苹果树卖给他们。 当这个地区变得过于稳定时，查普曼将继续向西移动，并重新开始。 许多定居者认为约翰·查普曼是个怪人。 他从不买新衣服，只要有旧衣服就穿。 但他在移民的小屋里总是受到欢迎的。 约翰擅长清理土地、讲故事和种苹果。 他喜欢孩子，孩子们也喜欢他。 他是一个虔诚的人，会给移民们读关于上帝和和平共处的故事。 在这个时候，殖民者和印第安人之间就土地问题发生了冲突。 约翰设法与两组人都很友好。 每年秋天，约翰都会去东部收集更多的苹果籽。 但是约翰确实警告了移民，如果印第安人打算袭击他们。 然后他再往西走，找到一块空地来播种。 在温暖的天气里，他照料着他所有的小苹果树。 一旦它们长得很好，他就把幼苗卖给定居者。 当他赚了足够的钱后，他买了块地来种更多的苹果树。 在他自己的一生中，他被称为苹果籽约翰尼。 关于他的传说层出不穷。 据说他的光脚可以融化雪，他可以跳过河流。 苹果籽约翰尼从来没有给自己建过真正的家。 他一生都在漂泊，向西到印第安纳州和爱荷华州，然后又回到东部。 他喜欢睡在户外，仰面躺着，仰望星空，思考上帝和他的世界。 他于1845年在印第安纳州去世，没有人知道他被埋葬的确切地点。 但整个地区都有数百棵苹果树。 这些苹果树是最合适的纪念约翰·查普曼-传奇的苹果籽约翰尼。

Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain 原文 CHAPTER FOUR: The Duke and The King Two or three days and nights went by and nothing much happened. We travelled at night when it was dark and everybody was asleep. We didn't want anyone to see Jim and ask questions about him. Then, one morning, just after it was light, I found a little canoe, so I got into it and went over to the side of the river. I was looking round, when, suddenly, two men ran through the trees. 'Help!' they cried. 'There are men and dogs trying to catch us. But we've done nothing wrong!' One of theme was about seventy years old; the other was about thirty, and they both had very old, dirty clothes. I said they could come with me, and we ran quickly back to the canoe. Back on the raft we talked for a time and then the young man said, 'My friends, I think I can tell you my secret now. I'm really a duke. My grandfather was the son of the Duke of Bridgewater, but he left England and came to America. When the old Duke died, my grandfather’s younger brother stole everything and made himself the Duke of Bridgewater.' Well, of course, we were all very unhappy for our friend the Duke, but he said, 'I'll be happier if you do things for me. Bring me my dinner!' So we did things for him, and he liked it. But the old man spoke very little and he looked unhappy, too. After a time he said, 'You know, Bridgewater, I, too, have a secret.' And he began to cry. 'What do you mean?' the Duke asked. 'What's your secret?' And then the old man told us that he was really the first son of the King of France. He asked us all to go down on one knee when we spoke to him. We could call him 'Your Majesty', too. So that was what we did, and they were both happy. Of course, I knew that they weren't really a duke and a king, but I didn't tell Jim. It's best if everybody is happy when you're living together on a raft. The King and the Duke were very interested in Jim. 'Is he a slave?' they wanted to know. 'Is he running away?' I had to tell them something, so I said that Jim belonged to my uncle and was taking me to my family in New Orleans. 'Well, we'll travel down river with you, then,' said the King. 'We'll have a fine time together.' So the four of us went on down the river, but Jim and I didn't like those two men. They were always getting drunk and making plans to get money out of people in every town. It's all right to take a chicken or something if you're hungry, but these men were really bad! Jim and I decided to get away from them as soon as we could. It wasn't easy because they wanted to be with us all the time. Then one morning the King went off into a town and told us to wait for him. We waited all morning and he didn't comeback, so the Duke and I went into town to look for him. We looked all afternoon and in the end we found him in a bar, drunk, and then he and the Duke began to fight about some money. 'Now we can get away from them,' I thought. I turned and ran back to the river. 'Quick, Jim!' I shouted. 'It's time to go!' But there was no answer. Jim wasn't there! Iran into the woods, crying and shouting Jim's name. But there was still no answer. Just then a boy came along. 'Have you seen a slave?' I asked him, and I described Jim. 'Why, yes,' the boy replied. 'He's a runaway slave. I heard all about it intown. A family called the Phelpses have got him now. An old man in a bar told Mr. Phelps that there was a runaway slave on a raft down by the river. He said he hadn't got time to take the slave back himself. So Mr. Phelps gave him forty dollars and they went down and caught the slave this afternoon. The Phelpses are going to take him back to his owner, and they'll get three hundred dollars for him!' I knew those two men were bad! I asked the boy where the Phelpses lived and he said it was a big white house a little way down the river. I began to make plans to get Jim back. First, I took the raft and went down to a little island. I hid the raft under the trees and lay down to sleep. Before it was light, I went off down the river in the canoe. When I thought I was near the Phelpses' place, I stopped, got out of the canoe and went up to the house. Suddenly, a lot of dogs ran out. They came from everywhere and they made a terrible noise. A woman about fifty years old ran out of the house, with some little children behind her. She was smiling all over her face and she took me by the hands and cried, 'It's you, at last, isn't it?' I didn't stop to think. 'Yes, ma'am,' I said. 'Well, what took you so long? We thought you were coming two days ago. Your Uncle Silas goes to town every day to meet you. He's there now, but he'll be back soon.' She didn't stop talking and I couldn't tell her that she was making a mistake. 'Tell us all about them,' she cried. 'Tell me everything.' I knew then that I had to tell her.…. but just then she cried, 'Here he is! Quick, hide!' and she pushed me inside the house and behind the front door. Then her husband came in and she asked him, 'Has he come?' 'No,' her husband replied. 'Look!' she shouted, and then she pulled me out from behind the door. 'Why, who's that?'Mr. Phelps cried, surprised. 'It's Tom Sawyer!' she laughed.

提示 一、每期五个句子，均是从四六级听力真题中选取的长难句。 二、每个句子念三遍女声，一遍男声，再一遍女声。 三、如果觉得语速过快，可以在播放器上调慢语速，多听几遍。 原文 171. But despite the sticky situation, firefighters and police attending to the cleanup were reportedly cheerful about the long task ahead. 然而，尽管问题比较棘手，据报道，艰巨的任务摆在眼前参与清理的消防员和交警神态倒是颇为欣喜。 172. United Airlines has apologized for mistakenly shipping an American family's pet dog thousands of miles in the wrong direction to Japan. 美国联合航空公司错将一家美国人的宠物狗运到了数干英里外错误方向的日本，该公司现已为此事道歉。 173. In addition to either eating other animals or their food supply, wild pigs damaged native habitats by reaching up crosses and rubbing on trees. 除了吃其他动物或它们的食物供应，野猪还通过杂交和在树上摩擦来破坏当地的栖息地。 174. Participants were able to learn 20% faster after the intense running and they showed a superior memory when tested again a week later. 在进行高强度的跑步后，参与者的学习速度提高20%，一周后再次接受测试时，他们表现出了更好的记忆力。 175. A 22-year-old Chinese woman who suffered from a persistent cough was shocked to learn that she had a piece of chicken bone lodged in her lung. 一名22岁的中国女子长期咳嗽，当她得知自己的肺部卡着一块鸡骨头时，她感到非常震惊。

听前提示 一、三遍英文，一遍中文，再一遍英文。 二、从听懂的词入手，理解句子含义。 三、根据中英文意思，听不懂的多听几遍。 词汇提示 1.astrology 占星术 2.windmill 风车 原文 31. She told him that she believed in astrology. 她告诉他说，自己相信占星术。 32. An old man was resting in the shade of the tree. 一个老人在树荫下休息。 33. You have to study hard to catch up with your class. 你必须用功读书赶上同学。 34. The firm went under due to lack of capital. 公司由于缺乏资金倒闭了。 35. As more paper money came into use, the value fell. 当更多的纸币投入使用，纸币就贬值了。 36. I had never seen a windmill until visited the Netherlands. 在我去荷兰之前，我从没见过风车。 37. I worked in a post office during the summer vacation. 暑假期间，我在邮局工作。 38. Do you have any idea who would do this? 你觉得这事儿是谁干的? 39. I had no choice but to accept the offer. 除了接受报价，我别无选择。 40. English is a very important language in today's world. 英语是当今世界上一种非常重要的语言。

词汇提示 1.phrasing 措辞 2.omit 删减 3.prose 白话 4.flawless 完美无瑕 5.ceasing 中止 6.procedures 程序 7.apparent 明显的 8.discernment 洞察力 9.prayer 祈祷 原文 It Could Be a Whole Lot Better As I was sitting in the reading room at the library, a man got up and left commenting, it could be a whole lot better. I wasn't sure whether he was referring to the reading room, the world he was reading about, or something else. I replied without thinking, “that's always true and always false”. What I meant was that it was always possible to make little changes to improve things, but it isn't clear ahead of time that these changes will make a big overall improvement in a library in the world, or in anything else. Years ago, literary critics used to examine great writers very closely to find bad phrasing or ungrammatical sentences. They look at a play by Shakespeare and identify lines that they didn't think were very good. Sometimes they would suggest that these lines were added by another writer, or that Shakespeare had written this part quickly without much consideration. Sometimes they would omit or improve on the lines. It is doubtful that any of Shakespeare's plays were actually improved by these critics. An entire play needs high points and low points, poetry and prose. The whole thing is greater than its individual parts, and changing a couple of these parts may not improve the whole thing. It is the same in many other areas-music, athletics, scholarship, and probably everyday living. It's not always the singer or musician who is flawless that we admire most. Sometimes it is the person whose performance is not perfect, but who puts a special energy, feeling or enthusiasm into their work that we admire. It is true that little things can sometimes add up to a big difference. Changing a bad habit can make a difference in your life and in the lives of the people around you. Giving up smoking, for example, or ceasing to criticize a family member, can make an important difference. Sometimes, however, we are only looking at the symptoms of a larger problem. For example, nearly everyone would agree that giving up smoking is a good idea. But if our smoking is related to emotional problems or stress in our lives, then giving up smoking may make us feel even worse. It may be necessary to deal with the root problem. It can happen too, that being always on the lookout for ways to improve things may become a problem in itself. “Perfectionism” means never being satisfied with things as they are, especially if we're always criticizing people around us for not being good enough. This can become a bad thing. A popular saying in North America is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." This is a warning to people who feel that their role or position involves making continuous changes in policies, procedures, products or personnel. Sometimes the drive for change can be more of a personality problem than a genuine concern to make things better. Real problems are often clearly apparent. Problems like world hunger, personality conflicts, policies that don't work, poor levels of service, bad manners and all kinds of troubles are hard to ignore. They are also difficult to resolve. Perhaps that's one reason why some people identify things as problems which are of concern to hardly anyone except themselves. Yes, we can make the world and the reading room better, but we can also make them worse. It takes a lot of discernments and usually some experience, to know how to make a particular thing better. There are so many things that could use improvement that it is difficult to know where to start. This too requires some thought, not to mention prayer and study. We can start by asking whether the thing we see is a problem is also a problem for other people. If it isn't, then maybe our energy and attention might be better employed elsewhere. 翻译 本来可以更好的 当我坐在图书馆的阅览室里时，一个男人站起来离开，评论说，它本可以更好得多。 我不确定他指的是阅览室，他所读到的世界，还是别的什么。 我不假思索地回答说:“这句话总是对的，也总是错的。” 我的意思是，做一些小的改变来改善事情总是可能的，但这些改变是否会对世界上的图书馆或其他任何东西产生巨大的整体改善，在此之前是不清楚的。 多年前，文学评论家曾经非常仔细地检查伟大的作家，以发现糟糕的措辞或不合语法的句子。 他们看着莎士比亚的戏剧，找出他们认为不太好的台词。 有时他们会说，这些台词是另一个作家加的，或者莎士比亚没有仔细考虑就很快写下了这部分。 有时他们会省略或改进这些句子。 这些评论家是否真的改进了莎士比亚的戏剧，这是值得怀疑的。 整部戏需要高潮和低谷，需要诗歌和散文。 整体大于其个别部分，改变其中几个部分可能不会改善整体。 在许多其他领域——音乐、体育、学术，也许还有日常生活——也是如此。 我们最钦佩的并不总是完美无瑕的歌手或音乐家。 有时，我们钦佩的是那些表现不完美，但在工作中倾注了特殊精力、感情或热情的人。 的确，有时候一些小事情积少成多，就会产生很大的不同。 改掉一个坏习惯会对你的生活和你周围人的生活产生影响。 例如，戒烟，或停止批评家庭成员，都能起到重要的作用。 然而，有时我们只是看到了一个更大问题的症状。 例如，几乎每个人都会同意戒烟是一个好主意。 但如果吸烟与我们生活中的情绪问题或压力有关，那么戒烟可能会让我们感觉更糟。 也许有必要从根本上解决问题。 它也可能发生，总是在寻找改善事物的方法本身可能成为一个问题。 “完美主义”意味着永远不满足于事物的现状，尤其是如果我们总是批评周围的人不够好。 这可能会变成一件坏事。 在北美有一句流行的谚语:“如果它没坏，就不要修它。” 这是对那些觉得自己的角色或职位需要不断改变政策、程序、产品或人员的人的警告。 有时，改变的动力更多的是一种性格问题，而不是真正想让事情变得更好。 真正的问题往往是显而易见的。 世界饥饿、性格冲突、政策不力、服务水平低下、不礼貌以及各种各样的麻烦都是很难忽视的。 这些问题也很难解决。 也许这就是为什么有些人认为除了他们自己之外几乎没有人关心的问题的原因之一。 是的，我们可以让世界和阅览室变得更好，但我们也可以让它们变得更糟。 这需要很多的洞察力，通常还需要一些经验，才能知道如何把一件事情做得更好。 有太多的事情需要改进，以至于很难知道从哪里开始。 这也需要一些思考，更不用说祈祷和学习了。 我们可以先问自己，我们看到的问题对其他人来说是否也是问题。 如果不是，那么也许我们的精力和注意力可以更好地用于其他地方。

Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain 原文 CHAPTER THREE: Huck and Jim travel south For some days, everything went along quietly, but we were getting bored. We wanted to know what was happening in town and so I decided to go and find out. Jim said, 'Why don't you wear the old dress and the hat that we found in the house? People won't know you, then. They'll think you're a girl.' And so I did. Just after it was dark, I got into the canoe and went up the river to the bottom of the town. There, I left the canoe and went on foot. Before long, I came to a little house which was always empty. Now there was a light on, and when I looked through the window, I saw a woman of about forty. She was a stranger and that was good because she didn't know me. So I knocked on the door. 'I must remember that I'm a girl,' I said to myself. The woman opened the door. 'Come in,' she said. She looked at me with her little bright eyes. 'What's your name?' she asked. 'Sarah Williams,' I replied. 'I'm going to see my uncle, on the other side of town. My mother's ill, you see, and she needs help.' 'Well, you can't go there by yourself now. It's too dark. My husband will be home in about an hour. Wait for him and he'll walk with you.' And then she began to tell me about all her troubles. I was getting bored with all this until she said something about Pop and my murder. 'Who did it?' I asked. 'Well,' she replied, 'some people say old Finn did it himself; other people think it was a slave who ran away that night. His name was Jim. They'll give three hundred dollars to anybody who finds him - and they'll give two hundred dollars for old Finn. He got drunk and left town with two strangers. A lot of people think he killed his boy and he's going to come back one day, and get all Huck Finn's money.' 'And what about the slave?' I asked. 'Oh, they'll soon catch him. People want the three hundred dollars. I think he's on Jackson's Island, you know. I've seen smoke there. My husband's gone to get two of his friends and they're going over there with a gun later tonight.' When I heard this, my hands began to shake. The woman looked at me strangely, but then she smiled and said kindly, 'What did you say your name was?' 'M-Mary Williams.' 'Oh,' she said, 'I thought it was Sarah.' 'Er... well, yes, itis. Sarah Mary Williams. Some people call me Sarah and some people call me Mary, you see.' 'Oh, do they?' She smiled again. 'Come on, now what's your real name? Bill? Bob? I know you're not really a girl.' So then I had to tell her another story, with a different name, and I said I was running away. She said she wouldn't tell anybody, and gave me some food before I left. I hurried back to the island and Jim. 'Quick, Jim!' I cried, waking him up. 'They're coming to get us!' We got out the raft as fast as we could, put all our things on it, tied the canoe on behind, and moved off down the river. When it began to get light, we hid. When it was dark again, we travelled on. On the fifth night we passed St Louis, and we decided to go on down to Cairo in Illinois, sell the raft there and get a boat to Ohio. There are no slaves in Ohio. We slept for most of that day and we began our journey again when it was dark. After some time, we saw lights on the Illinois side of the river and Jim got very excited. He thought it was Cairo. Jim got the canoe ready and I went off in it to take a look at those lights. But it wasn't Cairo. After that, we went on down the river. It was very dark that night and it wasn't easy to see where we were going. Suddenly, a big steamboat came at us very fast, and the next minute it was right over us. Jim and I jumped off the raft into the water. The boat hit the raft and went on up the river. When I came up out of the water, I couldn't see Jim anywhere. I called out his name again and again, but there was no answer. 'He's dead!' I thought. Slowly, I swam to the side of the river and got out. I saw that I was near a big old wooden house. Suddenly a lot of very angry dogs jumped out at me. They made a terrible noise and someone called from the house, 'Who's there?' 'George Jackson,' I answered quickly.' I've fallen off a river boat.' Well, the people who lived in that house were very kind, and they took me in and gave me some new clothes and a good meal. I told them that my family were all dead, so they said I could stay with them as long as I wanted. It was a beautiful house, and the food was good there, so I stayed. A few days later, one of the slaves in the house came to me and said, 'come with me together. ' We went down to some trees by the river. 'In there, ' he said, and went away. On the ground, I found a man asleep. It was Jim. I was really pleased to see him. When the steamboat hit the raft, Jim told me the raft didn't break up. Jim swam after it and caught it. Then he began to look for me. We decided to leave at once. It's all right living in a house for a little while, but you feel more free and easy and comfortable on a raft.

提示 一、每期五个句子，均是从四六级听力真题中选取的长难句。 二、每个句子念三遍女声，一遍男声，再一遍女声。 三、如果觉得语速过快，可以在播放器上调慢语速，多听几遍。 词汇提示 1.precious metal 贵金属 原文 166. Both of the dogs had been sent to the wrong destinations, on connecting flights from Denver, with Buddy mistakenly being sent to Japan instead. 这两条狗都是在丹佛转机时被送往了错误的目的地，而巴迪被错误地送到了日本。（此句有读音错误） 167. So, if any of you have some free time during the weekend, please come join us at ReBicycle and make a difference in someone's life. 所以，如果你们中的任何人在周末有空闲时间，请加入我们ReBicycle, 为别人的生活做出改变。 168. The aircraft was carrying 265 million pounds worth of gold and diamonds when the door flew open- sending the precious metal back to earth. 这架飞机装载着价值2.65亿英镑的黄金和钻石，飞行期间机舱门突然打开，贵重的金属散落在了陆地上。 169. Now, researchers at New Mexico State University preserving this discovery, which was identified as an ancient elephant-like animal. 现在，新墨西哥州立大学的研究人员保存了这个动物化石，该动物化石被鉴定为一种类似于古代大象的动物。 170. He wants to provide a bridge for people to connect in an area that has been divided by class and wealth, by providing affordable breakfast. 他希望通过提供经济实惠的早餐，为人们在按阶级和财富划分的地区建立联系提供一座桥梁。

听前提示 一、三遍英文，一遍中文，再一遍英文。 二、从听懂的词入手，理解句子含义。 三、根据中英文意思，听不懂的多听几遍。 原文 21. Have you ever seen such a beautiful sunset? 你看过这么美的夕阳吗？ 22. Several cottages have been isolated by the flood water. 好几间小屋被洪水孤立起来了。 23. Give him an inch and he'll take a yard. 得寸进尺。 24. I can't tell you how to pronounce the word. 我不知道怎么告诉你这个词的发音。 25. I did not expect it to be that big. 我没想到它有那么大。 26. The offer is too good to be turned down. 这提议好得令人难以拒绝。 27. We must learn to live in harmony with nature. 我们必须学会与自然和谐共处。 28. He sleeps during the day and works at night. 他白天睡觉，晚上工作。 29. The bus is full. You'll have to wait for the next one. 这班公车客满了。你必须等下一班。 30. While you're young, you should read a lot. 当你年轻的时候，你应该多读点儿书。

词汇提示 1.barometer 气压计 2.practical 实用的 3.reassemble 重新组装 4.frisky 灵活 5.durable 耐用 原文 Henry Ford Some inventions are based on simple ideas or principles. Barometers are based on the idea that air has weight and pushes down on objects. A barometer measures this air pressure. Evangelista Terricelli invented barometers in Italy in 1643. Other inventions have taken longer to develop. The automobile has thousands of parts, and it took a long time to make a really useful car. Henry Ford was one of the first people to make a reliable automobile. In 1765, James Watt invented the steam engine. Within a few years, a Frenchman, Nicolas Cugnot, had built a steam-powered vehicle These steam carriages were used in England in the 1800s. But they were big and slow. They looked like a train without the tracks. Most people preferred to travel by train. In Germany during the 1870s and 1880s, Nikolaus Otto and Gottlieb Daimler developed the internal combustion engine. This ran by burning gasoline. Another German, Karl Benz, built a gasoline powered car. Around the world, there were many inventors trying to build a car that would be better than the one before. Some people thought that electric cars would become common. In the 1890s, everal inventors working in the United States developed a gasoline powered car that was practical for daily use. Henry Ford was born on a farm in Michigan in 1863. As a boy, he loved to take clocks and watches apart and reassemble them. Eventually, he went to work for the Detroit Edison Company. In his spare time, he worked on a “horseless carriage”, as the early cars were called. In 1896, he completed a car that ran smoothly. He later sold it and made another one. Since early cars were made by hand, they were usually quite expensive. Not only that, but when they broke down, there were no repair shops to take them to. One had to know how to repair a car oneself. Henry Ford tried to make cars which would be affordable and which would not break down very easily. His Ford Motor Company was formed in 1903 in Detroit, Michigan. Since many parts had to be brought together to make a car，Ford developed the assembly line. On the line, each worker would do one specific job. When the car reached the end of the assembly line, it was finished. In this way, many cars could be made in a single day. The result was that Ford was able to bring the price of cars down. Ford's “Model T” car was advertised as being as frisky as a jack rabbit and more durable than a mule. Since it cost hundreds, rather than thousands of dollars, many ordinary families were now able to buy a car. Once many people had cars, their habits began to change. People didn't have to live next to the factories or offices that they worked in. Going for Sunday drives or traveling to tourist sites became a common thing. In 1905, a car drove across the United States and back again. In 1912, a car went across Canada from coast to coast. Soon, there was public pressure for good roads so that cars could travel anywhere in North America. Henry Ford was not the only inventor of the modern car. However, he was able to make a car that everyone could use and afford. 翻译 亨利•福特 有些发明是基于简单的想法或原理。 气压计的原理是空气有重量，可以压住物体。 气压计测量空气压力。 伊万杰利斯塔·特瑞切利于1643年在意大利发明了气压计。 其他发明的发展则需要更长的时间。 汽车有成千上万个零件，要制造一辆真正有用的汽车需要很长时间。 亨利·福特是最早制造可靠汽车的人之一。 1765年，詹姆斯·瓦特发明了蒸汽机。 几年之内，法国人尼古拉斯·库诺(Nicolas Cugnot)造出了一辆蒸汽动力汽车 这些蒸汽马车在19世纪的英国使用。 但是他们又大又慢。 他们看起来就像一列没有轨道的火车。 大多数人喜欢乘火车旅行。 在19世纪70年代和80年代的德国，尼古拉·奥托和戈特利布·戴姆勒发明了内燃机。 这是靠燃烧汽油驱动的。 另一位德国人卡尔·本茨制造了一辆汽油动力汽车。 在世界各地，有许多发明家试图制造一辆比以前更好的汽车。 一些人认为电动汽车将变得普遍。 19世纪90年代，几个在美国工作的发明家发明了一种日常使用的汽油动力汽车。 亨利·福特1863年出生于密歇根州的一个农场。 小时候，他喜欢把钟表拆开再重新组装。 最终，他去了底特律爱迪生公司工作。 在他的业余时间，他在一辆“无马马车”上工作，早期的汽车被称为“无马马车”。 1896年，他完成了一辆行驶平稳的汽车。 后来他卖掉了它，又做了一个。 由于早期的汽车是手工制造的，所以通常都很昂贵。 不仅如此，当汽车坏了的时候，没有维修厂可以送它们去。 一个人必须知道如何自己修理汽车。 亨利·福特试图制造价格低廉、不易损坏的汽车。 他的福特汽车公司于1903年在密歇根州的底特律成立。 由于制造一辆汽车需要将许多零件组装在一起，福特发明了装配线。 在这条线上，每个工人只做一项特定的工作。 当汽车到达装配线的末端时，它就完工了。 用这种方法，一天就能生产出许多汽车。 其结果是福特能够降低汽车的价格。 福特的“T型车”在广告中被宣传为像杰克兔一样活泼，比骡子更耐用。 由于它的价格是数百美元，而不是数千美元，许多普通家庭现在能够买得起一辆汽车。 一旦许多人拥有了汽车，他们的习惯就开始改变。 人们不必住在他们工作的工厂或办公室旁边。 周日自驾或去旅游景点成为了一件很常见的事情。 1905年，一辆汽车横穿美国并返回。 1912年，一辆汽车横跨加拿大，从东海岸到西海岸。 很快，公众开始要求修建良好的道路，这样汽车就可以在北美的任何地方行驶。 亨利·福特不是现代汽车的唯一发明者。 然而，他能够制造一辆每个人都能使用和负担得起的汽车。