在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.panic 恐慌 2.choke 窒息 3.lifeguards 救生员 4.length 长度 原文 My Worst Fear I am afraid of water. I don't know why I am afraid. I have never had a bad experience in the water. I just never learned to swim. I should have done that when I was just little. It would be easier for me to swim now，if I had started when I was young. I will go into the shallow water，I start to panic when the water gets higher than my chest. I don't like the feeling of not being able to put my feet on the bottom of the pool or the lake. I don't like get water up my nose. I choke and cough when that happens. My friends just tell my to relax and I will float，but I find it is hard to relax in deep water. They keep telling me that if I panic I will sink. Most of my friends have had swimming lessons. Some of them are even lifeguards. They have tried to teach me to swim，but I think I need go to a place where they actually teach swimming. It would be so nice to jump into a pool of cool water on a hot summer day. That would be so refreshing. If I go out onto a boat，I always wear a life jacket. I think it is wise to do that. Everyone should wear a life jacket on a boat. I would rather be safe than sorry. I have decided that I will overcome my fear. I will go and take swimming lessons. I have a goal. By this time next year，I would like to be able to swim the length of the pool without being afraid. It is best to face your fear and deal with them. I hope that I can overcome my fear of water.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.servants 仆人 2.chores 家务活 3.privacy 隐私 4.security 安全 原文 Being a Princess Sometimes，I think that I would like to be a princess. A princess would live in a palace and wear beautiful clothes. She would have servants do chores for her，and she would probably marry a handsome prince. People would recognize her. They would wave to her as she drove by. It seems like it would be a lot of fun to be a princess. But maybe it wouldn't be so nice. Maybe it would be terrible to be recognized by everyone. Maybe a princess would feel like everyone was watching her. She would have to look nice every time she left the palace. There would always be people with cameras who want to take her picture. A princess would have no privacy. Even in her own palace，there would be servants around，so she would never really be alone. If I were a princess，I would worry about security for my family. Sometimes，people who are in high position are threatened by other people. That would be a worry. I'm not so sure that being a princess would be all that much fun. I think it might be better to be just a normal person like me. I don't have to worry about looking wonderful all the time. People don't follow me around and take my picture. Whenever you see a picture of a princess，she is smiling. I wonder she is smiling on the inside，or just smiling for the camera.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.figures 人物 2.figurine 小雕像 3.cape 斗篷 4.mature 成熟 原文 Super Heroes When my brother was very young，he loved super heroes. He collected plastic figures of all the super heroes. I think he had every super hero figurine that there was. He used to tie a towel on his shoulders and run through the back yard. He pretended that he was rescuing people. One time，he stood on the roof. He really thought that he could fly with his super hero cape on. He would have hurt himself if he had jumped. My dad saw him and told him to get down. My dad explained to my brother that super heroes are not real. Real people cannot fly from rooftops. My brother was disappointed. He thought that the super heroes were really existed. My dad explained that most super heroes were created as comic book characters. Somebody used their imagination to make them up，and then an artist drew them. My brother was not impressed. He said that he wanted to meet the super heroes. My father told him that he might meet someone dressed up as a super hero，but it wouldn't really be a super hero in costume. It is hard to explain to small children that the things that they see in comic books and on televisions aren't really real. My brother still pretends that he is a super hero. He doesn't jump from rooftops，but he runs around and makes noise like he is flying I look at him and remember when I used to do things like that. I'm more mature than my brother. I know that super heroes aren't real，but I know he is having fun and using his imagination.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.clumsy 笨拙的 2.waltz 华尔兹 原文 Learning to Dance I went to England with my mother. She used to be a singer in a band. We went to the hotel that she used to sing at. It was a big fancy hotel. Some of the people she knew when she sang in the band were still there. They remembered my mother，and they had a good time talking to her and remembering old times. Many people told me that I looked like my mother. In the hotel，they had a fancy hall where they had ballroom dancing. I am not used to that kind of dancing. I always dance to rock music. A man told me that he would teach me how to dance. It looked very easy. I held one of his hands，and put my other hand on his shoulder. He told me exactly how move my feet. I was very clumsy，and I stepped on his toes. He was patient with me，and he counted“one，two，three”. I tried to waltz with him. I would start out pretty well，and then I would get mixed up them and stand on his toes again. The man laughed about it. I told him that I wasn't a very good dancer，but he said that I was good for a beginner. I think he was just being polite. The man asked my mother to dance. My mother is a very good dancer. I didn't know that about her. She never stepped on the man's toes once. The man thanked us for dancing with him，and I thanked him for giving me dancing lessons. I don't think I'll ever be very good at that type of dancing. Each generation has a specific type of dancing. The way that I dance is different from the way that my mother dances. The way my dance doesn't involve moving your feet too much. I'm not too good at fancy steps.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.orchard 果园 原文 The Peach Orchard When I was very young，I lived near a peach orchard. Now，there is a park where the orchard used to be. I always remember the peach orchard，because my grandmother and I used to go there and pick peaches. The owner of the peach orchard would let all the neighbors to pick peaches. It's not fact that I used to get many ripe，tasty peaches that I remember；it's the time that I used to spend with my grandmother that I remember. My grandmother was very old，but she was very healthy. She used to walk a lot. I think that is what kept her fit. She had a lot of energy，so she liked to go to a lot of places. She would get a fruit basket，and then she would ask me if I wanted to go to the orchard. I always said yes，because I enjoyed walking through the orchard on a sunny day. We never climbed on a ladder to reach the peaches；we just reach for the low hanging fruit. My grandmother and I used to talk all the time that we were out there. It was nice to spend time with her. She told me many stories about when she was a young girl. We laughed and got to know each other better. My grandmother only visited us during the summer. She lived in California，and I lived in Niagara Falls，so we didn't get to spend a lot of time with each other. We enjoyed the hot summer days in the orchard. You could smell the peaches，and the bees buzzed lazily by us. My grandmother would point out different insects and birds to me. I learned a lot about nature from her. We would end up with a big basket of peaches. When we got home，my mother would wash the peaches，and often she would bake a peach pie for us. Nobody bakes a peach pie like my mother. It's good to have memories like that. Childhood's memories of time spent with my grandmother are very precious for me. Sometimes，it's just simple things that you do in life that leave you with the nicest memories.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.emergency 紧急情况 2.tragedies 悲剧 3.vehicles 汽车 4.sirens 汽笛 5.panic 恐慌 原文 Help Did you ever have to call for help？ Were you ever in a situation that was an emergency？ It is good to know what to do in case of an emergency. You should always know how to get in touch with the police and fire departments. I have read the stories where very young boys or girls have called the police and save their friend's or family members' lives because they knew just who to get hold of. If you see the fire，you should call the fire department. A lot of tragedies have been prevented because the calls have been made quickly. It is important that the emergency vehicles arrive very quickly. That is why those vehicles have sirens. When their sirens go，it means to get out of the way. Policemen，firemen and ambulance attendants are trained to handle very difficult situations. They often save people's lives. They go through a lot of training to become good at what they do. They never panic in emergencies. For your part，you should keep emergency numbers near the phone，or know what the emergency numbers are. Where I live，there is a special number that you call for any emergencies. We teach the number to everyone，even very tiny children. It is important to remain calm if you need help. It you call an emergency number，you have to be able to speak clearly，and tell the person you are talking to exactly what the problem is. I hope you are never in an emergency situation，but it is a good idea to be prepared.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.superstitions 迷信 2.itchy 发痒 3.ladder 梯子 原文 Superstitions I am not superstitious，are you？ Yesterday was Friday the thirteenth. Some people think that Friday the thirteenth is an unlucky day. I think that it is just like any other day. Some people believe that if a black cat crosses your path，you will have bad luck I don't believe that either. My mother always gets upset if I open an umbrella in the house. She says that it is bad luck. She is probably right about that one，because an open umbrella would take up a lot of space and you might knock things over. If your left hand is itchy，you are supposed to get money. I have had an itchy left hand before，but I haven't received any money because of it. It is bad luck to walk under a ladder. That is probably true，because you might knock somebody off the ladder，or have a can of paint fall on top of you. If you are acting in a play，it is bad luck if someone says “good luck”to you This is very confusing. You are supposed to tell an actor to“break a leg”. It doesn't mean that you want the actor to break his leg. It means good luck to the actor. Actors have a lot of superstitions that are very unusual. I am not superstitious. I don't believe in superstitions at all. It is just fun to learn about superstitions. Some of them are very old，and have been passed down from generation to generation. I once did a project at school on superstitions. It was a very interesting topic，and I got a good mark for it.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.lamp 灯 2.bump 触碰 3.rub 擦 4.genie 精灵 5.grant 授予 6.mansion 豪宅 7.fame 名声 8.enormous 巨大的 9.self-determination 自我认定 原文 If I Found a Magic Lamp If I was walking down the beach one day，and I happened to bump my toe on a magic lamp，I would pick it up and rub it. If it was a real magic lamp（but I don't believe that there really is a magic lamp），a genie would pop out in a cloud of smoke，and he would call me master. He would say that he would grant me three wishes. I would have to think very hard about those wishes，because I wouldn't want to waste them. I don't think I'd want millions of dollars. Money doesn't buy happiness，or so they say. I might wish for good health，because if health isn't good，you won't be able to enjoy anything. Some people might wish for beauty，but beauty is only skin deep. Some people might wish for a mansion，or a beautiful car or a big boat. I don't want any of those things. Some people would want fame. Some people would want talent. Some people would wish for happiness. That might be a good thing to wish for. Yes，maybe I'd wish for health and happiness，but what would my third wish be？ I could wish something enormous，something global. I could wish world peace. That would be a wonderful thing，if somebody could grant me that. Yes，that would probably be my third wish. It's too bad there aren't any genies inside magic lamps. I won't get my three wishes. I can still work toward getting my wishes. I can eat well and exercise to stay heathy. I can be involved with a lot of things and be with my friends to stay happy. I can volunteer my time to different organizations to help achieve world peace. I can do my fair share in my community to help others. That's how I can get my three wishes，not through a magic lamp. I can only get what I want through self-determination and hard work. That is the key to getting your wishes fulfilled.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.strikes 击打 2.sneaks 偷溜 3.coincidences 巧合 原文 My Favorite Bedtime Story Every night when I was little，my mother would read me a bedtime story. My favorite story was Tom's Midnight Garden. This was a story by Philippa Pearce. It was a quite long book，and it took quite a few nights for my mother to read the entire book to me. In Tom's Midnight Garden，Tom moves to city to stay with his aunt and uncle. He is very bored at their apartment. They have no children，so Tom has nothing to do. One night，the clock sticks thirteen times. Tom knows that this is impossible. A clock can only strike up to twelve times. He sneaks downstairs and goes outside. When he gets outside，there is a wonderful garden that wasn't there the day before. The next day，Tom goes outside and find that there is no garden. The garden only seems to appear at night. Every night，Tom slips out to the wonderful garden and he meets some people in the garden. He meets a girl named Hattie. Hattie and Tom become very good friends in this garden. Some very strange things happen in this book. There are some coincidences that keep you guessing about what is really going on The surprise ending is wonderful. I really enjoyed Tom's Midnight Garden，and I was very sad when my mother and I came to the end of the book. I felt that I had visited the magical garden with Tom. It is a book that I will remember all of my life.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.addiction 上瘾 2.craved 渴望 3.inhale 吸入 4.drifts 飘 5.light up 点烟 原文 Do People Have the Right to Smoke in Public？ My father used to smoke . He got very ill. The doctor told him that he had to quit smoking. My father tired for a long time to quit. It was very difficult for him. Smoking is an addition. After many months，my father finally gave up smoking，but he still craved a cigarette once in a while. He says that quitting smoking is the hardest thing that he has ever done. When my father did smoke，he smoked everywhere. He smoked in restaurants，stores and many public buildings. Now，you are not allowed to smoke in a lot of public places. When my father smoked ，the rules were not so strict. People could smoke just about anywhere. It really wasn't fair for the people who didn't smoke. Their clothes always smelled like smoke，and they breathed in second-hand smoke. Some people think that second-hand smoke actually worse for you than if you smoke yourself. People would smoke in their houses，and very young children would inhale the smoke that was in the air. Some people still smoke in their houses，and their children breath in the smoke. Some restaurants have areas for smokers and nonsmokers，but usually the smoke drifts from one area to the other. There are some businesses that have banned smoking altogether. Personally，I think that smoking in public places should be completely banned. I don't think that I should have to breath in another person's smoke if I choose not to smoke myself. It wouldn't be fair for a nonsmoker to get lung cancer，because they had to be in a place where smoker were allowed to light up. I know that the smoking is a powerful addiction and that is very difficult to quit，but smokers should be restrict their smoke to places where there is nobody else around. Lung cancer is an awful disease. Nobody should have to suffer with lung cancer. People should be educated about the dangers of smoking. Smoking should be banned in public places，but eventually I believe that fewer people will smoke. It would be nice to live in a smoke free environment.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.ceiling 天花板 2.needle 针 3.thread 线 4.rake 耙子 5.hurricane 飓风 6.gallons 加仑 7.quench 解渴 原文 If I were a Giant If I were a giant，I wouldn't be able to fit in my house. I'd have to live in a building that had a high ceiling，but I'd probably have a hard time getting through the door. I'd have to make my own clothes，but where would I get a giant needle and thread to sew with？ I couldn't ride in a car or a plane. I suppose I would just have to take giant steps from place to place. I would have to be very careful not to step on anybody or anything. When I talked，people would cover their ears. My voice would sound very loud to them. I wouldn't find any shoes to cover my feet. I wouldn't find a knife and fork to eat my dinner with. I might have to use a rake as a fork. My dinner would be huge. What would I cook my dinner in？ I certainly wouldn't find an oven big enough to put my dinner in. If I sneezed，it would be like a hurricane If I fell down，it would be like an earthquake.. I wouldn't have any friends because everyone would be too tiny for me to talk to. I think that being a giant would be very lonely. I couldn't have just one apple. I would have to have a lot of apples to fill me up. I could have to drink gallons and gallons of water to quench my thirst. I could never relax under a tree，I would be taller than all the trees. I don't think that being a giant would be fun. I won't ever make a wish to be giant. I would rather be my height. I'm very happy the way I am.

在喜马拉雅已支持实时字幕 关注公众号“高效英语磨耳朵”获取文稿和音频 词汇提示 1.crumbles 面包屑 2.bottle cap 瓶盖 3.thimble 针箍 4.oar 桨 5.handkerchief 手帕 6.matchbox 火柴盒 7.gust 一阵狂风 原文 If I Was Tiny Imagine what life would be like if you were two inches tall. You would have to be careful that nobody stepped on you. You would have to watch out for cats，dogs and birds. It would be very dangerous，but just think of the things that you could do. You could live in dollhouse，or even a shoebox. You could use a bottle cap for a plate. You would have to wear dolls' clothes. A stamp would make a lovely picture to hang on your wall. You could hide in a mouse hole or a drawer. You wouldn't need much food. You could probably live comfortably on the crumbles that people would leave on the table. A thimble would make a good cup. If you went outside，the grass would seem like a jungle. An insect would be huge and frightening. A puddle would seem to be an ocean. You could cross the puddle in a paper cup and use a spoon for an oar. And matchbox would make a good bed with a handkerchief as a bedspread. You'd brush your hair with a toothbrush，and you'd never find anything small enough to brush your teeth with. You could take a ride on the back of a mouse. You wouldn't find any books that were small enough to read，but you might read the back of a pill bottle. You could ride in a toy car and have a soup bowl for a swimming pool. A leaf would be your umbrella，and a mitten would make a great sleeping bag. If you use your imagination，you could think up something to use for almost all your purposes. Being small might be fun，but then again，it would be frightening. I'd be afraid of my pet cat. I wouldn't want a book to fall on me. I would be afraid of being swept away by a big gust of wind. I think I'd rather be my size.