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!
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.
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.”
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.
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.”
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."
(from internet)
