接下来的一幕我至今仍记忆犹新,仿佛就发生在今天早上。我走到讲桌前,不慌不忙拉打开抽屉,拿出一卷胶带,然后一言不发地走到马克桌前,撕下两截胶带,在他嘴上贴了个大大的“X”,然后转身走回教室前面。我瞟了瞟马克看他有什么反应,结果看到他朝我眨了眨眼睛。而当我回到马克桌前给他撕下胶带时,他说的第一句话便是“谢谢你指出我的问题,修女。”
在一个星期五,我让同学们把班上除自己之外其他同学的名字写在两张纸上,名字与名字间留点空隙。然后我让他们想想每位同学最好的地方是什么,并把这也写下来。大家用那堂课剩余的时间完成了这项任务,到下课离开教室的时候他们把各自的两张纸交给了我。
星期六的时候,我分别把每位同学的名字各写在一张纸上,然后把其他同学对他的评价列在上面。到了星期一,我把各人的单子分发给他们。很快全班同学脸上都扬起了笑容。“真有这么好?”我听见有人轻声说。“我从不知道那会对别人有意义!”还有人说:“原来大家这么喜欢我啊!”而马克说:“修女,感谢你的教导。”
后来再没人在课堂上提起过这些纸,我也不清楚他们有没有在课下与同学或者父母谈论过。
很快我就被调去教初中数学了。几年的时间一晃而过,在我还未意识到的时候,马克又出现在了我的课堂。他比以前帅气了,人也更加彬彬有礼。也许是因为他必须认真听我用“新数学”法讲课,九年级的他不再像三年级时那样爱讲话了。
就这样,这一批学生毕业了。
几年后的一天,我度假归来,父母来机场接我。妈妈斜斜地瞟了爸爸一眼,只说了两个字:“她爸?”爸爸清了清嗓子--但凡有要事宣布,他都会这样。他说:“埃克隆家昨晚打了个电话过来。”“是吗?”我说,“好几年没他们的消息了,不知道马克怎么样了。”爸爸轻声地回答道:“马克在越战中牺牲了,葬礼在明天举行。他父母希望你能去参加。”
我从未见过军人躺在军用棺材里的样子。马克看上去是那样英俊,那样成熟。
葬礼结束后,马克的父母找到了我。“我们想给您看一样东西,”他爸爸说,“马克牺牲的时候他们在他身上找到了这个。我们想您可能认得。”他打开皮夹,小心翼翼地取出两张破损不堪的笔记本纸。很明显,这两张纸用胶带补过、反复折叠过。不用看我也知道,这就是当初那两张纸,我当时把马克的同学们对他的表扬都写在了上面。“您所做的这些,我们感激不尽,”马克的妈妈说,“您也看到了,马克在学校里的表现越来越好。这都归功于您和您的这张单子。”
这时,马克的同学们也围了过来。查利腼腆地笑着说:“这张单子我现在还保留着,就在我家书桌最上面的抽屉里。”查克的妻子说:“查克让我把这个放在我们的结婚纪念册里。”“我的也在,”玛丽莲说,“就在我日记本里。”接着,另一个同学维姬从手提袋里取出钱包,给大家看那张已经磨损了的纸。“我一直把这个带在身上,”维姬眼睛一眨不眨地说,“我想我们都保存着自己的单子。”
那一刻,我终于坐下大哭起来。
有时候,即便是最微不足道的事情,对他人也可能意义非凡。在这个社会上,在熙熙攘攘的人群中,我们哪里还会记得某天人生终会走到尽头,更不知道那一天何时到来。所以,趁一切都还来得及,去赞美你爱着、关心着的人吧!
15
Unexpected Score
出乎意料的成绩
今天是成绩公布的日子了,很多同学都跑到公布栏那看自己的成绩名次,这次的成绩得了个B,所以我也没抱多大希望,那不是约翰吗……
1、句子
01
How about your mock examination this time
你这次的模拟考试考得怎么样?
02
I thought I won't pass the English exam.
我还以为我的英语考试不及格呢。
03
I never thought I would be beyond the fractional line so much,I thought it would fail.
真没想到我竟然会超出分数线那么多,我还以为会不及格呢。
04
I have paid so much effort,but still failed in the College Entrance Exam.
我已经付出了那么多努力了,但高考时还是落榜了。
05
I got a B,and I really never thought that there would be a scholarship.
我在考试中得了个B,没想到竟会获得奖学金。
06
I'm accepted by Yale University accidentally,which makes the whole family very excited.
我竟然意外地被耶鲁大学录取了,这令全家人都激动不已。
07
I never thought I would be accepted unconventionally by Stanford University.
真没想到以我的成绩竟然被斯坦福大学破格录取了。
2、对话
Don't Pull My Leg
John:Hi,Pal,congratulations!
Jasmine:On what
John:Don't you know You are granted the first class scholarship.
Jasmine:Don't pull my leg.I only got a B in my final.
John:But it is announced on the bulletin board.Go and look for yourself.
别开玩笑了。
约翰:嗨,朋友,祝贺了!
茉莉:祝贺什么?
约翰:你得了一等奖学金,难道你还不知道?
茉莉:别开玩笑了,我期末只得了个B。
约翰:但是公布栏上已经公布了,你自己去看吧。
Notes 注释
don't pull my leg别愚弄我了,不要再开我玩笑了
3、文化加油站(心灵鸡汤)
Snowfall in Childhood
I got out of bed to see what had happened in the night.I was thirteen years old then.I had fallen asleep watching the snow falling through the half-frosted window.
While getting out of bed I remembered how,as I was nearly asleep,the night outside the frosted window had seemed to burst into a white jungle.I had dreamed of streets and houses buried in snow.
I hurried barefooted to the window.It was scribbled with a thick frost and I couldn't see through it.The room was cold and through the opened window came the fresh smell of snow like the moist nose of an animal resting on the ledge and breathing into the room.
I knew from the smell and the darkness of the window that snow was falling.I melted a peephole on the glass with my palms.I saw that this time the snow had not fooled me.It was still coming down white and silent and too thick for the wind to move,and the streets and houses were almost as I had dreamed.I watched,shivering and happy.Then I dressed,pulling on my clothes as if the house were on fire.I was finished with breakfast and out in the storm two hours before school time.
The world had changed.All the houses,fences,and barren trees had new shapes.Everything was round and white and unfamiliar.
I set out through these new streets on a voyage of discovery.The unknown surrounded me.Through the thick falling snow,the trees,houses,and fences looked like ghost shapes that had floated down out of the sky during the night.The morning was without light,but the snowfall hung and swayed like a marvelous lantern over the streets.The snowbanks,already over my head in places,glowed mysteriously.
I was pleased with this new world.It seemed to belong to me more than that other world which lay hidden.
疑难解析
frosted ['fr:stid] adj.被霜覆盖的;冻伤的;冷淡的;无光泽的 v.下霜
jungle ['dɡl] n.丛林,密林;危险地带 adj.丛林的;蛮荒的
barefooted [,bε'futid] adj.光着脚的(等于barefoot)
adv.光着脚地
scribble ['skribl] n.潦草写成的东西;潦草的写法;杂文 vt.乱写;滥写;潦草地书写 vi.乱写;乱涂
darkness ['dɑ:knis] n.黑暗;模糊;无知;阴郁
peephole ['pi:phul] n.窥视孔
palm [pɑ:m] n.手掌;棕榈树;掌状物 vt.将……藏于掌中
shivering ['ivri] n.颤抖;小片 adj.颤抖的 v.颤抖(shiver的ing形式)
voyage ['viid] n.航行;航程;旅行记 vi.航行;航海
vt.飞过;渡过
fence ['fens] n.栅栏;围墙;剑术 vt.防护;用篱笆围住;练习剑术 vi.击剑;搪塞;围以栅栏;跳过栅栏
snowfall ['snuf:l] n.降雪;降雪量
sway [swei] vt.影响;统治;使摇动 vi.影响;摇摆 n.影响;摇摆;统治
marvelous ['mɑ:vils] adj.了不起的;非凡的;令人惊异的;不平常的
snowbank ['snubk] n.雪堆;雪堤
glow [ɡlu] vi.发热;洋溢;绚丽夺目 n.灼热;色彩鲜艳;兴高采烈
参考译文
童年漫天飞舞的雪花
我从床上爬起来,看夜里发生了什么。那时的我才十三岁。前一夜,我在透过结着薄霜的窗玻璃看大雪飘落的时候睡着了。
起床的时候我记起来,在快要睡着的时候,隔着结霜的玻璃,夜晚似乎突然变成了一片白色的丛林。我后来梦见房屋和街道都被大雪盖住了。
我光着脚匆匆跑向窗边。窗户上杂乱地结着一层厚厚的霜,没法看到外面。房间里很冷,从敞开的窗子外面飘进来清新的雪的味道,仿佛有一只动物正栖息在窗台上,用它湿润的鼻子对着房间呼气。
闻着这股味道,看着黝暗的窗户,我知道雪还在下。我用手掌在窗玻璃上化开一个小洞向外看去,知道这次的雪并没有辜负我的期盼。白雪还在无声无息地飘落,密密匝匝地,风也动摇不了它。房屋和街道几乎和我梦里见到的一模一样。我看着这一切,虽然感觉冷得发抖,却也幸福快意。然后,我火急火燎地开始穿戴。离上学还有两个小时,我已经吃完早饭冲进了风雪之中。
世界变了个样。所有的房屋、栅栏还有光秃秃的树木都换了新颜。一切事物都变成圆乎乎的,银装素裹,看起来很陌生。
我启程踏上了探索之旅。穿过焕然一新的大街小巷,周遭显得十分陌生。隔着密集的落雪,树木、房屋还有栅栏仿佛是昨夜从天空中飘降的幽灵。清晨还没有光亮,而这纷飞的大雪仿佛一挂神奇的灯笼,摇摇晃晃地照着街巷。几处高过我的雪堆闪着神秘的光。
这个崭新的世界让我很开心。比起大雪掩埋的那个世界,它似乎和我更亲近。
16
Fail
不及格
吉姆是个平时喜欢花大把时间在篮球上的一个人,平时上课不是没个人影就是趴在桌子上睡觉,真担忧他期末考试怎么办……
1、句子
01
Everybody knows he flunked math.