戴景耀【绿野仙踪】魔幻世界之旅Day1-深圳学而思英语
戴景耀
The Wizard of QZ
The Cyclone
Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle
Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their
house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon
many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one
room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for
the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry
and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in
another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar--except a
small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family
could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to
crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the
middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark
hole.
When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see
nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a
house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of
the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a
gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was
not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until
they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house
had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed
it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.
When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun
and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her
eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks
and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never
smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt
Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that she would scream
and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's merry voice
reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder
that she could find anything to laugh at.
Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and
did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to
his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.
It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray
as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black
dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on
either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and
Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.
Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the
doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than
usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at
the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.
From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry
and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the
coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the
south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the
grass coming from that direction also.
Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.
"There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife. "I'll go look
after the stock." Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and
horses were kept.
Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of
the danger close at hand.
"Quick, Dorothy!" she screamed. "Run for the cellar!"
Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the girl
started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap
door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark
hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt.
When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the
wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat
down suddenly upon the floor.
Then a strange thing happened.
The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the
air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the
exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is
generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of
the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top
of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles
away as easily as you could carry a feather.
It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy
found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around,
and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were
being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there,
barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to
see what would happen.
Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first
the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of his
ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air
was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole,
caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward
closing the trap door so that no more accidents could happen.
Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright;
but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about
her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she
would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours
passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved
to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she
crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and
Toto followed and lay down beside her.
In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind,
Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.
词
汇
之
树
1. lumber (n)
木材，木料（美国人多用）
区分：timber 木材，木料（英国人多用）；wood 木头，木头质地的（多强调物件的质地。是木头的，而不是石头或者金属的），而timber和lumber多用于建筑等，一般不表示物品质地
2. wagon (n)
四轮的运货马车，铁路马车（英），小手推车（美）
课外小知识：后来Wagon演变成专门一种轿车车型的代称，这种车以轿车为基础，把后备厢加高到与车顶齐平，大大增加了行李空间。Wagon车在欧洲非常流行，深受消费者的青睐。在中国，消费者习惯把Wagon译为“旅行车”。
3. rusty(adj)
生锈的；铁锈色的，深褐色的；（技术、知识等）荒废的，生疏的
拓展：by rusty 在发脾气；get rusty 生锈，荒废；turn rusty 生气，闹别扭；rusty rig 无花果
4. dish用作名词
1）碟，盘，碗，通常为较深的椭圆形盘子,一般放在餐桌中央
2）一道菜
3）餐具（总是用复数形式,其前常加the）
4）外貌有吸引力的人，漂亮的人（在口语中）
dish用作动词
1）盛于碟或盘中，常用于习语dishout和dishup中。
2）使某人的希望破灭，破坏某人的机会，使某人不能成功（口语中）
5. enough to do sth
足以做某事
6. do nothing but do sth 只…
例：We can do nothing but ask you for help.我们只得请你帮忙了。
7. in all directions
四面八方，各方面
8. wash away
冲走，洗去，忘却
9. sober
(adj) 颜色暗淡的，清醒的；
（v）使清醒，冷静
基本意思是节制饮食，一般指不醉酒,可指在特定场合（时间）不醉酒,也可指习惯性的不醉酒。引申可指在紧张、兴奋的情况下所表现出的头脑冷静、沉着和不受感情、偏见、恐惧或其他不合情理的行为的影响而处于冷静状态。
拓展：sober up 使醒酒；sober down 使清醒
10. gaunt (adj)
憔悴的，荒凉的
11. startle(v)
使吃惊，惊愕
区分：wonder指对异常现象或难以解释的事感到“惊讶”或“疑惑”; surprise普通用词，多指因未预料或意外的事而引起的惊奇之感。; amaze语气较强，指因认为不可能或极少可能发生情况的出现而感到惊讶或迷惑不解；startle指因没有提防而“大吃一惊”或“吓了一跳”
12. stern(adj)
严厉的；严峻的；苛刻的；坚决的
区分：strict通常用于指对人的行为要求符合规范,一般译为“严格的”; severe多指由于客观需要而不能轻易改变规则和要求,含有冷酷无情之义,一般译为“严厉的”; stern则含有坚定不可动摇之义,多由人的性格所决定,一般译为“严谨的”。
13.rarely(adv)
很少地
频率副词：always 总是（100%）---usually 通常（75%）---often 经常（50%）---sometimes 有时（25%）---rarely/seldom 很少地（10%）---never 从不（0%）
14. wail （n）
痛哭，尖叫声
15. close at hand
在眼前，在附近
16. still
(adj)静止的；（adv）仍然；（v）是平静；（n）蒸馏器
17. creep
(v)蹑手蹑脚地走/爬；
（n）卑鄙小人，蠕动
拓展：基本意思是“缓慢〔悄悄〕地行进”,隐含唯恐被人发现之意,也可指人或动物身体贴着地面“爬行,匍匐”,可用来比喻岁月、时间等慢慢流逝,数量、份额等逐渐爬升,错误、麻烦等偷偷出现,情绪、感觉等悄然涌上心头。
过去式及过去分词：crept
句子之花
1.Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flatcountry that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions.
在那一片宽阔平坦的原野上既没有一棵树，也没有一间小屋子。每一个方向，都一直伸展到天边。
赏析：not…nor 既不，也不；reach一词形象描述伸手可及的距离/范围，仿佛就在眼前
2.It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved herfrom growing as gray as her other surroundings.
正是托托引得多萝茜笑起来，让她不至于像周围其他人那样无聊。
赏析：It was sb/sth that 强调句句型；save一词生动形象地表达出拯救，可见周围的环境是多么的“水深火热”
3.From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind,and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grassbowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came asharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turnedtheir eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming fromthat direction also.
他们从老远的北方那里，听到一种风的低低的哀叫声，亨利叔叔和多萝茜在风暴到来之前，看见那里的草，作着波浪形的起伏。现在，从南方的高空中，也传来了一种尖锐的啸声。他们的眼睛转向那里，只见在那个方向的草也掀起了波浪。
赏析1：（语法上）there came a sharp whistling引导的倒装句（方位副词提前，后面的句子要倒装）
赏析2：形象描述台风来的预兆。
Question
what strange thing happened?
可以通过回复评论来回答问题哟~
See you tomorrow