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[00:00.00]by:如果您也喜欢 恒星英语学习网 www.hxen.com 请与您的朋友分享Lesson 39 Text A
[00:10.06]My Father' s Son
[00:13.06]It' s hard being an astronaut's son.
[00:17.79]I mean, everybody expects you to be special or perfect, and I' m just an average eleven-year-old kid.
[00:27.45]I' m an average student, and I' m average, too, when it comes to basketball, football, soccer, and baseball.
[00:37.98]I often wonder how my father ever had a son like me.
[00:43.39]I mean he's so special and so good at everything he does.
[00:48.38]In high school he was captain of the football team, class president, and editor of the school newspaper.
[00:58.31]Well, to tell you the truth, I do have a little talent that nobody knows about.
[01:05.52]I write poems and stories and keep them. in a red notebook in my bottom desk drawer.
[01:13.46]Nowadays I dream about being a famous writers ,
[01:18.05]but I used to dream about doing something spectacular to impress my father
[01:23.57]and make him proud of me---something like rescuing a child from a burning buildingn or chasing a robber away from an old lady.
[01:34.96]I was daydreaming in school one morning (which I do often).
[01:41.41]I was daydreaming about being some kind of hero,
[01:46.03]like discovering an instant cure for cancer or a shot for mental illness,
[01:53.24]when I heard my English teacher: announce a Father' s Day essay contest for the whole school.
[02:00.40]"I hope we have a winner right here in my English class,"she said.
[02:06.12]"The PTA? has donatedis three cash prizes--one hundred dollars for first prize,
[02:14.90]fifty dollars for second, and twenty-five dollars for third prize."
[02:19.89]After school I walked home, thinking about the essay I would write.
[02:26.52]My father is an astronaut, I would start oute. No, I decided. I wouldn't do that.
[02:35.43]The whole country and maybe even the whole world saw my father as an astronaut, but that wasn't the way I saw him.
[02:44.65]When I got home, I kissed my mom quickly. Then I went upstairs to my room and sat down with a pen and a pad of paper.
[02:56.46]I started to think about what I would write.How did I see my father.Hmm.
[03:04.32]I saw him sitting with me in the dark when I was a little kid and had a nightmare.
[03:11.82]I saw him teaching me how to use a hates and how to throw a baseball.
[03:17.54]I remembered how he hugged me for hours when my dog Spotty was hit and killed by a car.
[03:26.18]And I remembered how he surprised me with a new puppy at my eighth birthday party.
[03:33.42]When I started to cry, he told all the kids that I had a bad allergy.
[03:39.12]"David's allergy bothers him a lot this time of year," Dad said.
[03:44.00]And I remembered how he sat and tried to explain death to me when Grandpa Bob died.
[03:52.12]These were the things Lwas going to write about my dad.
[03:57.90]To me, he wash't just a world-famous astronaut. He was my dad.
[04:04.77]I wrote about all these memories and put them in my essay.
[04:09.55]I handed it in the next day and was surprised to find out that the winning essays would be read in the auditorium on Thursday night.
[04:20.18]All the parents and students were invited.My parents and I went to school Thursday night.
[04:28.83]One of our neighbours said, "I bet you'11 win the contest, David.
[04:34.26]I bet you wrote what it's like to be the son of an astronaut,
[04:38.73]and you're the only one in town who could write about that."
[04:42.31]My dad looked at me,and I shrugged.I hadn't shown him the essay,and now I almost hoped I wouldn't win.
[04:52.62]I did't want to win just because my father was an astronaut.
[04:57.67]When third prize was announced and it wasn't me,I was relieved and disappointed at the same time,
[05:05.35]Ellen Gordon won third prize,and she read her essay.
[05:10.67]Ellen is adopted,and she wrote about her"better than real"father.
[05:16.71]When she got to the end,I heard people in the audience sniffing and blowing their noses.
[05:23.66]My mother sniffed,and my father cleared his throat.
[05:28.54]The second-prize winner was announced next.It was me.I went up to the stage,my knees shaking.
[05:37.53]I read my essay and wondered if my voice was shaking,too.
[05:43.25]It was scary standing up in front of all those people.
[05:48.21]I called my essay"My Father's Son".I watched my parents as I read.
[05:56.02]When I finished reading,the audience applauded.I saw my father blowing his nose,
[06:03.08]Tears were running down my mother's face.I went back to my seat.
[06:09.48]"I see you have an allergy,too,Dad,"I tried to joke.
[06:14.75]Dad nodded,cleared his throat,and put his hand on my shoulder.
[06:20.40]"Son,this is the proudest moment of my life,"he said.
[06:25.15]It was the proudest moment of my life,too.
[06:29.22]Maybe I'll never be a great hero or win a Nobel Prize,but just then,it was enough just to be my father's son.
[06:43.62]Text B The Wrong Sex or the Wrong Clothes?
[06:50.67]Sylvia and Larry both work for a big company in London.They work in different departments.
[06:59.60]They are having lunch in the canteen.
[07:02.69]SYLVIA:We've got a new manager in our department.
[07:05.93]LARRY:Oh?You hoped to get that job,didn't you?
[07:09.77]SYLVIA:Yes,I did.
[07:11.10]LARRY:I'm sorry.That's too bad.Who is it?Who got the job,I mean?
[07:17.29]SYLVIA:someone clled Drexler.Carl Drexler.
[07:21.89]He's been with the company only two years.I've been here longer.And I know more about the job,too!
[07:29.88]LARRY:Hmm.Why do you think they gave it to him and not to you?
[07:34.97]SYLVIA:Because I'm the wrong sex,of course!
[07:38.42]LARRY:You mean you didn't get the job because you're a woman?
[07:41.61]SYLVIA:Yes,that was probably it! It isn't fair.
[07:46.68]LARRY:What sort of clothes does he wear?
[07:49.66]SYLIA:A dark suit.White shirt.A tie.Why?
[07:54.70]LARRY:Perhaps that had something to do with it.
[07:58.12]SYLVIA:You mean you think I didn't get the job because I come to work in jeans and a sweater?
[08:04.99]LARRY:It's possible,isn't it?
[08:07.08]SYLVIA:Do you really think I should wear different clothes?
[08:10.97]LARRY:Well...perhaps you should thing about it.
[08:14.29]SYLVIA:Why should I wear a skirt?Or a dress?
[08:17.71]LARRY:I'm not saying you should.I'm saying you should think about it.That's all!
[08:23.41]AYLVIA:Why should I do that?I'm good at my job!That's the only important thing!
[08:29.65]LARRY:Hmm.Perhaps it should be the only important thing.But it isn't.Not in this company.
[08:38.22]7. Read the following passage once.
[08:43.70]Underline the key words while reading and retell the story to your partner.
[08:50.34]The Clever Servant
[08:53.45]A long time ago, there was a rich old man who loved wine and good food above everything else.
[09:01.31]And he had a servant who loved drinking and eating as much as his master did.
[09:08.41]Each time the rich old man went out, he had to hide his wine and food away.
[09:15.00]But each time the Servant found them and he helped himself to the bottles of wine and all the nice food.
[09:23.77]Of course, the rich old man knew who did it and was displeased.
[09:29.97]But he could do nothing about it because he had never caught his servant drinking his wine or eating his food.
[09:38.22]One day the old man was invited to dinner at the home of one of his friends.
[09:45.85]He did not know what to do with the wine, meat and chicken he had just bought.
[09:52.43]Certainly he could not leave them to the servant. Then he had an idea.
[09:59.33]He called up the seavant and said to him:
[10:02.83]"I'11 he away for the whole evaning, and I'lI leave you to look after the house.
[10:08.94]In the cupboard there are two bottles filled with poison. Be careful about it.
[10:16.49]You'11 he killed if you take even a drop of it. There is also some meat and chicken in the cupboard.
[10:24.67]Take care of them."With these words the rich old man left home.
[10:31.54]As soon as the master turned his back,
[10:35.35]the servant opened the cupboard and began to enjoy all the nice things in it.
[10:40.91]He emptied the two bottles and ate up the meat,the ehieken and everything else he found in the cupboard.
[10:49.80]He was satisfied and soon fell asleep.At mid-night the rich old man returned home.
[10:58.83]He looked into the cupboard and, to his great surprise, all his wine and food were gone.
[11:07.32]He was mad with anger and called the servant up.
[11:11.92]"Oh, Master," the servant began before the old man could open his mouth.
[11:17.80]"While you were away, the neighbour's black cat stole into our kitehen and ate up everything in the cupboard.
[11:27.05]I knew. you would be very angry with me.
[11:30.73]I was so afraid that I drank the two bottles of poison to kill myself.
[11:37.00]" There were even tears in the servant's eyes. "Oh, Master," he continued.
[11:43.95]"Please don't get angry with a dying man. I'll soon be dead."
[11:48.68]The rich old man, of course, did not believe a word of his story.