英语学习

A Dish of Ice Cream

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a coffee shop and sat at a table.

A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?"

"50 cents," said the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it.

"How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he asked.

Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was not patient.

"35 cents," she said angrily.

The little boy again counted the coins.

"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away.

The boy finished, paid the money and left.

When the waitress came back, she was surprised at what she saw.

There were 15 cents placed beside the empty dish. That was her tip.

一盘冰淇淋

在圣代冰淇淋便宜得多的日子里，一个10岁的男孩走进一家咖啡店，坐在桌子旁。

一个女招待把一杯水放在他面前。

“圣代冰淇淋多少钱？”

服务员说：“50美分。

小男孩从口袋里掏出一只手，仔细看了看口袋里的几枚硬币。

“一盘纯冰淇淋多少钱？”他问道。

有些人正在等桌，女服务员不耐烦。

“35美分，”她生气地说。

小男孩又数了数硬币。

“我要纯冰淇淋，”他说。

女招待端来冰淇淋，把帐单放在桌上，然后走开了。

男孩说完，付了钱就走了。

当女服务员回来时，她对所看到的感到惊讶。

空盘子旁边放了15美分。

Why Don't We Ride Zebra？

It is a question many people have after a trip to the zoo. The answer to it is difficult, at first glance.

After all, zebras are very horse-like. They are roughly the same size as the ancestors of the horses. They eat grass too, so would not be difficult to keep fed.

So, why don't we ride zebras?

Many people throughout history have tried to tame the noble beast. Those attempts, by and large, have failed.

Europeans in the 1800's were particularly interested in zebra, which possibly would make them excellent transport for war and trade in the exotic new worlds they were conquering.

However, whilst it was discovered not to be impossible to train a zebra to carry a person, it proved a painstaking task with danger.

Some zookeepers in fact, would rather take care of the lions than zebras, citing the former as the less dangerous job.

We know horses bite and they kick. Zebras are different. When they kick, they look behind themselves, aim and strike with purpose. The power of a zebra's kick is enormous. It can easily shatter a lion's jaw. They also have a habit of biting and not letting go until the thing they are biting is dead.

Not exactly the best creature to jump on for a ride!

Aggression is a very useful and understandable quality for life in the African savannah.

They are, unfortunately, one of the favourite meals of savage tigers and hyenas. In order to survive, zebras have gained a major bad attitude by necessity. When in danger, they run, and when necessary, they fight. They have to be good at fighting or they die.

我们为什么不骑斑马呢？

这是许多人在动物园旅行后的一个问题。乍一看，答案很难。

毕竟斑马很像马。它们的大小与马的祖先大致相同。它们也吃草，所以不难维持食物。

那么，我们为什么不骑斑马呢？

历史上许多人都试图驯服这只高贵的野兽。总的来说，这些尝试都失败了。

19世纪的欧洲人对斑马特别感兴趣，斑马很可能使他们成为战争和在他们征服的异域新世界进行贸易的绝佳交通工具。

然而，尽管人们发现训练斑马背人并非不可能，但事实证明这是一项艰巨而危险的任务。

事实上，一些动物园管理员更愿意照顾狮子而不是斑马，认为前者是危险性较小的工作。

我们知道马咬人，他们踢。斑马是不同的。当他们踢的时候，他们回头看，瞄准并有目的地攻击。斑马踢腿的力量是巨大的。它可以轻易地打碎狮子的下巴。它们还有一个习惯，就是咬到的东西死了才肯放手。

不是最好的动物跳上去兜风！

在非洲大草原上，侵略是一种非常有用和可以理解的生活品质。

不幸的是，它们是野生老虎和鬣狗最喜欢的食物之一。为了生存，斑马已经获得了一个主要的坏态度的必要性。遇到危险时，他们会逃跑，必要时，他们会战斗。他们必须善于战斗否则他们会死。

美文阅读

㈠乡下佬认为冬天晒太阳晒得全身暖烘烘是人间至乐，想把他的“发现”告诉国王；吃辣椒吃得过瘾也是人间少有的美味，主张用辣椒进贡。农家的一个媳妇，在夏天的厨房里汗流浃背，自叹命苦，她说：“如果我是正宫娘娘，这时候早已铺一床凉席，躺在树荫底下，喊一声：‘太监，给我拿个柿饼来！”’

　　人受识见的限制，常常不知道什么是“最好的”。想当年台湾岛内的山胞（高山族）认为世上最好的东西是米酒，他们领到当局免费发给的种子，并不撒在田里，转手送给酒商。有些人喝得酩酊大醉，脚步不稳，坠入山谷，永不回家。可是几百年前，山胞追捕一条白鹿发现日月潭的时候，自有辟草莱、斩荆棘的精神。他们原有很强的生存能力，只是他们耳目蔽塞，识见有限，落得每况愈下。

　　“识”和“见”有连带关系。能见（接触、觉察）始能识（认识和知解），能识（学问、修养）始能见（判断、设计）。当局辅导山胞改善生活，即从增知识、广见闻入手。山胞起初确实不知道种子比野草好，不知道盘尼西林比香灰好，不知道水泥红砖造成的房屋比帐幕好。后来他们知道了。

更大的世界是日新月异的，“知识像鲜鱼一样”，我们得时时检点它变坏了没有。

㈡沙是最不可收拾的东西。记得十年前，我在故乡石门湾的老屋后面辟一儿童游乐场，买了一船河沙铺在场上。一年之后，场上的沙完全没有了，一半黏附了行人的鞋子被带到外面去了，还有一半陷入泥土，和泥土混杂，便只见泥而不见沙了。

　　这一船沙不少，论沙的粒数，虽不及“恒河沙数”，但比我们的人口数目，一定更多。这无数的沙粒哪里去了呢？东南西北，各自分散，没有法子召集了。它们的团结力非常薄弱。

　　但倘用袋装沙，沙就能显示出伟大的能力来。打仗时，处处堆着沙袋，以防敌人炮火炸弹的肆虐。敌人的枪子一碰着沙袋，就失却火力，沙的抵抗力比铁还大，比石更强。这真是意想不到的力量。

　　原来沙这种东西，没有约束时不可收拾，一经约束，就有伟大的能力。

㈢在人类眼中，虎口夺食、与虎谋皮，是人类对那些企图与强者分享胜利果实的弱者的忠告。似乎强者都是不可信任的；同样，狼狈为奸、狐假虎威，也是对不知天高地厚的弱者的诅咒，它们没有凶残的本领但有凶残的念头。

　　在自然界，这种生物间互相依存的现象，没有人类想的那么复杂，各得其所，情意绵绵，不见得谁比谁地位低下。并不是每个凶狠的动物都是残暴的，也并不是每个弱小的动物都是处于被欺侮的位置，关键是要看对于对方的价值。攀附，是人类对有所企图的弱者的评价；而共生，是生物生存时必备的信任。