据说拇指英语分享英语学习经验、技巧和方法。学习英语变得更加有趣和容易。
在英语学习中，阅读是学生获得英语知识，提高英语能力与素养的重要途径。通过阅读，学生们可以增强语感、积淀文化知识，提高学生跨文化交际能力，从而整体提高他们的英语综合能力。
为增加阅读素材的多元化，拇指英语说特推出“报刊时文阅读素材积累系列”。众所周知，报刊阅读的材料内容丰富，真实感和时效性强，语言地道，话题轻松活泼，贴近学生生活。因此，报刊阅读是对校内英语教材的有益补充，有利于培养学生的阅读兴趣，提高阅读技能。本系列适合小学高年级至初中年级学生。按阅读难度，分为一星（小学高年级），二星（初中低年级）和三星（初中高年级）。
[来源】Teens
[难度系数】 ***
【Sharing seconds】分享时刻
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey (American talk show host, 1954－ )
对于你所拥有的要心怀感恩，这样你终将会拥有更多。如果你关注于你所没有的，你将永远不会满足。 --奥普拉 （美国著名女脱口秀主持人）
富有的定义是什么？是拥有很多的金钱？拥有很多朋友？拥有自由？ 亦或是其他？
Reading
What if a bowl of ramen (拉面) made by a top chef was placed in front of you, but you were too sick or tired to eat? It wouldn’t matter how good the ramen is any more – you wouldn’t enjoy it anyway.
Say the boss decides to give you an extra bowl of the world’s best ramen on the house and lets you invite someone to eat for free. But you do not have any loved ones to invite – not even a close friend. Your feelings of loneliness will make the ramen tasteless as well.
Ramen is like the expensive things that many of us think we want in life. Nice cars, long vacations, fancy clothes. They’re nice to have, but we shouldn’t forget that the most important things in life are our health and our loved ones. We must first take good care of our health and our loved ones before we worry about having nice things.
Being rich is not always about having more money; it can also come from the heart. Having a rich heart is about finding inner peace. Once you have achieved this, you will be thankful for what you have and be less bothered by what you don’t have. Otherwise, all the riches in the world will not be able to fill your heart.
The next time you are enjoying a bowl of delicious ramen with a loved one or a close friend, think about how lucky you are. When life brings you difficult problems and challenges, remember that these same people are there for you to help you get past difficult times.
【Treasure Box】
Word work
- fancy adj. 华美的
- inner peace 内心平静
- bother v. 烦扰
- otherwise adv. 否则；不然
Difficult sentences:
It wouldn’t matter how good the ramen is any more – you wouldn’t enjoy it anyway.
释义：如果一碗由顶级厨师做的拉面摆在你面前，但你太难受或者太累而不想吃，那该怎么办?
点拨：what if 用于提出假设，意思是“要是……怎么办；要是……将会怎么样”，其后句子可用一般现在时，也可用一般过去时或“should + 动词原形”。made by a top chef 作后置定语，修饰 a bowl of ramen。
例句： What if she finds out that you lost her bike?
要是她发现你把她的自行车给弄丢了该怎么？
Once you have achieved this, you will be thankful for what you have and be less bothered by what you don’t have.
释义：一旦做到了这一点，你就会为你所拥有的而心存感激，不会为你所没有的而感到烦恼。
点拨：once 作连词时，意为“一旦……就”。be thankful for 对……心存感激；be bothered by 被……烦扰。
例句： Don’t be bothered by his question. Do what you should do.
不要因为他的问题而烦恼。做你该做的。
[Comprehension test]
Choose the answer:
1. What does the underlined phrase “on the house” mean?
A. in the boss’s house
B. back home
C. for free
D. at a high price
2. In Paragraph 2, the author wants to tell us that _____.
A. we shouldn’t eat ramen alone
B. being lonely is a common thing
C. even the best ramen can be tasteless
D. eating alone is no fun for anyone
3. To have a rich heart, you should first _____.
A. get more money
B. find inner peace
C. be thankful for what you have
D. find out what you don’t have
4. What is the point of the story?
A. The best way to enjoy a bowl of ramen.
B. The importance of having loved ones.
C. How to become a rich person.
D. How to get past challenges.
Vocabulary in use
Fill in the blanks:
5. – __________ __________ (要是……怎么办) it rains tomorrow?
– We’ll just have to put off the sports meet.
6. To improve your English, __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ (你读什么并不重要), as long as you read in English!
7. Thanksgiving is for giving thanks for the things that __________ __________ __________ __________ (我们所感激的).
8. While traffic jams are a headache for people everywhere, ants never seem to __________ __________ __________ (被……所烦扰) them.
9. “For far too many people, __________ (lonely) is the sad reality of modern life,” British Prime Minister Theresa May once said.
10. British people are used to hearing from foreigners that their food is boring and __________ (taste).
Keys:
1-4 CDBB
5. What if 6. it doesn’t matter what you read
7. we are thankful for 8. be bothered by
9. loneliness 10. tasteless
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