有讨论意义的英语小短文

1
Mr Jones had a few days' holiday, so he said, "I'm going to go to the mountains by train." He put on his best clothes, took a small bag, went to the station and got on the train. He had a beautiful hat, and he often put his head out of the window during the trip and looked at the mountains. But the wind pulled his hat off.
Mr Jones quickly took his old bag and threw that out of the window too.
The other people in the carriage laughed. "Is your bag going to bring your beautiful hat back?" they asked.
"No," Mr Jones answered, "but there's no name and no address in my hat, and there's a name and address on the bag. Someone's going to find both of them near each other, and he's going to send me the bag and the hat."
2
An old lady went out shopping last Tuesday. She came to a bank and saw a car near the door. A man got out of it and went into the bank. She looked into the car. The keys were in the lock.
The old lady took the keys and followed the man into the bank.
The man took a gun out of his pocket and said to the clerk, "Give me all the money."
But the old lady did not see this. She went to the man, put the keys in his hand and said, "Young man, you're stupid! Never leave your keys in your car: someone's going to steal it!"
The man looked at the old woman for a few seconds. Then he looked at the clerk—and then he took his keys, ran out of the bank, got into his car and drove away quickly, without any money.
3
Mary was an English girl, but she lived in Rome. She was six years old. Last year her mother said to her, "You're six years old now, Mary, and you're going to begin going to a school here. You're going to like it very much, because it's a nice school."
"Is it an English school?" Mary asked.
"Yes, it is," her mother said.
Mary went to the school, and enjoyed her lessons. Her mother always took her to school in the morning and brought her home in the afternoon. Last Monday her mother went to the school at 4 o'clock, and Mary ran out of her class.
"We've got a new girl in our class today, Mummy," she said. "She's six years old too, and she's very nice, but she isn't English. She's German."
"Does she speak English?" Mary's mother asked.
"No, but she laughs in English," Mary said happily.
4
Mrs Jones did not have a husband, but she had two sons. They were big, strong boys, but they were lazy. On Saturdays they did not go to school, and then their mother always said, "Please cut the grass in the garden this afternoon, boys." The boys did not like it, but they always did it.
Then somebody gave one of the boys a magazine, and they saw a picture of a beautiful lawn-mower in it. There was a seat on it, and there was a woman on the seat.
The boy took the picture to his mother and brother and said to them, "Look, that woman's sitting on the lawn-mower and driving it and cutting the grass. We want one of those."
"One of those lawn-mowers?" his mother asked.
"No," the boy said. "We want one of those women. Then she can cut grass every week."
5
One of Harry's feet was bigger and the other. "I can never find boots and shoes for my feet," he said to his friend Dick.
"Why don't you go to a shoemaker?" Dick said. "A good one can make you the right shoes."
"I've never been to a shoemaker," Harry said. "Aren't they very expensive?"
"No," Dick said, "some of them aren't. There's a good one in our village, and he's quite cheap. Here's his address." He wrote something on a piece of paper and gave it to Harry.
Harry went to the shoemaker in Dick's village a few days later, and the shoemaker made him some shoes.
Harry went to the shop again a week later and looked at the shoes. Then he said to the shoemaker angrily, "You're a silly man! I said, 'Make one shoe bigger than the other,' but you've made one smaller than the other!"
6
Joe Richard finished school when he was 18, and then his father said to him, "You've passed your examinations now, Joe, and you got good marks in them. Now go and get some good work. They're looking for clever people at the bank in the town. The clerks there get quite a lot of money now."
A few days later, Joe went to the bank and asked for work there. A man took him into a small room and gave him some paper, and then he gave them to the man.
The man looked at them for a few minutes, and then he took a pen and said to Joe, "Your birthday was on the 12th of June, Mr Richard?"
"Yes, sir," Joe said.
"What year?" the man asked.
"Oh, every year, sir, " Joe said.
7
Fred works in a factory. He does not have a wife, and he gets quite a lot of money every week. He loves cars, and has a new one every year. He likes driving very fast, and he always buys small, fast, red cars. He sometimes takes his mother out in them, and then she always said, "But, Fred, why do you drive these cars? We're almost sitting on the road!"
Then Fred laughs and is happy. He likes being very near the road.
Fred is very tall and very fat.
Last week he came out of a shop and went to his car. There was a small boy near it. He was looking at the beautiful red car. Then he looked up and saw Fred.
"How do you get into that small car?" he asked him.
Fred laughed and said, "I don't get into it. I put it on."
8
Mr and Mrs Yates had one daughter. Her name was Carol, and she was nineteen years old. Carol lived with her parents and worked in an office. She had some friends, but she did not like any of the boys very much.
Then she met a very nice young man. His name was George Watts, and he worked in a bank near her office. They went out together quite a lot, and he came to Carol's parents' house twice, and then last week Carol went to her father and said, "I'm going to marry George Watts, Daddy. He was here yesterday."
"Oh, yes," her father said. "He's a nice boy—but has he got any money?"
"Oh, men! All of you are the same," the daughter answered angrily. "I met George on the first of June and on the second he said to me, 'Has your father got any money?'"
9
Miss William was a teacher, and there were thirty small children in her class. They were nice children, and Miss Williams liked all of them, but they often lost clothes. It was winter, and the weather was very cold. The children's mothers always sent them to school with warm coats and hat and gloves. The children came into the classroom in the morning and took off their coats and hats and gloves. They put their coats and hats on hooks on the wall, and they put their gloves in the pockets of their coats Last Tuesday Miss Williams found two small blue gloves on the floor in the evening, and in the morning she said to the children, "Whose gloves are these?", but no one answered.
Then she looked at Dick. "Haven't you got blue gloves, Dick?" she asked him.
"Yes, miss," he answered, "but those can't be mine. I've lost mine."
10
Whitebridge was a small village, and old people often came and lived there. Some of them had a lot of old furniture, and they often did not want some of it, because they were in a small house now, so every Saturday morning they put it out, and other people came and looked at it, and sometimes they took it away because they wanted it.
Every Saturday, Mr and Mrs Morton put a very ugly old bear's head out at the side of their gate, but nobody wanted it. Then last Saturday, they wrote, "I'm very lonely here. Please take me," on a piece of paper and put it near the bear's head.
They went to the town, and came in the evening. There were now two bears' heads in front of their house, and there was another piece of paper. It said, "I was lonely too."
The poor are very wonderful people. One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition，and I told the sisters: You take care of the other three. I take care of this one who looked worse. So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand as she said just the words "thank you" and she died. I could not help but examine my conscience[良心]before her and I asked what would I say if I was in her place. And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself. I would have said I am hungry, that I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain, or something, but she gave me much more-she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face. As did that man whom we picked up from the drain[阴沟、下水道], half eaten with worms, and we brought him to the home. "I have lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die like an angel, loved and cared for." And it was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that, who could die like that without blaming anybody, without cursing anybody, without comparing anything. Like an angel-this is the greatness of our people. And that is why we believe what Jesus had said: I was hungry, I was naked, I was homeless, I was unwanted, unloved, uncared for, and you did it to me.

穷人是非常了不起的人。一天晚上，我们外出，从街上带回了四个人，其中一个生命岌岌可危。于是我告诉修女们说：“你们照料其他三个，这个濒危的人就由我来照顾了。”就这样，我为她做了我的爱所能做的一切。我将她放在床上，看到她的脸上绽露出如此美丽的微笑。她握着我的手，只说了句“谢谢您”就死了。我情不自禁地在她面前审视起自己的良知来。我问自己，如果我是她的话，会说些什么呢？答案很简单，我会尽量引起旁人对我的关注，我会说我饥饿难忍，冷得发抖，奄奄一息，痛苦不堪，诸如此类的话。但是她给我的却更多更多――她给了我她的感激之情。她死时脸上却带着微笑。我们从排水道带回的那个男子也是如此。当时，他几乎全身都快被虫子吃掉了，我们把他带回了家。“在街上，我一直像个动物一样地活着，但我将像个天使一样地死去，有人爱，有人关心。”真是太好了，我看到了他的伟大之处，他竟能说出那样的话。他那样地死去，不责怪任何人，不诅咒任何人，无欲无求。像天使一样――这便是我们的人民的伟大之所在。因此我们相信耶稣所说的话――我饥肠辘辘――我衣不蔽体――我无家可归――我不为人所要，不为人所爱，也不为人所关心――然而，你却为我做了这一切。

A Boy and His Tree

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow… He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

Time went by…The little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree.

One day, the boy came back to the tree and looked sad. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy.

“I am no longer a kid, I don’t play around trees anymore.” The boy replied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them.” “Sorry, but I don’t have money…but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.” The boy was so excited. He picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy didn’t come back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. “Come and play with me.” The tree said. “I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?” “Sorry, but I don’t have a house. But you can cut off my branches to build your house.” So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily.

The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy didn’t appear since then. The tree was again lonely and sad. One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said.

“I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” “Use my trunk to build the boat. You can sail and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and did not show up for a long time.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you.” the tree said. “ I don’t have teeth to bite.” The boy replied. “ No more trunk for you to climb on.” “I am too old for that now.” the boy said. “I really want to give you something…the only thing left is my dying roots.” The tree said with tears. “I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years.” The boy replied. “Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest. Come here, please sit down with me and have a rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears…

This is a story of everyone. The tree is our parent. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad… When we grow up, we leave them, and only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could to make you happy. You may think that the boy is cruel to the tree but that's how all of us are treating our parents.

很久以前有一棵苹果树。一个小男孩每天都喜欢来到树旁玩耍。他爬到树顶，吃苹果，在树荫里打盹……他爱这棵树，树也爱和他一起玩。

随着时间的流逝，小男孩长大了。他不再到树旁玩耍了。

一天，男孩回到树旁，看起来很悲伤。“来和我玩吧！”树说。

“我不再是小孩了，我不会再到树下玩耍了。”男孩答到，“我想要玩具，我需要钱来买。”

“很遗憾，我没有钱……但是你可以采摘我的所有苹果拿去卖。这样你就有钱了。”男孩很兴奋。他摘掉树上所有的苹果，然后高兴地离开了。自从那以后男孩没有回来。树很伤心。

一天，男孩回来了，树非常兴奋。“来和我玩吧。”树说。“我没有时间玩。我得为我的家庭工作。我们需要一个房子来遮风挡雨，你能帮我吗？”很遗憾，我没有房子。但是，你可以砍下我的树枝来建房。“因此，男孩砍下所有的树枝，高高兴兴地离开了。

看到他高兴，树也很高兴。但是，自从那时起男孩没再出现，树有孤独，伤心起来。

突然，在一个夏日，男孩回到树旁，树很高兴。“来和我玩吧！”树说。

“我很伤心，我开始老了。我想去航海放松自己。你能不能给我一条船？” “用我的树干去造一条船，你就能航海了，你会高兴的。”于是，男孩砍倒树干去造船。他航海去了，很长一段时间未露面。

许多年后男孩终于回来了。“很遗憾，我的孩子，我再也没有任何东西可以给你了。没有苹果给你……”树说。“我没有牙齿啃。” 男孩答到。“没有树干供你爬。”“现在我老了，爬不上去了。” 男孩说。“我真的想把一切都给你……我唯一剩下的东西是快要死去的树墩。” 树含着眼泪说。“现在，我不需要什么东西，只需要一个地方来休息。经过了这些年我太累了。”男孩答到。 “太好了！老树墩就是倚着休息的最好地方。过来，和我一起坐下休息吧。” 男孩坐下了，树很高兴，含泪而笑……

这是一个发生在每一个人身上的故事。那棵树就像我们的父母。我们小的时候，喜欢和爸爸妈妈玩……长大后，便离开他们，只有在我们需要父母亲，或是遇到了困难的时候，才会回去找他们。尽管如此，父母却总是有求必应，为了我们的幸福，无私地奉献自己的一切。你也许觉得那个男孩很残忍，但我们何尝不是这样呢？