英语朗读.复述的小故事

Story 1: A Great Actor

There was once a great actor who could no longer remember his lines. After several years of searching, he finally found a theater that was willing to give him a try. The director said, “This is the most important part, and it has only one line. At the opening you walk onto stage carrying a rose. You hold the rose to your nose with just one finger and thumb, smell it deeply and then say the line in praise of the rose: „Ah, the sweet smell of my love.‟” The actor was excited. All day long before the play he practiced his line over and over again. Finally, the time came. The curtain went up, the actor walked onto the stage, looked at the audience, and with great emotion said the line, “Ah, the sweet smell of my love.” The audience explod ed in laughter. Only the director was furious! “Ahhhhhh! You damned fool!” he cried. “You‟ve ruined my play! You‟ve ruined me!” The actor was puzzled, “What happened? Did I forget my line?” “No!” shouted the director. “You forgo t the rose!”(181 words)

Story 2: Problem of Meeting People

Before the wedding, the groom went up to the minister with an unusual offer. “Look, I‟ll give you $100 if you‟ll change the wedding vows. When you get to the part where I‟m expected to promise to „love, respect and obey her,‟ „giving up all others,‟ and „be true to her forever,‟ I‟d be happy if you‟d just leave that part out.” He gave the minister the cash and walked away with a light heart. The wedding day arrived, and the bride and groom reached that part of the ceremony where they would make vows to each other. When it was time for the groom‟s vows, the minister looked the young man in the eye and said, “Will you promise to kneel before her, obey her every command and wish, serve her breakfast in bed every morning of your life and make a vow before God and your lovely wife that you will never even look at another woman, as long as you both shall live?” The groom was shocked, but in spite of himself, he said in a low voice, “Yes, I will.” Then the groom whispered to the minister, “I thought we had a deal.” The minister put the $100 into his hand and whispered back, “She made me a much better offer.”

Story 3: He thinks I’m God.

A young woman brings home her fiancé to meet her parents. After dinner, her mother tells her father to find out about the young man‟s plans. The father invites the fiancé to his study for a drink.

“So what are your plans?” the father asks the young man.

“I am a Bible student,” he replies.

“A Bible student. Hmm.” The father says. “Good, but what will you do to provide my daughter with a nice house such as she‟s accustomed to?”

“I will study,” the young man replies, “and God will provide for us.”

“And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring such as she deserves?” asks the father.

“I will concentrate on my studies,” the Young man replies, “and God will provide for us.”

“And children?” asks the father. “How will you support children?”

“Don‟t worry, sir. God will provide,” replies the fiancé.

The conversation goes on like this, and each time the father questions him, the young man insists that God will provide. Later, the mother asks, “How did it go, honey?”

The father answers, “He has no job and no plans, but the good news is he thinks I‟m God.”

Story 4: A Sudden Change in the Parrot’s Attitude

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of this bird‟s mouth was rude. John tried every method to change the bird‟s attitude by constantly saying polite words, playing soft music, and anything he could think of to set a good example. Nothing worked. Finally, John got fed up and he yelled at the parrot. And the bird yelled back. John shook the parrot, and the bird got angrier and ruder. Finally, in a moment of desperation, John put the bird in the refrigerator freezer. For a few minutes, John heard the bird scream and kick. Then suddenly there was silence. Not a sound for over a minute. Fearing that he‟s hurt the bird, John quickly opened

the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out and said, “I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I am truly sorry, and I will do everything I can to correct my poor behavior.”

John was greatly surprised at the bird‟s change of attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had caused such a sudden change in his behavior, the bird continued, “May I ask why you put the chickens there and what they did wrong?”

Story 5: A Miser

There was a miser who loved money more than anything else. Just before he died, he said to his wife, “Now, listen. When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me. I want to take my money to the afterlife with me.”

He made her promise with all her heart that when he dies, she would put all the money in the casket with him. Then he died. He was laid in the casket, his wife was sitting there wearing black, and her friend was sitting next to her.

When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said, “Wait a minute!” She had a box with her. She came over with the box and put it in the casket.

Then the undertakers locked the casket down, and they rolled it away. Her friend said, “Girl, I know you weren‟t fool enough to put all that money in there with your husband!”

She said, “Listen, I‟m a Christian. I can‟t go back on my word. I promise him that I would put all the money in the casket with him.”

“You mean you really put that money in the casket with him!?”

“I surely did,” said the wife. “I wrote him a check.”

Story 6: Two Concert Tickets

After shopping for most of the day, a couple return to find their car has been stolen. They go to the police station to make a full report. Then, a police officer drives them back to the parking lot to see if any evidence can be found at the scene of the crime. To their surprise, the car has been returned.

There is an envelope on the windshield with a note of apology and two tickets to a concert. The note reads, “I apologize for taking your car, but my wife was having a baby and I had to use your car to rush her to the hospital. Please forgive the inconvenience. Here are two tickets for tonight‟s concert.” The couple feel relieved. After all, most human beings are kind, they think. They go to the concert and return home late. They find their house has been robbed.

Valuable goods have been taken. And there is a note on the door reading, “Well, you still have your car. I have to put my newly-born kid through college somehow, don‟t I?”

Story 7: Who stole the vase?

Amy, the richest woman in town, threw a party. It was crowded and turned out to be a huge success, until about 12:00 a.m. That‟s when Amy noticed that her valuable vase was missing from the entry hall table. When the police chief arrived, he asked each visitor to make a statement.

Phillip McDonald stepped forward, saying, “I was one of the first to arrive, about the sa me time as Julie Becker. I never once left the house. If people don‟t remember me, it‟s because I spent most of time in a bedroom, watching a basketb all game.” The chief took down what Phillip‟s said, then told him he could go.

Rod Bush was the next. He also claimed that he had never left the house, though he did step out onto a second story balcony, but it was so cold that he came back in immediately.

Julie Becker was the third to make a statement. She also claimed never to have left or seen anything. “I spent much of the party moving from group to group and eating at the various food tables.” The chief told her to leave, too, and watched as she went into the hall and took her coat from the top of a crowded coat rack. Now the chief started to suspect one of the three guests.

Story 8: Don’t even think about it!

“Don‟t even think about it!” is a phrase commonly used in the United States when a person emphatically denies or refuse something.

In 1995, Shaquille O‟ Neal, a popular basketball player, made a Pepsi commercial in which this phrase was used. The commercial begins with Shaq playing basketball, and a little kid is watching him. Then the boy cries out the name of this basketball star. Shaq turns to see the kid with a Pepsi in his hand. He walks over to the boy and says, “Hey, can I have it?” He bends over, supposing that his admirer will give him the Pepsi. But then the kid says, “Don‟t even think about it!” This commercial was rather popular, and it had been shown on TV for about three years. The commercial seems to have a more dramatic effect than that produced by the Coca-Cola company in the 1970s. In the Coke ad a young boy meets football star “Mean” Joe Green as he is leaving the field after a game. The boy gives his hero a bottle of Coke, and in exchange for the drink, the football player throws his towel to the boy, who excitedly catches the souvenir.

The phrase “Don‟t even think about it!” is used on many other occasions. Visitors to New York City are often amused to see a road sign with these words: “Don‟t even think about parking here.” This road sign means that people are strictly prohibited from parking there.

Story 9 Cultural Misinterpretations

Mr. Wang, the Chairman of Board of Directors of a Chinese firm, told a story on CCTV program "Dialogue" of how he once almost lost a valuable Canadian employee working for him in Vancouver. He emailed every day to the Canadian, inquiring for the index number he was most concerned about. To his great astonishment, his Canadian employee turned in his resignation after a week. Mr. Wang was puzzled how he could do that to him as he gave such great attention to his job. A Chinese employee would have been more than happy if his or her boss had showed such great concern for him or her. He then found out that, unlike Chinese employees, the Canadian took what meant great concern to Chinese as distrust. But Mr. Wang assumed unconsciously that the Canadian was more similar to his Chinese employees than he actually was and treated him just as he treated any Chinese employee.

Passage 10 Eye Contact Is Also a Language

The study of communications sent by the eyes is also a way of communication. What the eyes communicate often depends on the culture. In the United States, it is usual for people to maintain eye contact. If a person tries to avoid eye contact in a conversation, the other person may think that person is dishonest. In some Asian cultures such as Japan, students will often avoid making eye contact with their instructors as a sign of respect.

Students in a business communication class at a Mid-South university were asked to test the concept of gaze and eye contact in the United States by maintaining steady eye contact with a person in the car next to them when they stopped at a traffic light. Responses varied from obscene gestures to making faces to returning the gaze. Students concluded that US persons are very uncomfortable with prolonged eye contact.

In other cultures, there is little direct eye contact. The Japanese direct their gaze below the chin; they are uncomfortable with maintaining direct eye contact throughout the conversation. People in China and Indonesia also lower the eyes as a sign of respect, feeling that prolonged eye contact shows bad manners.

Passage 11 Wedding Ring

At weddings in many parts of the world, brides and grooms give each other wedding rings. These rings remind them of the commitment they made to each other when they got married. They are also a sign to others that they are married.

No one knows for sure how this tradition started, but there is evidence that it began long ago in ancient Egypt. Coins at that time had a hole in the center. An Egyptian groom used to place a coin on his bride’s finger to show that he would provide for and take care of her.

In many ancient cultures, including Egypt, the circle is a symbol of eternity. The wedding ring has come to symbolize endless love and commitment.

Wedding rings have almost always been worn on the fourth finger, because the ancient Egyptians believed the vein of this finger went directly to the heart. But the hand it’s worn on depends on where you live. In some cultures, people wear their rings on the left hand, and in others, they wear them on the right.

How the wedding ring fits is important. Some people think that the perfect fit of the rings represents a perfect fit between the couple: a tight ring can indicate jealousy, and a loose ring can show carelessness.

Passage 12 Halloween

On Oct. 31, Americans celebrate Halloween. Halloween means “holy evening’. This is the evening before the Christian holy day of All Saints’ Day. On All Saints’ Day, Christians remember the saints. But Halloween is even older than Christianity.

Before Christianity, people in Europe believed that on Oct. 31 ghosts of dead people came back. To scare the ghosts, people dressed like devils and were very noisy. They also made big fires to keep the ghosts away. Later, people did not believe in ghosts, but they kept the day of Halloween for fun.

Immigrants came from Europe to America and brought with them the custom of Halloween. Halloween has some strange symbols. One symbol is the jack-o’-lantern in the window. The jack-o’-lantern is to scare the ghosts. People cut the pumpkin, throw away all of the inside, and cut a face in it. Then they put a candle inside of it. Jack-o’-lanterns usually look scary, too!

Today, in the United States, Halloween is very popular with children. They wear masks and special costumes. They want to look like skeletons and ghosts. Then they go from house to house and say, “Trick or treat!” People give them candies, cookies or fruit. When people give nothing, the children sometimes play tricks on them.