(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
The story is called "A Brooklyn Christmas". It is about Christmas in the Brooklyn part of New York City in the early 1900s. It was written by Betty Smith. K.Glat is the story teller.
Christmas was a wonderful time in Brooklyn. But holiday was in the air long before it came. The first sure sign of it was the windows of the stores. You have to be a child to know the wonder of a store window filled with dolls, sleds and other playthings. And this wonder was free for a girl named Francy. How exciting it was for Francy to walk down the street and see another store all ready for Christmas. The clean shinning window was filled with cotton to look like snow. On this cotton snow, were boxes filled with dolls, dolls with golden hair, and other dolls which Fanrcy liked even better, their hair with the color of rich coffee with lots of milk in it, owned the deep blue eyes that looks straight into a little girl's heart. Francy had never had such a doll. Her doll was a little one that costed only 5 cents. Then there were the sleds for sliding across the snow. One sled had a flower painted on it, a deep blue flower with bright green leaves. The sleds had a wonderful names painted on them too, Rose board, Megnolya, Snow King, The Flier. Francy thought if I could only have one of those, I would never ask god for another thing as long as I live. There were other beautiful toys in the store windows. And Francy felt weak from looking at so many wonderful things and thinking about them so hard.
A week before Christmas, evergreen trees began arriving in Francy's part of Brooklyn. Christmas tree sellers tied ropes along the street. They put the green trees against the ropes and sold them to people who want to buy. All day, the sellers walked up and down their little street of trees. The air all around smelled of the sharp green branches, the smell of Christmas. A few people stopped to choose a tree. They would ask the seller to keep it for them until the day before Christmas. Then they will take their tree home and cover it with colorful paper, glass balls and lights. Some people stopped to ask the prices of trees. But most people came just to look at the trees, to touch them or break a tiny branch to release the wonderful smell. The air was full of the fresh green smell of the trees. The poor little street in Francy's neighborhood was truly wonderful for a while. There was a cruel custom in Francy's part of Brooklyn. It was about the Christmas trees that had not been sold by 12 o'clock midnight on Christmas Eve. A custom was this, after midnight, the sellers will give away the unsold trees to children, but getting one was not easy. The seller would throw a tree at a child who wanted it. If you caught it without falling down, you could keep it. But if you fell down, you gave up your chance for a free tree.
Before midnight on Christmas Eve, children will gather around the unsold trees. The men would throw each tree in turn starting with the biggest tree. Many children would try to catch a tree. But only the strongest, roughest boys would try to catch the big trees. The littlest children waited for the littlest trees. They screamed with happiness when they caught a Christmas tree. On this Christmas Eve, Francy was 10 years old. Her little brother Nily was nine. Mother agreed to let them have their first try to win a free tree. Francy had chosen her tree earlier in the day. She had stood near it all afternoon, hoping that no one would buy it. To her great happiness, the tree was still there at midnight. It was the biggest tree, more than 3 meters tall. The tree's price was so high. No one could buy it. The tree man took this big tree out first and got ready to throw it. Before Francy could speak, a big rough boy, 18 years old, stepped forward. He demanded that the man throw the tree at him. The man hated the way the big boy was so sure of himself. He looked around and asked "anybody else wanna take a chance on it?" Francy stepped forward, "me, Mister." The tree man laughed. So did the children, and a few grown-ups gathered to watch the fun. "Aha, go on," the man said, "You are too little." Francy argued, "me and my brother will not too little together." She pulled Nily forward. The man looked at the 2 of them, a thin girl of 10 who looked as if she did not get enough to eat, a thin little boy with light hair and round blue eyes. "Two catchers is not fair." shouted the big rough boy. "Shut your mouth." the tree man said. "These two kids got nerve. Stand back the rest of youth. These kids is going to have a try of this tree." The other people stood in a line making a kind of path. Francy and Nily stood at one end. The man with big tree stood at the other end. The man raised his arms to throw the great tree. He saw how small the children looked. For the breathless moment of time, the man struggled within himself. "Oh Jes," he thought "why don't I just give them the tree, say merry Christmas, and let them go. The tree means nothing to me. It is too late to sell it this year. And it will not last till next year." The children watched the tree man as he stood there in his moment of thought. But he said himself again. "If I did that, all the others will expect me to give them free trees, too. And next year, nobody would buy a tree from me. They would all wait until I gave them away. I'm not a big enough man to give away this tree for nothing. No, I am not big enough to do a thing like that. I have to think of myself and my own children." The tree man made his decision. "Oh, what the hell, these 2 kids is got leaving this world. They've got understand it, they've got a learn to give and to take punishment. And bye god. It is nothing but take, take, take all the time in this world." He threw the tree with all his strength. And as he threw it, his heart scream to him "it is a dirty, wrong, lousy world."
With the smallest part of second, time and space have no meaning to Francy. The world stood still as something dark and terrible came through the air toward her. The tree blocked every memory of her life. There was nothing, nothing, but the sweet smelling darkness. And something that grew larger and larger as it flew at her. Francy almost felt as the tree struck them. Nily fell to his knees. But she pulled him up fiercely before he could go down completely. There was a powerful swishing sound as the tree settled around them. Everything was dark, green, and sharp. Then Francy felt pain at the side of her head where the tree had hit her.
When some of the older boys pull the tree away, they found Francy and her brother standing up holding hands. Blood was coming from cuts on Nily's face. But Francy and Nily were smiling. They had won the biggest tree. Some of the boys shouted "Great." Some people clapped their hands. And the tree man shouted "Now, get the hell out of here with your tree. You damn lousy kids." Francy had her rough words like those all the life. Such words had no special meaning to her or the other people on the street. The hash words came from people who had few ways to express their feelings. Such words could mean many different things. It depended on the way they were spoken. And the sound of the speaker's voice. So now, when Francy heard the tree man called her and Nily damn lousy kids, she smiled. She knew he was really saying, "goodbye, god bless you."
You have been listening to a special story for the Christmas holiday. It is called "A Brooklyn Christmas". Your story teller was K.Glat. Our story was written by Betty Smith and appeared in her book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". It was adapted for Special English by Carolin Viver, by permission of Harper and Roll publishers.
重点解析
1.filled with 充满
He was filled with an ungovernable rage.
他心里充满了无法控制的狂怒。
2.give away 泄露
Mobile phones give away your location.
移动电话泄露你的地理位置。
3.start with 以...开始
Every sentence should start with a capital letter.
每一个句子都必须以一个大写字母开始。
4.depend on 取决于
Wage rates depend on levels of productivity.
工资水平取决于生产量的多寡。
参考译文
今天的故事名为《布鲁克林的圣诞节》。故事讲的是20世纪初纽约市布鲁克林区的圣诞节。它的作者是贝蒂·史密斯。K·格兰特为您讲述。
在布鲁克林，圣诞节是一段美好的时光。但是在圣诞节很早之前就已经充满了气氛。第一个确凿的迹象是商店的橱窗。只有当你还是个孩子的时候，你才会知道商店橱窗里摆满了洋娃娃、雪橇和其他玩具的奇妙之处。这种美妙对一个叫弗朗西的女孩来说是免费的。弗朗西走在街上看到另一家商店准备好迎接圣诞节，这是多么令人兴奋啊。擦得干干净净的窗户上塞满了棉花，看起来像雪。在这片棉花之雪上，装满了洋娃娃的盒子，金色头发的洋娃娃，还有其他弗朗西更喜欢的娃娃，她们的头发有着浓浓的有很多牛奶的咖啡色，她们一双深蓝的眼睛直视着一个小女孩的心。弗朗西从来没有过这样的洋娃娃。她的洋娃娃很小，只值5美分。还有用于在雪地上滑行的雪橇。有一辆雪橇上画着一朵花，一朵深蓝色的花，上面长着鲜绿色的叶子。雪橇上也画了一个个美妙的名字，玫瑰板，梅格诺利亚，雪王，飞行者。弗朗西想，如果我只能拥有其中的一个，那么只要我活着，我就再也不会向上帝要别的东西了。商店橱窗里还有其他漂亮的玩具。弗朗西看着这么多美好的东西，又如此辛苦地想着，感到很虚弱。
圣诞节前一周，弗朗西所在的布鲁克林区域的常青树开始陆续出现。圣诞树小贩沿街系上绳子。他们把绿色的树靠在绳子上，卖给想买的人。一整天，小贩们都在他们的小树街上走来走去。周围的空气中弥漫着锋利的绿色树枝的味道，圣诞节的气息。一些人会停下来选一棵树。他们会要求卖家帮他们保留到圣诞节的前一天。然后他们会把树带回家，用彩纸、玻璃球和灯把它盖上。有些人停下来问树的价格。但大多数人只是来看看这些树，触摸它们或折断一根小树枝来释放那美妙的气味。空气中充满了树木清新的绿色气息。有一段时间，弗朗西附近那条可怜的小街真的很美。在布鲁克林区弗朗西的那一地区，有一种残忍的习俗。它是关于在平安夜午夜12点之前还没有卖出去的圣诞树。按照惯例，在午夜过后，卖家会把卖不出去的圣诞树送给孩子们，但要得到一棵圣诞树并不容易。卖家会向想要它的孩子扔一棵树。如果你抓住它而不摔倒，你就能得到它。但如果你摔倒了，你就失去了获得免费圣诞树的机会。
在平安夜的午夜之前，孩子们会聚集在未售出的圣诞树周围。男人们从最大的那棵树开始，轮流把每棵树扔出去。许多孩子会试图抓住一棵树。但只有最强壮、最粗野的男孩才会试图抓住那些大树。最小的孩子们等待着最小的树。当他们抓住一棵圣诞树时，他们高兴得尖叫起来。在这个圣诞夜，弗朗西才10岁。她的弟弟尼利九岁。妈妈同意让他们第一次尝试去赢得一棵免费的树。那天早些时候弗朗西选了她的树。她整个下午都站在它旁边，希望没人会买它。让她非常高兴的是，这棵树午夜时还在那里。它是最大的树，超过3米高。这棵树的价格很高。没有人买得起。卖树的小贩把这棵大树拿出来，准备把它扔出去。弗朗西还没来得及说话，一个高大粗野的18岁男孩走上前来。他要求那人朝他扔树。这个男人讨厌这个大男孩如此自信。他环顾四周，问道：“还有人想试试吗？”弗兰西走上前来：“我，先生。”卖树人笑了。孩子们和一些大人也聚在一起观看。“啊哈，继续吧，”那人说，“你太小了。”弗朗西争辩道：“我和我的兄弟在一起就不小了。”她迈着小步向前走。那人看着他们两个，一个瘦弱的10岁的女孩，看起来好像没有吃饱，一个瘦弱的小男孩，浅色的头发，圆圆的蓝眼睛。“两个人接是不公平的。”又高又壮的男孩喊道。“闭上你的嘴。”卖树人说。“这两个孩子很勇敢。剩下的小孩往后站。这些孩子要试试接这棵树。”其他人站成一排，留出了一条小路。弗朗西和尼利站在一头。拿着大树的人站在另一端。那人举起双臂要把那棵大树扔下去。他看到孩子们看起来有多小。在那喘不过气来的一瞬间，他的内心在挣扎。“哦，对了，”他想，“为什么我不把这棵树送给它们，说声圣诞快乐，然后就让它们走呢？”这棵树对我来说毫无意义。今年已经卖不出去了。而且它也留不到明年。”当卖树人站在那里沉思的时候，孩子们看着他。但他又想了一遍。“如果我那样做了，其他所有的人就会希望我也给他们免费的树。明年，就没有人会向我买树了。他们会一直等着我把它们送出去。我没那么大方，不能白白把这棵树送给别人。不，我没那么大方，做不了那样的事。我必须为我自己和我自己的孩子着想。”卖树人做了他的决定。“哦，见鬼，这两个孩子终将离开这个世界。他们已经明白了，他们学会了给予和接受惩罚。再见上帝。这只不过是带走，带走，带走这世界上所有的时间。他用尽全力把树扔了。当他把它扔出去的时候，他的心对他尖叫：“这是一个肮脏、错误、糟糕的世界。”
在这么短的时间里，时间和空间对弗朗西来说毫无意义。整个世界静止不动，一个黑暗而可怕的东西从空中向她袭来。这棵树挡住了她对生活的一切记忆。什么也没有，什么也没有，只有那甜蜜的黑暗。一个东西朝她飞过来，变得越来越大。当那棵树击中他们时，弗朗西几乎感觉到了。尼利跪倒在地。但还没等它完全沉下去，她就凶猛地把它拉了起来。当那棵树停在他们周围时，发出了一种强烈的嗖嗖声。一切都是黑暗的，绿色的，锋利的。这时，弗朗西感到她头上那棵树撞到她的那一边很痛。
当一些大一点的男孩把树拉开时，他们发现弗朗西和她的哥哥手拉着手站了起来。血是从尼利脸上的伤口流出来的。但是弗朗西和尼利在笑。他们赢得了最大的树。一些男孩喊“好极了”。一些人鼓掌。卖树人喊道：“现在，带着你的树离开这鬼地方。“你们这些可恶的孩子。”弗朗西一辈子都是这样被人爆粗口的。这些话对她和街上的其他人都没有特殊意义。这些粗话来自那些没有什么方式来表达自己感受的人。这些词可能意味着许多不同的事情。这取决于他们说话的方式。还有说话人的嗓音。所以现在，当弗朗西听到卖树人叫她和尼利该死的烂孩子时，她笑了。她知道他是在说“再见，上帝保佑你。”
你一直在听的是一个圣诞节特别的故事。它的名字是《布鲁克林的圣诞节》。本故事由K·格兰特为您讲述。这个故事是贝蒂·史密斯创作的，并收录在她的书《布鲁克林的一棵树》中。经哈珀和卷轴出版社许可，卡罗琳·比韦尔将其改编为慢速英语。
