用新概念学雅思2

　　新概念3 Lesson 2 Thirteen equals one

Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.

　　One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.

　　'Whatever are you doing up here Bill?' asked the vicar in surprise.

　　'I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill. 'I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.'

　　'You certainly did give me a surprise!' said the vicar. 'You've probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'

　　That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it."

　　We'll get used to that, Bill,' said the vicar. "Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.'

我们教区的牧师总是为各种各样的事筹集资金。但始终未能筹足资金把教堂的钟修好。教堂的钟很大，以前不分昼夜打点报时，但很多年前遭到毁坏，从此便无声无息了。

　　一天夜里，我们的牧师突然被惊醒了，大钟又在“打点”报时了!他一看表，才1点钟，可是那钟一边敲了13下才停。牧师拿着一支电筒走上钟楼想去看看究竟发生了什么事情。借着电筒光。他看见一个人，马上认出那是本地杂货店主经比尔.威尔金斯。

　　“你究竟在这上面干什么，比尔?”牧师惊讶地问。

　　“我想把这口钟修好，”比尔回答说。“好几个星期了，我天天夜里到钟楼上来。嗯，我是想让你大吃一惊。”

　　“你确实使我大吃了一惊!”牧师说，“也许同时你把村里所有的人都吵醒了。不过，钟又能报时了，我还是很高兴的。”

　　“问题就在这里，牧师，”比尔回答说。“不错，钟能报时了，但是，恐怕每到1点钟，它总要敲13下，对此我已无能为力了。”

　　“大家慢慢就习惯了，比尔，”牧师说。“13下是不如1下好，但总比1下也不敲强。来，咱们下楼去喝杯茶吧。”

解析

1 Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. 我们教区的牧师总是为各种各样的事筹集资金。但始终未能筹足资金把教堂的钟修好。

（manage to do sth. 设法做某事，可以用在人物类话题中，如businessman总是设法攻克难关）

2 The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.教堂的钟很大，以前不分昼夜打点报时，但很多年前遭到毁坏，从此便无声无息了。

（模仿时态，used to是个很拿分的过去时态，大家不要只会用was，比如dictionary话题， I used to look up a dictionary practically every day. 我过去几乎每天查字典。再比如boat话题   I used to row a boat with my friends near my home.我过去常常和朋友在家附近划船。）

3 One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! 一天夜里，我们的牧师突然被惊醒了，大钟又在“打点”报时了!

(wake up with a start 惊醒，可以用在sleep这个话题)

4 Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. 牧师拿着一支电筒走上钟楼想去看看究竟发生了什么事情。

（大家可以直接模仿这句话去描述事件题，比如电视里的故事情节，或者别人给你讲的一个故事，都是本季度的口语话题，改改人称就行）

5 　'I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill. 'I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.' 　“我想把这口钟修好，”比尔回答说。“好几个星期了，我天天夜里到钟楼上来。嗯，我是想让你大吃一惊。”

（这几句话时态非常漂亮，现在知道为什么世界上会有口语8分以上的生物了嘛

）