现代大学英语精读3课文电子版
萌到你眼炸
886次浏览
2021年01月22日 01:15
最佳经验
本文由作者推荐
沙发品牌排行榜前十名-假如时间流逝
Lesson Four
：
Wisdom of Bear Wood
Michael Welzenbach
1. When I was 12 years old, my family moved to England, the
fourth major move in my short life. My father
’
s government job
demanded that he go overseas every few years, so I was used to
wrenching myself away from friends.
2. We rented an 18th-century farmhouse in Berkshire. Nearby were
ancient castles and churches. Loving nature, however, I was
most delighted by the endless patchwork of farms and
woodland that surrounded our house. In the deep woods that
verged against our back fence, a network of paths led almost
everywhere, and pheasants rocketed off into the dense laurels
ahead as you walked.
3. I spent most of my time roaming the woods and fields alone,
playing Robin Hood, daydreaming, collecting bugs and
bird- watching. It was heaven for a boy
—
but a lonely heaven.
Keeping to myself was my way of not forming attachments that
I would only have to abandon the next time we moved. But one
day I became attached through no design of my own.
4. We had been in England about six months when old farmer
Crawford gave me permission to roam about his immense
property. I started hiking there every weekend, up a long,
sloping hill to an almost impenetrable stand of trees called Bear
Wood. It was my secret fortress, almost a holy place, I thought.
Slipping through a barbed-wire fence, I
’
d leave the bright sun
and the twitter and rustle of insects and animals outside and
creep into another world
—
a vaulted cathedral, with tree trunks
for pillars and years
’
accumulation of long brown needles for a
softly carpeted floor. My own breathing rang in my ears, and
the slightest stirring of any woodland creature echoed through
this private paradise.
5. One spring afternoon I wandered near where I thought I
’
d
glimpsed a pond the week before. I proceeded quietly, careful
not to alarm a bird that might loudly warn other creatures to
hide.
6. Perhaps this is why the frail old lady I nearly ran into was as
startled as I was. She caught her breath, instinctively touching
her throat with her hand. Then, recovering quickly, she gave a
welcoming smile that instantly put me at ease. A pair of
powerful-looking binoculars dangled from her neck.
“
Hello,
young man,
”
she said.
“
Are you American or Canadian?
”
7. American, I explained in a rush, and I lived over the hill, and I
was just seeing if there was a pond, and farmer Crawford had
said it was okay, and anyhow, I was on my way home, so
good-bye.
8. As I started to turn, the woman smiled and asked,
“
Did you see
the little owl from the wood over there today?
”
She pointed
toward the edge of the wood.
9. She knew about the owls? I was amazed.
10.
“
No,
”
I replied,
“
but I
’
ve seen them before. Never close though.
They always see me first.
”
11. The woman laughed.
“
Yes, they
’
re wary,
”
she said.
“
But then,
gamekeepers have been shooting them ever since they got here.
They
’
re introduced, you know, not native.
”
12.
“
They
’
re not?
”
I asked, fascinated. Anybody who knew this
sort of stuff was definitely cool
—
even if she was trespassing
in my special place.
13.
“
Oh, no!
”
she answered, laughing again.
“
At home I have
books on birds that explain all about them. In fact,
”
she said
suddenly,
“
I was about to go back for tea and jam tart. Would
you care to join me?
”
14. I had been warned against going off with strangers, but
somehow I sensed the old woman was harmless.
“
Sure,
”
I said.
15.
“
I
’
m Mrs. Robertson- Glasgow,
”
she introduced herself,