最新现代大学英语精读3课文电子版
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2021年01月22日 01:32
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爱弥儿-2012高考试卷
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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
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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,
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extending her fine hand.
16.
“
Michael,
”
I said, taking it clumsily in my own.
17. We set off. And as we walked, she told me how she and her
husband had moved to Berkshire after he
’
d retired as a college
professor about ten years earlier.
“
He passed away last year,
”
she said, looking suddenly wistful.
“
So now I
’
m alone, and I
have all this time to walk the fields.
”
18. Soon I saw a small brick cottage that glowed pinkly in the
westering sun. Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow opened the door and
invited me in. I gazed about in silent admiration at the
bookshelves, glass-fronted cases containing figures of ivory and
carved stone, cabinets full of fossils, trays of pinned butterflies
and, best of all, a dozen or so stuffed birds
—
including a
glass-eyed eagle owl.
19.
“
Wow!
”
was all I could say.
20.
“
Does your mother expect you home at a particular time?
”
she
asked as she ran the water for tea.
21.
“
No,
”
I lied. Then, glancing at the clock, I added,
“
Well,
maybe by five.
”
That gave me almost an hour, not nearly
enough time to ask about every single object in the room. But
between mouthfuls of tea and jam tart I learned all sorts of
things from Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow.
22. The hour went by much too swiftly. Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow
had to practically push me out the door. But she sent me home
with two large tomes, one full of beautiful illustrations of birds,
and one of butterflies and other insects. I promised to return
them the next weekend if she didn’t mind my coming by. S
he
smiled and said she’d look forward to that.
23. I had made the best friend in the world.
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