2019-2020学年高中英语 Unit 2 The universal language英美文化欣

-1-Unit2Theuniversallanguage【导读】Thegardenparty是英国女作家KatherineMansfield的短篇小说。阅读下面有关花园聚会的场景描写，一起享受有音乐、鲜花、美食的美好时刻吧！【节选】ThegardenpartyTheyneednothaveworried.Theweatherwasperfect—warm，andwithoutacloudinthesky.Thegardenerhadbeenatworksincedawn，cuttingandbrushingthelawns，untilthegreengrassshone.Andtheroses—theroseswerewonderful.Hundredsofflowershadopenedduringthenight.Youcouldalmostbelievethattherosesknewaboutthegardenparty!WhiletheSheridangirlswerehavingbreakfast，themencamewiththemarquee.‘Whereshallweputthemarquee，mother？’askedMeg.‘Mydearchild，pleasedon'taskme.I'mdeterminedtomakeyouchildrenorganizeeverythingthisyear.ForgetthatIamyourmother.PretendI'moneofyourguests.’ButMegcouldnotpossiblytalktothemen.Shehadjustwashedherhair.Jose，asusual，wasn'tevendressedyet.‘You'llhavetogo，Laura.You'retheartisticoneinthisfamily.’Lauraflewoutofthehouse，stillholdingapieceofbreadandbutterinherhand.Foodalwaystasteddeliciousoutofdoors，andLauralovedarrangingthings.Shealwaysfeltthatshecoulddoitbetterthananyoneelse.Fourmenwerewaitingonthegardenpath.Theywerecarryingbigbagsoftools，andlookedveryserious.Laurawishedshehadleftherbreadandbutterinthehouse.Sheblushed，andtriedtolookbusiness­like.‘Goodmorning，’shesaid，copyinghermother'svoice.Butitsoundedsosillythatshewasashamed，andasked，justlikealittlegirl，‘Oh，haveyoucome—isitaboutthemarquee？’‘That'sright，miss，’saidthetallestofthemen.Hepushedbackhishatandsmileddownather.HissmilewassofriendlythatLaurafeltbetterimmediately.Whatniceeyeshehad—small，butalovelydarkblue！Allthemenweresmilingnow.‘Cheerup！Wewon'tbite！’theyseemedtobesaying.Howveryniceworkmenwere！Andwhatabeautiful-2-morning！Shemustn'tmentionthemorning；shemustbebusiness­like.Themarquee.‘Well，shallweputitonthelawnoverthere？’Shepointedwiththehandthatwasnotholdingthebreadandbutter.Theyallturnedandstared.Thetallmanfrowned.‘Idon'tlikeit，’hesaid.‘Youwouldn'tnoticeitthere.Yousee，withathinglikeamarquee，youwantitwhereithitsyou—bangintheeye，asyoumightsay.’Laurahadbeenbroughtupinawaywhichmadeherwonderforamomentwhetheraworkmanshoulduseanexpressionlike‘bangintheeye’toher.Butsheunderstoodwhathemeant.‘Acornerofthetenniscourt，’shesuggested.‘Buttheband'sgoingtobeinonecorner.’‘Havingaband，areyou？’saidanotherworkman.Hewaspale，withatiredlookinhisdarkeyes.Whatwashethinking?‘Onlyaverysmallband，’Laurasaidgently.Perhapshewouldn'tmindaverysmallband.Butthetallmansaid，‘Lookhere，miss，that'stheplace.Bythosetrees.Overthere.’Bythekarakatrees.Themarqueewouldhidethem.Andthekarakatreesweresolovely，withtheirbig，shinyleavesandorangefruit.Musttheybehiddenbyamarquee?Theymust.Themenwerealreadycarryingtheirbagsoftoolsacrossthelawn.Onlythetallmanwasleft.Suddenly，hebentdowntouchedarose，andpulleditgentlytowardshimtosmellit.WhenLaurasawhimdothat，sheforgotaboutthekarakas.Hewasaworkmanwholovedtheperfumeofroses.Howmanyofthementhatsheknewcaredaboutthingslikethat？Oh，howniceworkmenare，shethought.Whycouldn'tshehavethemforherfriends，insteadofthesillyboysshedancedwithandwhocametoSundaynightsupper？Shelikedthesemenmuchbetter.It'sallthefault，shedecided，ofthesestupiddifferencesinsocialclass.Well，forhertherewerenodifferences.Absolutelynoneatall，notasingleone...Andnowtherecamethesoundofhammers.Someonewhistled，someonecalledout，‘Areyouallright，mate？’‘Mate！’Howfriendlytheywere！Justtoshowhowhappyshewas，howshelikedbeingamongthesefriendlymen，Lauratookabigbiteoutofherbreadandbutter.Shefeltjustlikeaworkgirl.‘Laura，Laura，whereareyou？Telephone，Laura！’avoicecriedfromthehouse.‘Coming！’Sheranacrossthelawn，upthepathandintothehouse.Inthehall，-3-herfatherandLauriewerebrushingtheirhats，gettingreadytogototheoffice.‘Isay，Laura，’saidLaurie，‘takealookatmycoat，canyou，beforethisafternoon？Ithinkitneedsironing.’‘Allright，’shesaid.Suddenly，shecouldn'tstopherself.SheranuptoLaurieandthrewherarmsaroundhim.‘Oh，Idoloveparties，don'tyou！’shecried.‘I'llsayIdo！’saidLaurie'swarm，boyishvoice.Hegavehissisteragentlepush.‘Runofftothephone，oldgirl.’Thetelephone.‘Yes，yes；ohyes.Kitty？Goodmorning，dear.Cometolunch，mydear！Itwillbenothingspecial—justwhat'sleftover.Yes，isn'titaperfectmorning？Yes，wearyourwhitedress.Onemoment—motherissayingsomething.’MrsSheridan'svoicefloateddownthestairs.‘TellhertowearthatsweethatsheworelastSunday.’‘MothersaysyoumustwearthatsweethatyouworelastSunday.Good.Oneo'clock.Bye­bye！’Lauraputdownthephone，tookadeepbreath，andstretchedoutherarms.Thenshestoodstill，listening.Thehousewasalivewithsoundsofrunningfeetanddistantvoices.Somewheredowninthekitchen，adooropenedandclosed.Sunlight，andlittlewarmwinds，playedinandoutofthewindows.Darlinglittlewinds.Thedoor­bellrang，andsheheardaman'svoiceandthenSadiesaying，‘I'msureIdon'tknow.Wait.I'llaskMrsSheridan.’‘Whatisit，Sadie？’Lauracameintothehall.‘Theflowershavecomefromtheshop，MissLaura.’Andtheretheywere，bythedoor.Boxafterbox，fullofpotsofpinklilies.Nootherkind.Nothingbutlilies，bigpinkflowers，wideopenandalmostfrighteninglyalive.园会他们不必担心。天气再好不过了——暖融融的，没有一丝云彩。园丁们天不亮就开始忙着修剪、清理草坪，直到把青翠的草地收拾得光彩照人。玫瑰花——玫瑰花也艳丽极了。几百朵玫瑰在一夜之间竞相绽放，让你不得不相信它们仿佛也知道要开园会了！当谢里登家的姑娘们还在吃早饭的时候，搭帐篷的人就到了。“妈妈，我们把帐篷搭在哪儿？”梅格问。“乖孩子，请别问