GreatWallCollapsedasMengJiangnuCried (2).doc

Great Wall Collapsed as Meng Jiangnu CriedThis story happened during the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC). There was once an old man named Meng who lived in the southern part of the country with his wife. One spring, Meng sowed a seed of bottle gourd2 in his yard. The bottle gourd grew up bit by bit and its vines climbed over the wall and entered his neighbor Jiangs yard. Like Meng, Jiang had no children and so he became very fond of the plant. He watered and took care of the plant. With tender care of both men, the plant grew bigger and bigger and gave a beautiful bottle gourd in autumn. Jiang plucked it off the vine, and the two old men decided3 to cut the gourd and divide it by half. To their surprise when they cut the gourd a pretty and lovely girl was lying inside! They felt happy to have a child and both loved her very much, so they decided to bring the child up together. They named the girl Meng Jiangnu, which means Meng and Jiangs daughter.As time went by, Meng Jiangnu grew up and became a beautiful young woman. She was very smart and industrious4. She took care of old Meng and Jiangs families, washing the clothes and doing the house work. People knew that Meng Jiangnu was a good girl and liked her very much. One day while playing in the yard, Meng Jiangnu saw a young man hiding in the garden. She called out to her parents, and the young man came out.At that time, Emperor Qin Shihuang (the first emperor of Qin) announced to build the Great Wall. So lots of men were caught by the federal officials. Fan Qiliang was an intellectual man and very afraid of being caught, so he went to Mengs house to hide from the officials. Meng and Jiang liked this good-looking, honest, and good-mannered young man. They decided to wed1 their daughter to him. Both Fan Qiliang and Meng Jiangnu accepted happily, and the couple was married several days later. However, three days after their marriage, officials suddenly broke in and took Fan Qiliang away to build the Great Wall in the north of China.It was a hard time for Meng Jiangnu after her husband was taken away - she missed her husband and cried nearly every day. She sewed warm clothes for her husband and decided to set off to look for him. Saying farewell to her parents, she packed her luggage and started her long journey. She climbed over mountains and went through the rivers. She walked day and night, slipping and falling many times, but finally she reached the foot of the Great Wall at the present Shanhaiguan Pass.Upon her arrival, she was eager to ask about her husband. Bad news came to her, however, that Fan Qiliang had already died of exhaustion5 and was buried into the Great Wall! Meng Jiangnu could not help crying. She sat on the ground and cried and cried. Suddenly with a tremendous noise, a 400 kilometer-long (248-mile-long) section of the Great Wall collapsed6 over her bitter wail7. The workmen and supervisors8 were astonished. Emperor Qin Shihuang happened to be touring the wall at that exact time, and he was enraged9 and ready to punish the woman.However, at the first sight of Meng Jiangnu Emperor Qin Shihuang was attracted by her beauty. Instead of killing10 her, the Emperor asked Meng Jiangnu to marry him. Suppressing her feeling of anger, Meng Jiangnu agreed on the basis of three terms. The first was to find the body of Fan Qiliang, the second was to hold a state funeral for him, and the last one was to have Emperor Qin Shihuang wear black mourning for Fan Qiliang and attend the funeral in person. Emperor Qin Shihuang thought for a while and reluctantly agreed. After all the terms were met, Emperor Qin Shihuang was ready to take her to his palace. When the guarders were not watching, she suddenly turned around and jumped into the nearby Bohai Sea.This story tells of the hard work of Chinese commoners, as well as exposes the cruel system of hard labor11 during the reign12 of Emperor Qing Shihuang. The Ten-Thousand-Li Great Wall embodied13 the power and wisdom of the Chinese nation. In memory of Meng Jiangnu, later generations built a temple, called the Jiangnu Temple, at the foot of the Great Wall in which a statue of Meng Jiangnu is located. Meng Jiangnus story has been passed down from generation to generation.词汇表：1 wedv.娶，嫁，与结婚参考例句：The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。The prince was very determined to wed one of the kings daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。2 gourdn.葫芦参考例句：Are you going with him? You must be out of your gourd.你和他一块去？你一定是疯了。Give me a gourd so I can bail.把葫芦瓢给我，我好把水舀出去。3 decidedadj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的参考例句：This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。4 industriousadj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的参考例句：If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。5 exhaustionn.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述参考例句：She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。6 collapsedadj.倒塌的参考例句：Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。 7 wailvt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸参考例句：Somewhere in the audience an old womans voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。 8 supervisorsn.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )参考例句：I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句9 enraged使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤参考例句：I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。10 killingn.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财参考例句：Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备