新概念英语2课文(英文版)

1、Less on 1 A private con versati on私人谈话Last week I went to the theatre. I had a very good seat. The play was very in terest ing. I did not enjoy it. A you ng man and a you ng woma n were sitt ing beh ind me. They were talk ing loudly. I got very an gry. I could not hear the actors.I tur ned roun d. I

2、 looked at the man and the woma n an grily. They did not pay anyatte nti on. In the en d, I could not bear it. I tur ned round aga in. 'I can't hear a word!'I said an grily.'It ' s none of your bus in ess,' the you ng man said rudely. 'This is aprivate con versati on!'

3、;.Lesson 2 Breakfast or lunch?早餐还是午餐？It was Sun day. I n ever get up early on Sun days. I sometimes stay in bed un til lu nch time.Last Sun day I got up very late. I looked out of the win dow. It was dark outside.'What a day!' I thought. 'It's raining aga in.' Just the n, the tel

4、eph one ran g. It was my aunt Lucy.' I've just arrived by tra in,' she said. 'I'm coming to see you.' 'But I'm still hav ing breakfast,' I said.'What are you doing?' she asked.' I ' m having breakfaep'eated.'Dear me,' she said. 'Do

5、you always get up so late? It's one o'clock!''Less on 3 Please send me a card请给我寄一张明信片Postcards always spoil my holidays. Last summer, I went to Italy. I visited museumsand sat in public garde ns. A frie ndly waiter taught me a few words of Italia n. 'The n he lent me a book. I r

6、ead a few lin es, but I did not un dersta nd a word. Every day I thought about postcards. My holidays passed quickly, but I did not send any cards to my frie nds. On the last day I made a big decisi on. I got up early and bought thirty-seve n cards. I spe nt the whole day in my room, but I did not w

7、rite a sin gle card!Lesson 4 An excit ing trip激动人心的旅行I have just received a letter from my brother, Tim. He is in Australia. He has bee n there for six mon ths. Tim is an engin eer. He is work ing for a big firm and he has already visited a great n umber of differe nt places in Australia. He has jus

8、t bought an Australia n car and has gone to Alice Spr in gs, a small tow n in the centre of Australia. He will soon visit Darwin. From there, he will fly to Perth. My brother has n ever bee n abroad before, so he is finding this trip very excit ing.Less on 5 No wrong n umbers无错号之虞Mr. James Scott has

9、 a garage in Silbury and now he has just bought ano ther garagein Pin hurst. Pin hurst is only five miles from Silbury, but Mr. Scottcannot getatelepho ne for his new garage, so he has just bought twelve pige ons. Yesterday, apige on carried the first message from Pin hurst to Silbury. The birdcover

10、ed thedista nee in three min utes. Up to now, Mr. Scott has sent a great many requests for spare parts and other urge nt messages from one garage to the other. I n this way, he has begu n his own private telepho ne service.Lesson 6 Percy Buttons珀西 巴顿斯I have just moved to a house in Bridge Street. Ye

11、sterday a beggar kno cked at my door. He asked me for a meal and a glass of beer. In retur n for this, the beggar stood on his head and sang son gs. I gave him a meal. He ate the food and drank thebeer. Then he put a piece of cheese in his pocket and went away. Later a n eighbor told me about him. E

12、verybody knows him. His n ame is Percy Butt ons. He calls at every house in the street once a month and always asks for a meal and a glass of beer.Lesson 7 Too late为时太晚The pla ne was late and detectives were wait ing at the airport all morning. They wereexpecting a valuable parcel of diamond from So

13、uth Africa. A few hours earlier, some one had told the police that thieves would try to steal the diam on ds. When the pla ne arrived, some of the detectives were wait ing in side the mai n buildi ng while others were waitingon the airfield. Two men took the parcel off the planeandcarried it into th

14、e Customs House. While two detectives were keep ing guard at the door, two others ope nedthe parcel. To their surprise, the precious parcel was fullof stones and sand!Lesson 8 The best and the worst最好的和最差的Joe San ders has the most beautiful garde n in our tow n. Nearly everybody en ters for'The

15、Nicest Garden Competition' each year, but Joe wins every time. Bill Frith's garde n is larger tha n Joe's. Bill works harder tha n Joe and grows more flowers and vegetables, but Joe's garde n is more in teresti ng. He has made n eat paths and has built a woode n bridge over a pool. I

16、 like garde ns too, but I do not like hard work.Every year I en ter for the garde n competiti on too, and I always win a little prize forthe worst garde n in the tow n!Less on 9 A cold welcome冷遇On Wedn esday eve ning, we went to the Town Hall. It was the last day of the year and a large crowd of peo

17、ple had gathered un der the Town Hall clock. It would strike twelve in twenty min utes' time. Fiftee n mi nutes passed and the n, at five to twelve, the clock stopped. The big min ute hand did not move. We waited and waited, but no thi ng happe ned. Sudde nly some one shouted, 'It's two

18、min utes past twelve! The clock has stopped!' I looked at my watch. It was true. The big clock refused to welcome the New Year. At that mome nt everybody bega n to laugh and sing.Lesson 10 Not for jazz不适于演奏爵士乐We have an old musical instrument. It is called a clavichord（翼琴）.It was made inGerma ny

19、 in 1681. Our clavichord is kept in the liv in g-room. It has bel on ged to our family for a long time. The in strume nt was bought by my gran dfather many years ago. Rece ntly it was damaged by a visitor. She tried to play jazz on it! She struck the keys too hard and two of the stri ngs were broke

20、n. My father was shocked. Now we are not allowed to touch it. It is being repaired by a frie nd of my father's.Less on 11 One good tur n deserves ano ther礼尚往来I was hav ing dinner at a restaura nt whe n Harry Steele came in. Harry worked in a lawyer's office years ago, but he is now worki ng

21、at a bank. He gets a good salary, but he always borrows money from his frie nds and n ever pays it back. Harry saw me and came and sat at the same table. He has n ever borrowed money from me. While he was eat in g, I asked him to lend me twenty pou nds. To my surprise, he gave me the money immediate

22、ly. 'I have n ever borrowed any money from you,' Harry said, 'so now you can pay for my dinn er!'Lesson 12 Goodbye and good luck再见，一路顺风Our n eighbor, Capta in Charles Alis on, will sail from Portsmouth tomorrow. We shallmeet him at the harbour early in the morning. He will be in his

23、small boat; Topsail.Tapsail is a famous little boat. It has sailed across the Atla ntic many times.Capta in Alis on will set out at eight o'clock so we shall have ple nty of time. We shall see his boat and the n we shall say good-bye to him. He will be away for two mon ths. We are very proud of

24、him. He will take part in an importa nt race across the Atla ntic.Lesson 13 The Gree nwood Boys绿林少年The Gree nwood Boys are a group of popular sin gers. At prese nt, they are visit ing all parts of the cou ntry. They will be arrivi ng here tomorrow. They will be coming by train and most of the you ng

25、 people in the tow n will be meet ing them at the stati on. Tomorrow eve ning they will be singing at the Workers' Club. The Gree nwood Boys will be stay ing for five days. During this time, they will give five performa nces. As usual, the police will have a difficult time. They will be trying t

26、o keep order. It is always the same on these occasi ons.Lesson 14 Do you speak En glish?你会讲英语吗？I had an amus ing experie nee last year.After I had left a small village in the southof Fran ce, I drove on to the n ext tow n. On the way, a you ng man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift. A

27、s soon as he had got into the car, I said good morni ng to him in Fre nch and he replied in the same lan guage. Apart from a few words, I do not know any Fre nch at all. Neither of us spoke duri ng the jour ney. I had n early reached the tow n, whe n the you ng man sudde nly said, very slowly, '

28、Do you speak En glish?' As I soon lear nt, he was En glish himself!Less on 15 Good n ews佳音The secretary told me that Mr. Harmsworth would see me. I felt very n ervous whe n.I went into his office. He did not look up from his desk whe n I en tered. After I had sat dow n, he said that bus in ess w

29、as very bad. He told me that the firm could not afford to pay such large salaries. Twenty people had already left. I knew that my turn had come. 'Mr. Harmsworth,' I said in a weak voice. 'D on't in terrupt,' he said. Then he smiled and told me I would receive an extra thousa nd p

30、ou nds a year!Lesson 16 A polite request彬彬有礼的要求If you park your car in the wrong place, a traffic policema n will soon find it. You willbe veryluckyif he lets you go without a ticket.However, this does not alwayshappen.Traffic police are sometimesvery polite.Duringa holiday in Sweden,Ifound this n o

31、te on my car:' Sir, we welcome you to our city. This is a "No Parki ng" area. You will enjoy your stay here if you pay atte nti on to our street sig ns. This note is only a rem in der.' If you receive a request like this, you cannot fail to obey it!Less on 17 Always you ng青年常驻My au

32、nt Jennifer is an actress. She must be at least thirty-five years old. In spite of this, she ofte n appears on the stage as a you ng girl. Jennifer will have to take part in a new play soon. This time, she will be a girl of seve ntee n. In the play, she must appear in a bright red dress and long bla

33、ck stock in gs. Last year in ano ther play, she had to wear short socks and a bright, ora nge-coloured dress. If anyone ever askedher how old she is, she always an swers, 'My dear, it must be terrible to be grow nup!'Lesso n18 He ofte n does this!他经常干这种事！After I had had lunch at a village in

34、n, I looked for my bag. I had left it on a chairbeside the door and now it was n't there! As I was look ing for it, the inn-keeper camein. 'Did you have a good meal?' he asked. 'Yes, tha nk you,' I an swered, 'but I can't pay the bill. I have n't got my bag.' The

35、inn-keeper smiled and immediately went out.In a few min utes he retur ned with my bag and gave it back to me. 'I'm very sorry,'he said ' My dog had take n it into the garde n. He ofte n does this.'Lesso n19 Sold out票已售完'The play may begi n at any mome nt,' I said.'It

36、may have begu n already,' Susa n an swered.'I hurried to the ticket-office. 'May I have two tickets please ?' I asked.'I'm sorry, we've sold out,' the girl said.'What a pity!' Susa n exclaimed.Just the n, a man hurried to the ticket-office.'Can I retur n t

37、hese two tickets?' he asked.'Certai nly,' the girl said.'Could I have those two tickets please ?' I asked.'Certa inl y, 'the girl said, 'but they are for n ext Wedn esday's performa nee.'I might as well have them,' I said sadly.Lesso n20 One man in a boat独

38、坐孤舟Fish ing is my favorite sport. I often fish for hours without catch ing anything. But thisdoes not worry me. Somefisherme n are un lucky.In steadof catch ing fish, theycatch old boots and rubbish. I am eve n less lucky. I n ever catch an yth ing-not eve n old boots. After hav ing spe nt whole mor

39、nings on the river, I always go home with anempty bag. 'You must give up fishi ng!' my frie nds say.' It's a waste of time.' But they don't realize one importa nt thi ng. I'm n ot really in terested in fishi ng. I am only in terested in sitt ing in a boat and doing nothin

40、g at all!Lesso n21 Mad or not?是不是疯了？Aeropla nes are slowly driv ing me mad. I live n ear an airport and pass ing pla nes can be heard ni ght and day. The airport was built duri ng the war, but for some reas on it could not be used the n. Last year, however, it came into use. Over a hun dred people m

41、ust have bee n drive n away from their homes by the no ise. I am one of the few people left. Sometimes I thi nk this house will be kno cked dow n by a pass ing pla ne.I have bee n offered a large sum of money to go away, but I am determ ined to stayhere. Everybody says I must be mad and they are pro

42、bably right.Lesso n22 A glass en velope玻璃信圭寸My daughter, Jane, n ever dreamed of receiv ing a letter from a girl of her own age inHolla nd. Last year, we were travelli ng across the Channel and Jane put a piece of paper with her n ame and address on it into a bottle. She threw the bottle into the se

43、a. She n ever thought of it aga in, but ten mon ths later, she received a letter from a girl in Holla nd. Both girls write to each other regularly now. However, they havedecided to use the post-office. Letters will cost a little more, but they will certa in ly travel faster.Less on23 A new house新居I

44、had a letter from my sister yesterday. She lives in Nigeria. In her letter, she said that she would come to En gla nd n ext year. If she comes, she will get a surprise. We are now liv ing in a beautiful new house in the cou ntry. Work on it had begu n before my sister left. The house was completed f

45、ive mon ths ago. I n my letter, I told her that she could stay with us. The house has many large rooms and there is a lovely garde n. It is a very moder n house, so it looks stra nge to some people. It must be the only moder n house in the district.Lesso n24 It could be worse不幸中之万幸I en tered the hot

46、el man ager's office and sat dow n. I had just lost $50 and I felt very upset.' I left the money in my room,' I said, 'and it's not there no w.' The man ager was sympathetic, but he could do nothing. 'Every on e's los ing money these days,' he said. He started to

47、compla in about this wicked world but was in terrupted by a knock at the door. A girl came in and put an en velope on his desk. It contained $5o. 'I found this outside this gen tlema n's room' she said. 'Well,' I said to the man ager, 'there is still some hon esty in this wor

48、ld!'Lesso n25 Do the En glish speak En glish?英国人讲的是英语吗？verydon'tI arrived in London at last. The railway stati on was big, black and dark. I did not know the way to my hotel, so I asked a porter. I not only spoke English carefully, but very clearly as well. The porter, however, could not un

49、dersta nd me; I repeated my questi on several times and at last he un derstood. He an swered me, but he spoke n either slowly nor clearly. 'I am a foreig ner,' I said. Then he spoke slowly, but I could not un dersta nd him. My teacher n ever spoke En glish like that!The porter and I looked a

50、t each other and smiled. Then he said someth ing and I un derstood it. 'You'll soon lear n En glish!' he said. I won der. I n En gla nd, each man speaks a differentlanguage.The Englishunderstandeach other, but Iun dersta nd them! Do they speak En glish?lesso n26 The best art critics最佳美术评

51、论家I am an art stude nt and I paint a lot of pictures. Many people prete nd that they un dersta nd moder n art. They always tell you what a picture is 'about'. Of course, many pictures arc no t 'about' anything. They are just pretty patter ns. We like them in the same way that we like

52、 pretty curtai n material. I thi nk that you ng childre n often appreciate moder n pictures better tha n anyone else. They no tice more. My sister is only seve n, but she always tells me whether my pictures are good or not. She came into my room yesterday. ' What are you doing ?' she asked.

53、' rm hanging this picture on the wall,' I an swered. 'It's a new one. Do you like it ?' She looked at it critically for a mome nt.' It's all right,' she said, 'but isn't it upside-dow n ?' I looked at it aga in. She was right! It was!Lesso n27 A wet night雨

54、夜Late in the after noon, the boys put up their tent in the middle of a field. As soon as this was done, they cooked a meal over an ope n fire. They were all hungry and the food smelt good. After a won derful meal, they told stories and sang songs by thecamp fire. But some time later it bega n to rai

55、n. The boys felt tired so they pet out the fire and crept into their tent. Their sleep in g-bags were warm and comfortable, so they all slept sou ndly .In the middle of the ni ght, two boys woke up and bega n shouti ng. The tent was full of water! They all leapt out of their sleep in g-bags and hurr

56、ied outside. It was raining heavily and they found that a stream had formed in the field. The stream wou nd its way across the field and the n flowed right un der their tent!Lesso n28 No parki ng禁止停车Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in an cie nt myths. He has just bought a new ho

57、use in the city, but ever since he moved in, he has had trouble with motorists. whe n he retur ns home at ni ght, he always finds that some one has parked a car outside his gate. Because of this, he has not bee n able to get his own car into his garage even once. Jasper has put up' No Parking

58、9; sig ns outside his gate, but these have not had any effect. Now he has put an ugly stone head over the gate. It is one of the ugliest faces I have ever see n. I asked him what it was and he told me that it was Medusa, the Gorgon. Jasper hopes that she will turn motorists to stone. But none of the

59、m has bee n tur ned to stone yet!Lesso n29 Taxi!岀租汽车！Capta in Ben Fawcett has bought an un usual taxi and has begu n a new service. The 'taxi' is a small Swiss aeropla ne called a 'Pilatus Porter'. This won derful pla ne can carry seve n passe ngers. The most surpris ing thi ng about

60、 it, however, is that it can land any where: on snow, water, or eve n on a ploughed field. Capta in Fawcett's first passe nger was a doctor who flew from Birmi ngham to a lon ely village in the Welsh mountains. Since then, Captain Fawcett has flown passengersto manyplaces. Once he lan ded on the roof of a block of flats and on ano ther occasi on, he lan ded in a deserted car park. Capta in Fawcett has just refused a stra nge request from a bus in essma n. The man wan ted to fly to Rockall, a lon ely isla nd in the Atla nticOcea n, but Capta in Fawcett did not take him because the trip