The Big Race

一場盛大的比賽

A dog saw a group of animals across the road. He walked over to meet them.

一只小狗看見路上有一群其它動物通過，就迎了上去。

“What are you doing?” he asked them.

“你們在做什么呢？”他問道。

I just sold them tickets to a race between the rabbit and the turtle, the duck responded.

“我剛剛在賣龜兔賽跑的入場券呢，”鴨子回答說。

This news excited the dog. He felt fortunate that he happened to be there. “I don’t have anything to do today,” the dog said. “I want to buy a ticket, too.”

小狗聽后饒有興趣。它很慶幸自己遇上了這場比賽。“我今天也沒別的事，”小狗說，“我也想買張票去看比賽。”

The dog sat down to observe the race. The race would be extreme. It would be many kilometers in length. The rabbit and the turtle stood next to each other. They waited for the race to start. The dog wondered why the turtle agreed to run against the rabbit. Being fast was not a characteristic of turtles. The rabbit was going to win easily.

小狗入場坐定了。這是一場長途賽跑，賽程好幾公里。烏龜和兔子站在一起，等待比賽開始的信號。小狗很好奇為什么烏龜會同意參加這場比賽，它們天生跑不快。兔子會輕而易舉地贏下比賽。

Suddenly, the race began. The rabbit ran extremely quickly. The turtle walked slowly. After a minute, the rabbit looked back. He saw that the turtle was far behind him and was breathing quickly because he was so tired. The rabbit smiled and slowed to a walk.

突然間，比賽開始了。兔子跑得非常快，而烏龜則慢吞吞地爬著向前。一分鐘后，兔子回頭一看，發(fā)現(xiàn)烏龜已經(jīng)被遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)甩在了后面，而且還累得上氣不接下氣。兔子露出了微笑并開始慢步往前走。

A minute later, the rabbit said, “I’m winning, so I’ll take a rest.” He sat and began to consume some grass. Then, he let his eyes close. He wasn’t the winner yet. But there was no risk of him losing the race. He went to sleep.

又過了一分鐘，兔子說：“我快要贏了，先休息一下。”它就地坐下并開始吃草。過了一會，它閉上了眼睛。它還沒贏得比賽，但肯定不會輸。所以它睡著了。

Hours later, a loud sound woke him. All of the animals were yelling and looking at the field. He felt fear for the first time. The turtle was almost at the finish line. Now, the rabbit realized his mistake. But the race was over. He gave the turtle an opportunity to win, and the turtle took it. The duck handed the turtle his prize. It was the happiest day of the turtle’s life.

過了幾個小時，兔子被一陣吶喊聲吵醒，大家在吶喊助威。它第一次感到害怕起來，因?yàn)闉觚斁涂斓浇K點(diǎn)了。兔子意識到了自己的錯誤，但比賽已經(jīng)結(jié)束。它給了烏龜機(jī)會贏得比賽，而且烏龜也確實(shí)贏了。鴨子把獎杯頒給了烏龜。這是烏龜一生中最開心的一天了。

The dog was happy for the turtle. “He isn’t fast,” the dog thought. “But he tried his best and did something great.”

小狗也為烏龜感到高興。“它跑得很慢，”小狗說，“但它盡力了而且做了一件非常了不起的事。”

單詞

across prep.穿過，橫穿

breathe v.呼吸

characteristic n.特性，特征

consume v.消耗，消費(fèi)

excite v.刺激，激起

extreme adj.極端的

fear n.害怕

fortunate adj.幸運(yùn)的

happen v.碰巧

length n.長度

mistake n.錯誤

observe v.觀察

opportunity n.機(jī)會，機(jī)遇

prize n.獎品，獎賞

race n.競賽

realize v.意識

respond v.回應(yīng)

risk n.風(fēng)險

wonder v.想知道

yet adv.還，但是，已經(jīng)