初中英語課外閱讀小故事
人的一生總要去書寫許多不知結局的故事，有的故事可以順利完成，而有的故事或許將永遠都是一種殘缺。下面是小編帶來的，歡迎閱讀!
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你來決定
There was once a wise old woman who lived back in the hills. All the children used to come back and ask her questions. She always gave the right answers.
There was a naughty little boy among the children. One day he caught a tiny bird and held it in his cupped hands. Then he gathered his friends around. He said, “Let’s trick the old woman. I’ll ask her what I’m holding in my hands. Of course, she’ll answer that I have a bird. Then I will ask her if the bird is living or dead. If she says the bird is dead, I’ll open my hands and let the bird fly away. If she says the bird is alive, I’ll quickly crush it and show her the dead bird. Either way, she’ll be wrong.”
The children agreed that this was a clever plan. Up the hill they went to the old woman’s hut.
“Granny, we have a question for you,” they all shouted.
“What’s in my hands?” asked the little boy.
“Well, it must be a bird,” replied the old woman.
“But is it living or dead?” demanded the excited boy.
The old woman thought for a moment and then replied, “It is as you will, my child.”
從前，有一位博學的老婦人，她住在後山。過去所有的孩子都經常來找她問問題。她總是有求必應。
其中有一個調皮的小男孩。有一天，他抓到一隻小鳥，雙手捧住，然後把夥伴們叫到身邊，說：
“咱們去哄一下那個老太太。我要問她我手裡握著什麼東西。她肯定會回答說我握的是小鳥。然後，我問她小鳥是活的還是死的。如果她說鳥是死的，我就張開手讓小鳥飛走。如果她說小鳥是活的，我就馬上用勁一捏，讓她看到那隻死鳥。不管用什麼方法，她都說不對。”
孩子們都異口同聲的說這是一個聰明的計劃。他們爬上山，來到了老婦人的小屋。
“奶奶，我們要問您一個問題。”他們都大聲說道。
“我手裡是什麼東西?”那個小男孩問道。
“噢，肯定是一隻小鳥，”老婦人回答說。
“可是活的還是死的呢?”小男孩興奮的問到。
老婦人想了一會兒，然後回答說：“孩子，這由你來決定。”
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懼怕成長冒險會被生活吞沒 Risking
Two seeds lay side by side in the fertile spring soil.
The first seed said, I want to grow! I want to send my roots deep into the soil beneath me, and thrust my sprouts through the earth's crust above me…. I want to unfurl my tender buds like banners to announce the arrival of spring… I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the blessing of the morning dew on my petals!
And so she grew.
The second seed said, I am afraid. If I send my roots into the ground below, I don't know what I will encounter in the dark. If I push my way through the hard soil above me I may damage my delicate sprouts…. what if I let my buds open and a snail tries to eat them? And if I were to open my blossoms, a small child may pull me from the ground. No, it is much better for me to wait until it is safe.
And so she waited.
A yard hen scratching around in the early spring ground for food found the waiting seed and promptly ate it.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Those of us who refuse to risk and grow get swallowed up by life.
中文：
兩顆種子並排躺在春天肥沃的土壤裡。
第一顆種子說：“我要成長。我要把根深深扎入土壤;我要用芽頂穿堅硬的地殼… 我要伸展柔嫩的蓓蕾，像旗幟一樣宣告春天的到來… 我要感受太陽照在臉上的溫暖，接受花瓣上晨露的祝福!”
於是，第一顆種子不斷成長著。
第二顆種子說：“我很害怕。如果我把根深扎入土壤，不知道黑暗之中會遇到什麼;如果我衝破堅硬的土地，那脆弱的芽可能會受損傷… 如果我舒展花蕾，蝸牛要吃掉它們可怎麼辦呢?如果我綻放花朵，小孩兒可能會把我拔起。不，我還是等安全了再那麼做比較好。”
於是，第二顆種子就等啊等啊。
一隻母雞正在院子裡刨著早春的泥土找食吃，發現了正等在那兒的第二顆種子，一下子就把她吞了下去。
學習
The Terrible Head
There is none may taste of the golden fruit Till the golden new time come Many a tree shall spring from shoot, Many a blossom be withered at root, Many a song be dumb; Broken and still shall be many a lute Or ever the new times come!
Round and round the tree of gold, Round and round dance we, So doth the great world spin from of old, Summer and winter, and fire and cold, Song that is sung, and tale that is told, Even as we dance, that fold and unfold Round the stem of the fairy tree!
These grave dancing fairies were very unlike the Grey Women, and they were glad to see the boy, and treated him kindly. Then they asked him why he had come; and he told them how he was sent to find the Sword of Sharpness and the Cap of Darkness. And the fairies gave him these, and a wallet, and a shield, and belted the sword, which had a diamond blade, round his waist, and the cap they set on his head, and told him that now even they could not see him though they were fairies. Then he took it off, and they each kissed him and wished him good fortune, and then they began again their eternal dance round the golden tree, for it is their business to guard it till the new times come, or till the world's ending. So the boy put the cap on his head, and hung the wallet round his waist, and the shining shield on his shoulders, and flew beyond the great river that lies coiled like a serpent round the whole world. And by the banks of that river, there he found the three Terrible Women all asleep beneath a poplar tree, and the dead poplar leaves lay all about them. Their golden wings were folded and their brass claws were crossed, and two of them slept with their hideous heads beneath their wings like birds, and the serpents in their hair writhed out from under the feathers of gold. But the youngest slept between her two sisters, and she lay on her back, with her beautiful sad face turned to the sky; and though she slept her eyes were wide open. If the boy had seen her he would have been changed into stone by the terror and the pity of it, she was so awful; but he had thought of a plan for killing her without looking on her face. As soon as he caught sight of the three from far off he took his shining shield from his shoulders, and held it up like a mirror, so that he saw the Dreadful Women reflected in it, and did not see the Terrible Head itself. Then he came nearer and nearer, till he reckoned that he was within a sword's stroke of the youngest, and he guessed where he should strike a back blow behind him. Then he drew the Sword of Sharpness and struck once, and the Terrible Head was cut from the shoulders of the creature, and the blood leaped out and struck him like a blow. But he thrust the Terrible Head into his wallet, and flew away without looking behind. Then the two Dreadful Sisters who were left wakened, and rose in the air like great birds; and though they could not see him because of his Cap of Darkness, they flew after him up the wind, following by the scent through the clouds, like hounds hunting in a wood. They came so close that he could hear the clatter of their golden wings, and their shrieks to each other: Here, Here, No, There! This way he went, as they chased him. But the Shoes of Swiftness flew too fast for them, and at last their cries and the rattle of their wings died away as he crossed the great river that runs round the world.
Now when the horrible creatures were far in the distance, and the boy found himself on the right side of the river, he flew straight eastward, trying to seek his own country. But as he looked down from the air he saw a very strange sight--a beautiful girl chained to a stake at the high-water mark of the sea. The girl was so frightened or so tired that she was only prevented from falling by the iron chain about her waist, and there she hung, as if she were dead. The boy was very sorry for her and flew down and stood beside her. When he spoke she raised her head and looked round, but his voice only seemed to frighten her. Then he remembered that he was wearing the Cap of Darkness, and that she could only hear him, not see him. So he took it off, and there he stood before her, the handsomest young man she had ever seen in all her life, with short curly yellow hair, and blue eyes, and a laughing face. And he thought her the most beautiful girl in the world. So first with one blow of the Sword of Sharpness he cut the iron chain that bound her, and then he asked her what she did there, and why men treated her so cruelly. And she told him that she was the daughter of the King of that country, and that she was tied there to be eaten by a monstrous beast out of the sea; for the beast came and devoured a girl every day. Now the lot had fallen on her; and as she was just saying this a long fierce head of a cruel sea creature rose out of the waves and snapped at the girl. But the beast had been too greedy and too hurried, so he missed his aim the first time. Before he could rise and bite again the boy had whipped the Terrible Head out of his wallet and held it up. And when the sea beast leaped out once more its eyes fell on the head, and instantly it was turned into a stone. And the stone beast is there on the sea-coast to this day.
Then the boy and the girl went to the palace of the King, her father, where everyone was weeping for her death, and they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw her come back well. And the King and Queen made much of the boy, and could not contain themselves for delight when they found he wanted to marry their daughter. So the two were married with the most splendid rejoicings, and when they had passed some time at court they went home in a ship to the boy's own country. For he could not carry his bride through the air, so he took the Shoes of Swiftness, and the Cap of Darkness, and the Sword of Sharpness up to a lonely place in the hills. There he left them, and there they were found by the man and woman who had met him at home beside the sea, and had helped him to start on his journey
When this had been done the boy and his bride set forth for home, and landed at the harbour of his native land. But whom should he meet in the very street of the town but his own mother, flying for her life from the wicked King, who now wished to kill her because he found that she would never marry him! For if she had liked the King ill before, she liked him far worse now that he had caused her son to disappear so suddenly. She did not know, of course, where the boy had gone, but thought the King had slain him secretly. So now she was running for her very life, and the wicked King was following her with a sword in his hand. Then, behold! she ran into her son's very arms, but he had only time to kiss her and step in front of her, when the King struck at him with his sword. The boy caught the blow on his shield, and cried to the King:
I swore to bring you the Terrible Head, and see how I keep my oath!
Then he drew forth the head from his wallet, and when the King's eyes fell on it, instantly he was turned into stone, just as he stood there with his sword lifted!
Now all the people rejoiced, because the wicked King should rule them no longer. And they asked the boy to be their king, but he said no, he must take his mother home to her father's house. So the people chose for king the man who had been kind to his mother when first she was cast on the island in the great chest.
Presently the boy and his mother and his wife set sail for his mother's own country, from which she had been driven so unkindly. But on the way they stayed at the court of a king, and it happened that he was holding games, and giving prizes to the best runners, boxers, and quoit-throwers. Then the boy would try his strength with the rest, but he threw the quoit so far that it went beyond what had ever been thrown before, and fell in the crowd, striking a man so that he died. Now this man was no other than the father of the boy's mother, who had fled away from his own kingdom for fear his grandson should find him and kill him after all. Thus he was destroyed by his own cowardice and by chance, and thus the prophecy was fulfilled. But the boy and his wife and his mother went back to the kingdom that was theirs, and lived long and happily after all their troubles.